[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9698-9699]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 201--AFFIRMING THE IMPORTANCE OF TITLE IX, APPLAUDING 
THE INCREASE IN EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO WOMEN AND GIRLS, 
   AND RECOGNIZING THE TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK LEFT TO BE DONE TO 
                  FURTHER INCREASE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES

  Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Blumenthal, 
Mr. Booker, Mr. Brown, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mr. Casey, Mr. Coons, 
Ms. Duckworth, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Franken, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. 
Harris, Ms. Hassan, Ms. Heitkamp, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Klobuchar, 
Mr. Leahy, Mr. Markey, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Peters, Mr. Reed, 
Mr. Sanders, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Udall, Ms. 
Warren, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Murphy, and Ms. 
Cortez Masto) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                              S. Res. 201

       Whereas in 1972 President Richard M. Nixon signed into law 
     title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 
     et seq.) (referred to in this preamble as ``title IX'');
       Whereas in 2002 Congress passed a joint resolution 
     establishing that title IX may be cited as the ``Patsy 
     Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act'';
       Whereas title IX prohibits any institution that receives 
     Federal education funding from discriminating against 
     students or employees on the basis of sex;
       Whereas sex discrimination includes--
       (1) gender-based violence;
       (2) sexual harassment and assault;
       (3) dating violence; and
       (4) domestic violence;
       Whereas title IX guarantees--
       (1) equal educational opportunities for all students, 
     including pregnant or parenting students and gender non-
     conforming students; and
       (2) protection for students from discrimination on the 
     basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender 
     identity;
       Whereas, since 1972, the United States has made great 
     progress in providing educational opportunities to women and 
     girls, and in 2015 women earned the majority of doctoral, 
     master's, baccalaureate, and associate degrees;
       Whereas, since 1972, the participation of women and girls 
     in sports has increased by 1000 percent in high school and 
     greater than 500 percent in college, providing women and 
     girls with the opportunity--
       (1) to develop leadership and teamwork skills;
       (2) to earn athletic scholarships to help finance a college 
     degree; and
       (3) to become successful professional athletes;
       Whereas, despite the progress that has been made in higher 
     education and athletics, women, girls, pregnant or parenting 
     students, and gender non-conforming students in the United 
     States are still frequently denied equal educational 
     opportunities;
       Whereas the number of baccalaureate degrees in science, 
     technology, engineering, and math earned by women has 
     decreased over the past decade, and women earn only--
       (1) 39 percent of physical science degrees;
       (2) 18 percent of computing degrees;
       (3) 19 percent of engineering degrees; and
       (4) 43 percent of mathematics degrees;
       Whereas women of color earn only 6 percent of computing 
     degrees and 3 percent of engineering degrees at the 
     baccalaureate level;
       Whereas, despite representing 56 percent of all those 
     enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States, 
     women hold almost \2/3\ of all outstanding student debt, and 
     the average of student debt owed by women following the 
     completion of a baccalaureate degree is $1,500 more than the 
     average of student debt owed by men;
       Whereas there are approximately 64,000 fewer opportunities 
     for women to participate in college sports compared to men, 
     and in 2015, women made up only 37 of the 313 athletic 
     directors in Division I sports;
       Whereas multiple studies have confirmed that 1 in 5 women 
     are sexually assaulted on college campuses and approximately 
     20 percent of girls have been the victims of sexual assault 
     or attempted sexual assault while in high school;
       Whereas more than 50 percent of girls in grades 7 through 
     12 experience sexual harassment and 10 percent of high school 
     students experience dating violence each year, which can--
       (1) lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety and 
     unhealthy and antisocial behaviors; and
       (2) negatively impact academic achievement;
       Whereas men still hold the vast majority of school 
     leadership positions, and women make up approximately--
       (1) 35 percent of full professors at degree-granting 
     postsecondary institutions;
       (2) 26 percent of college and university presidents; and
       (3) 27 percent of school district superintendents;

[[Page 9699]]

       Whereas pregnant and parenting students are more likely to 
     drop out of high school compared to other students, and only 
     51 percent of mothers under the age of 20 earn a high school 
     diploma by the age of 22, leading to decreased opportunities 
     for continuing education and employment;
       Whereas students face pervasive discrimination and 
     harassment in school, on college campuses, and in the 
     workforce on the basis of sexual orientation and gender 
     identity, which--
       (1) impedes the ability of the students to fully access the 
     educational opportunities to which the students are entitled; 
     and
       (2) constitutes sex discrimination; and
       Whereas between 2011 and 2016, investigations by the Office 
     for Civil Rights at the Department of Education into reports 
     of sexual and dating violence and discrimination against 
     transgender students have helped to identify and respond to 
     systemic issues of discrimination against students that 
     otherwise would have gone unrecognized, yet recent actions 
     from the Office for Civil Rights indicate there will be fewer 
     resources and less attention focused on these issues moving 
     forward: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) applauds the tremendous increase in educational 
     opportunities for women and girls, including in sports, since 
     the passage of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 
     (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.);
       (2) encourages the Department of Education and the 
     Department of Justice to protect the rights of students to 
     have safe learning environments by working to ensure schools 
     prevent and respond to discrimination and harassment on the 
     basis of sex, including--
       (A) sexual assault;
       (B) harassment;
       (C) domestic and dating violence;
       (D) discrimination or harassment on the basis of pregnancy;
       (E) sex stereotyping; and
       (F) discrimination or harassment on the basis of actual or 
     perceived sexual orientation and gender identity; and
       (3) recognizes the work that still remains to be done to 
     secure the promise of title IX of the Education Amendments of 
     1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) that no federally funded 
     educational institution shall discriminate against any person 
     on the basis of sex.

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