[House Report 104-776]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



104th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 2d Session                                                     104-776
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  MONITORING OF STUDENT RIGHT TO KNOW AND CAMPUS SECURITY ACT OF 1990

                                _______
                                

 September 5, 1996.--Rewferred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

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    Mr. Goodling  , from the Committee on Economic and Educational 
                 Opportunities, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 470]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, to 
whom was referred the resolution (H. Res. 470) expressing the 
sense of the Congress that the Department of Education should 
play a more active role in the monitoring and enforcing 
compliance with the provisions of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 related to campus crime, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 
the resolution be agreed to.

                                Purpose

     The purpose of House Resolution 470 is to express the 
sense of the Congress that the Department of Education should 
play a more active role in monitoring and enforcing compliance 
with the requirements of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
related to campus crime.

                           Legislative Action

     House Resolution 470 was introduced on June 27, 1996 by 
Mr. Goodling and Mr. McKeon. On August 1, 1996, the Committee 
on Economic and Educational Opportunities assembled to consider 
House Resolution 470. The Committee adopted the bill by a voice 
vote.

          Background and Need for Legislation/Committee Views

     During the 101st Congress, Mr. Goodling introduced the 
``Campus Crime and Security Awareness Act.'' It was enacted as 
part of the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act. The 
law requires any recipient of Title IV student aid to report to 
students, faculty, and prospective students (upon request) once 
a year on the number of crimes reported in the following 
categories: murder; sex offenses, forcible or nonforcible; 
robbery; aggravated assault; burglary and motor vehicle theft. 
These statistics must be made available for the current year 
and the two previous years. Schools are also required to report 
on the number of arrests for the following crimes: liquor-law 
violations; drug-abuse violations; and weapons possessions. In 
addition, in order to aid in the prevention of crimes on 
campus, schools were to make timely reports to the campus 
community on those crimes considered to be a threat to other 
students and employees.
     During consideration of the Higher Education Act the 
following year, Congress amended the law to require a statement 
of policy regarding the institution's campus sexual assault 
programs to prevent sex offenses and the procedures to follow 
when such an offense occurs. In addition, the so-called 
``Buckley'' Act (part of the Family Educational Rights and 
Privacy Act) was amended to allow the release of law 
enforcement records kept for law enforcement purposes.
     During a hearing held on June 6, 1996 by the Subcommittee 
on Postsecondary Education, Training and Life-Long Learning, 
some concerns were raised that colleges and universities were 
not accurately reporting their crime statistics. In addition, 
several witnesses did not believe that the Department of 
Education considered the enforcement of the Campus Security Act 
a priority. In fact, the Department has failed to provide a 
report to Congress with respect to crime statistics which was 
due on September 1, 1995.
     Concerns have also been raised with respect to the 
definition of education records which are protected under the 
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Many 
individuals believe that records of institutional disciplinary 
actions taken against students accused of criminal and other 
non-academic misconduct should not be considered education 
records under FERPA and should be available to the public.
    In a recent letter, Secretary Riley has indicated that the 
Department is looking at ways to ensure that auditors and 
Department program review staff are provided detailed 
instructions on checking compliance with the Campus Security 
Act. The Committee intends to keep a close watch on these 
measures and appreciates Secretary Riley's efforts to address 
the concerns raised at the Subcommittee hearing.
     House Resolution 470 puts the Committee's support on the 
record for the actions Secretary Riley intends to take with 
respect to improving and ensuring compliance with the Campus 
Security Act. It will also make it clear that the Committee 
views this issue as a top priority and will expect the 
Department of Education to follow through on its commitments to 
fully implement the Campus Security Act as Congress intended. 
It is imperative that colleges and universities comply with the 
requirements of the Campus Security Act and that the Department 
of Education give priority status to their enforcement 
responsibilities. These are essential actions if we are going 
to accomplish our goal of protecting students from crime on our 
nation's college campuses.

                                Summary

     House Resolution 470 calls on the Department of Education 
to make the monitoring of compliance and enforcement of the 
Campus Security Act a priority in order for students to have 
information vital for their own safety on our college campuses.

                           Section-by-Section

    The Resolution states: ``That in order for students to have 
information vital for their own safety on our Nation's college 
campuses, it is the sense of the Congress that the Department 
of Education should make the monitoring of compliance and 
enforcement of the provisions of section 485(f) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 with respect to compiling and 
disseminating required crime statistics and campus policies a 
priority.''

                  Oversight Findings of the Committee

    In compliance with clause 2(l)(3)(A) of rule XI of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives and clause 2(b)(1) of 
rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee's oversight findings and recommendations are 
reflected in the body of this report.

                     Inflationary Impact Statement

    In compliance with clause 2(l)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee estimates that 
the enactment into law of H.Res. 470 will have no significant 
inflationary impact on prices and costs in the operation of the 
national economy. It is the judgment of the Committee that the 
inflationary impact of this legislation as a component of the 
federal budget is negligible.

                    Government Reform and Oversight

    With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(D) of 
Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee has received no report of oversight findings and 
recommendations form the Committee on Government Reform and 
Oversight on the subject of H.Res. 470.

                           Committee Estimate

    Clause 7 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the 
Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out 
H.Res. 470. However, clause 7(d) of that rule provides that 
this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included 
in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill 
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 
under section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

                Application of Law to Legislative Branch

    Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a 
description of the application of this bill to the legislative 
branch. This bill expresses the sense of the Congress that the 
Department of Education should play a more active role in 
monitoring and enforcing compliance with the requirements of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 related to campus crime and as 
such relates to the legislative branch.

                       Unfunded Mandate Statement

    Section 423 of the Congressional Budget & Impoundment 
Control Act requires a statement of whether the provisions of 
the reported bill include unfunded mandates; the bill expresses 
the sense of the Congress that the Department of Education 
should play a more active role in monitoring and enforcing 
compliance with the requirements of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 related to campus crime and as such does not contain any 
unfunded mandates. The Committee also received a letter 
regarding unfunded mandates from the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office. See infra.

               Budget Authority and Congressional Budget

                          Office Cost Estimate

    With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(B) of 
rule XI of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of 
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect to 
requirements of clause 2(l)(3)(C) of rule XI of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for H.Res. 470 from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                   Washington, DC, August 23, 1996.
Hon. William F. Goodling,
Chairman, Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, House of 
        Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) 
has reviewed H.Res. 470, a bill expressing the sense of 
Congress that the Department of Education should play a more 
active role in monitoring and enforcing compliance with the 
provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 related to 
campus crime. This bill was ordered reported by the Committee 
on Economic and Educational Opportunities on August 1, 1996.
    This resolution expresses a sense of Congress and does not 
affect any federal, state, local, or tribal law. Passage of 
H.Res. 470 would not affect the federal budget, and thus, pay-
as-you-go procedures would not apply.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah 
Kalcevic, who can be reached at 226-2820.
            Sincerely,
                                         June E. O'Neill, Director.