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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8648 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8648
To increase the transparency of colleges and universities in carrying
out their civil rights responsibilities, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 7, 2024
Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To increase the transparency of colleges and universities in carrying
out their civil rights responsibilities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Civil Rights Protection Act of
2024''.
SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE AND TRANSPARENCY RELATED TO TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL
RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.
(a) Program Participation Agreement Requirement.--Section 487 of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
``(30) The institution will comply with the provisions of
subsection (i) and provide to the Secretary an annual
attestation of such compliance.''.
(2) by redesignating subsections (i) and (j) as subsections
(j) and (k), respectively; and
(3) by inserting after subsection (h) the following new
subsection:
``(i) Compliance and Transparency Related to Complaints Under Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.--
``(1) Compliance and transparency.--With respect to
complaints received by an institution related to alleged
violations of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42
U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), the institution will--
``(A) have in effect, make publicly available
(including on the website of the institution), and
widely distribute to students and their families
(including in student orientation materials) a
description of the investigative processes of the
institution related to such complaints; and
``(B) include in the description of investigative
processes described in subparagraph (A) at least the
following:
``(i) The processes and factors used to
determine whether such a complaint will be
investigated and how the outcome of an
investigation will be determined.
``(ii) A designation of at least one
employee to coordinate its efforts to comply
with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
(42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), including any
investigation of any complaint alleging the
noncompliance of the institution with
requirements under the Act.
``(iii) The contact information and
necessary steps for reporting such a complaint
to the institution.
``(iv) A procedure to ensure that, for each
such complaint received by the institution, the
complainant will receive from the institution
timely notification of each of the following:
``(I) Confirmation of receipt of
the complaint.
``(II) Notification of whether or
not an investigation has been opened in
response to the complaint.
``(III) In the case that an
investigation was not opened in
response to the complaint, an
explanation of why an investigation was
not opened including a summary of the
information that was used to determine
that an investigation should not be
opened.
``(IV) In the case that an
investigation was opened--
``(aa) notification that an
investigation of the complaint
will be carried out, and that
the complainant will be
notified of the outcome of the
investigation; and
``(bb) notification of the
outcome of the investigation,
including an explanation of how
the outcome was reached, and
any remedial actions taken in
response to the complaint.
``(v) A system for keeping and maintaining
records of such complaints, including the
determination and reasoning for whether or not
an investigation into a complaint was opened, a
record of the investigation (including the
outcome thereof), and a record of any remedial
actions taken in response to the complaint.
``(vi) The contact information and
necessary steps for reporting a complaint
related to an alleged violation of title VI of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d
et seq.) to the Office for Civil Rights of the
Department of Education, including the
hyperlink to the electronic complaint form of
the Office for Civil Rights for an alleged
violation of such title VI.
``(2) Enforcement.--An institution of higher education that
fails to comply with any provision of subsection (a)(30) for
two consecutive award years shall be ineligible to participate
in the programs authorized by this title for a period of not
less than two years. To regain eligibility to participate in
the programs authorized by this title, an institution of higher
education shall demonstrate compliance with paragraph (1) prior
to the completion of the period during which the institution is
ineligible due to failure to comply with such paragraph.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall
take effect on the first day of the first award year beginning after
the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Congressional Briefings.--
(1) In general.--Beginning not later than 30 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act and ending 2 years after such
date of enactment, the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of
the Department of Education shall give a monthly briefing to
the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions of the Senate regarding discrimination on the
basis of race, color, or national origin in violation of title
VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.),
disaggregated by the basis of discrimination, including shared
ancestry, that--
(A) explains the number of complaints alleging such
discrimination that the Office for Civil Rights of the
Department of Education (referred to in this section as
the ``Office'')--
(i) is investigating; and
(ii) has received in the preceding month;
(B) describes--
(i) how the Office plans to address those
complaints; and
(ii) the investigations being carried out
in response to those complaints, as applicable;
and
(C) provides data about the length of time that
those complaints are pending after being received by
the Office.
(2) Report.--Not later than 48 hours prior to each briefing
required under paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary for Civil
Rights of the Department of Education shall provide a written
report to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate that contains the
information that will be presented at such briefing, in a
manner that protects personally identifiable information in
accordance with applicable privacy laws.
(b) OCR Process Reforms.--
(1) Dismissals.--The Office shall not close or dismiss any
complaint regarding discrimination on the basis of race, color,
or national origin in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) due to the filing of a
complaint involving the same allegations against the same
recipient--
(A) by an individual other than the complainant
with another Federal, State, or local agency, a court,
or the recipient, unless the Office determines that
such other individual's complaint is part of a class
action in which the complainant is part of such class;
or
(B) by the complainant with another Federal, State,
or local agency, a court, or the recipient.
(2) Investigations.--The Office shall not delay an
investigation of a complaint due to the filing of a complaint
involving the same allegations against the same recipient with
another Federal, State, or local agency or a recipient.
(3) Recipient defined.--For purposes of this subsection,
the term ``recipient'' means an institution of higher education
(as such term is defined in section 102 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) that receives funds under an
applicable program (as such term is defined in section 400 of
the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221)).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 15.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and the Workforce. H. Rept. 118-593.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and the Workforce. H. Rept. 118-593.
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 493.
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