a bill to amend the higher education act of 1965

8/12/2019 A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/a-bill-to-amend-the-higher-education-act-of-1965 1/31

AEG14416 S.L.C.

113TH CONGRESS2D SESSION S.

llTo amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure

of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act to combat

campus sexual violence, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

llllllllll

Mrs. MCC ASKILL (for herself, Mr. HELLER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. GRASS-

LEY , Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. A YOTTE, Mr. W ARNER, and Mr. RUBIO) in-

troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com-

mittee on llllllllll

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Jeanne

Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus

Crime Statistics Act to combat campus sexual violence,

and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1

tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,2

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.3

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Campus Accountability4

and Safety Act’’.5



2

AEG14416 S.L.C.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE CLERY ACT.1

Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 19652

(20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) (known as the Jeanne Clery Disclo-3

sure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statis-4

tics Act) is amended—5

(1) in paragraph (1)—6

(A) by inserting ‘‘and on the website of the7

institution’’ after ‘‘through appropriate publica-8

tions or mailings’’;9

(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking10

clause (ii) and inserting the following:11

‘‘(ii) the memorandum of understanding12

between the institution and local law enforce-13

ment that is required under section 124 (or, if14

such requirement has been waived, a description15

of the working relationship of campus security16

personnel with State and local law enforcement17

agencies); and’’; and18

(C) by adding at the end the following:19

‘‘(K)(i) With respect to the criminal activ-20

ity described in subparagraph (F)(i)(II), the eli-21

gible institution shall prepare by not later than22

1 year after the date of enactment of the Cam-23

pus Accountability and Safety Act, and annu-24

ally thereafter, the following additions:25



3

AEG14416 S.L.C.

‘‘(I) The number of cases that were1

investigated by the institution.2

‘‘(II) The number of cases that were3

referred for a disciplinary proceeding at4

the institution.5

‘‘(III) The number of cases that were6

referred to local or State law enforcement.7

‘‘(IV) The number of alleged per-8

petrators that were found responsible by9

the disciplinary proceeding at the institu-10

tion.11

‘‘(V) The number of alleged perpetra-12

tors that were found not responsible by the13

disciplinary proceeding at the institution.14

‘‘(VI) A description of the final sanc-15

tions imposed by the institution for each16

offense perpetrated.17

‘‘(VII) The number of disciplinary18

proceedings at the institution that have19

closed without resolution.20

‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall provide technical21

assistance to eligible institutions to assist in22

meeting such additional preparation obliga-23

tions.’’;24



4

AEG14416 S.L.C.

(2) by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the1

following;2

‘‘(7)(A) The statistics described in clauses (i)3

and (ii) of paragraph (1)(F)—4

‘‘(i) shall not identify victims of crimes or5

persons accused of crimes; and6

‘‘(ii) shall be compiled in accordance with7

the following definitions:8

‘‘(I) For the offenses of domestic vio-9

lence, dating violence, and stalking, such10

statistics shall be compiled in accordance11

with the definitions used in section12

40002(a) of the Violence Against Women13

Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925(a)).14

‘‘(II) For offenses not described in15

subclause (I), such statistics shall be com-16

piled in accordance with—17

‘‘(aa) either the National Inci-18

dent-Based Reporting System or the19

Uniform Crime Reporting Program of20

the Federal Bureau of Investigation,21

if a definition is available; and22

‘‘(bb) if an offense is not defined23

in either the National Incident-Based24

Reporting System or the Uniform25



5

AEG14416 S.L.C.

Crime Reporting Program of the Fed-1

eral Bureau of Investigation, a defini-2

tion provided by the Secretary.3

‘‘(B) The Secretary shall establish and make4

publicly available a definition for any offense that—5

‘‘(i) is required to be reported in accord-6

ance with paragraph (1)(F);7

‘‘(ii) is not an offense described in sub-8

paragraph (A)(ii)(I); and9

‘‘(iii) is not defined in either the National10

Incident-Based Reporting System or the Uni-11

form Crime Reporting Program of the Federal12

Bureau of Investigation.’’;13

(3) in paragraph (8)(B)(i)—14

(A) in the matter preceding subclause (I),15

by inserting ‘‘, developed in consultation with16

local, State, and national sexual assault, dating17

violence, domestic violence, and stalking victim18

advocacy, victim services, or prevention organi-19

zations, and local law enforcement,’’ after20

‘‘Education programs’’; and21

(B) in subclause (I)(aa), by inserting ‘‘, in-22

cluding the fact that these are crimes for the23

purposes of this subsection and reporting under24

this subsection and the institution of higher25



6

AEG14416 S.L.C.

education will, based on the victim’s wishes, co-1

operate with local law enforcement with respect2

to any alleged criminal offenses involving stu-3

dents or employees of the institution of higher4

education’’ after ‘‘stalking’’;5

(4) by redesignating paragraph (18) as para-6

graph (22); and7

(5) by inserting after paragraph (17) the fol-8

lowing:9

‘‘(18) The individual at an institution of higher10

education that is designated as a responsible em-11

ployee, as defined in section 901(e) of the Education12

Amendments of 1972, shall be considered a campus13

security authority, as defined in section 668.46(a) of14

title 34, Code of Federal Regulations.15

‘‘(19)(A) The Secretary shall, in consultation16

with the Attorney General, develop, design, and ad-17

minister through an online portal, a standardized,18

online survey of students regarding their experiences19

with sexual violence and harassment. The survey20

shall be administered every year. The survey shall21

not include any personally identifiable information.22

The Secretary shall develop such survey tool using23

best practices from peer-reviewed research meas-24

uring sexual violence and harassment. In addition to25



7

AEG14416 S.L.C.

the standardized questions developed by the Sec-1

retary, institutions completing the survey may re-2

quest additional information from students that3

would increase the institutions’ understanding of4

school climate factors unique to their campuses.5

‘‘(B) In carrying out subparagraph (A), the6

Secretary shall require each institution participating7

in any program under this title, to ensure that an8

adequate, random, and representative sample size of9

students enrolled at the institution complete the sur-10

vey described in subparagraph (A) not later than 111

year after the date of enactment of the Campus Ac-12

countability and Safety Act.13

‘‘(C) Responses to the survey shall be submitted14

confidentially and shall not be included in crime sta-15

tistics reported under this subsection. In addition,16

questions should be designed to gather information17

on survivor experiences, and shall therefore use trau-18

ma-informed language to prevent re-traumatization.19

‘‘(D) The survey described in subparagraph (A)20

shall include, but is not limited to, the following top-21

ics:22

‘‘(i) Those designed to determine the inci-23

dence and prevalence of sexual violence, dating24

violence, domestic violence, and stalking.25



8

AEG14416 S.L.C.

‘‘(ii) Those on whether students know1

about institutional policies and procedures.2

‘‘(iii) Those on, if victims reported the vio-3

lence, to whom and what response did they re-4

ceive and if they were informed of, or referred5

to, local, State, on-campus, and or national re-6

sources.7

‘‘(iv) Those on contextual factors, such as8

whether force, incapacitation, or coercion was9

involved.10

‘‘(v) Those on whether the assailant was a11

student.12

‘‘(vi) Those on whether the victim was re-13

ferred to local or State law enforcement.14

‘‘(E) The Secretary shall tabulate and publish15

an annual report on the information gained from the16

survey under this paragraph on the website of the17

Department and submit such report to Congress.18

The report shall include campus-level data for each19

school and attributed by name of each campus.20

‘‘(20) Not later than 180 days after the date of21

enactment of the Campus Accountability and Safety22

Act, the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Edu-23

cation of the Department and the Assistant Sec-24

retary for Civil Rights of the Department shall joint-25



9

AEG14416 S.L.C.

ly develop and make publicly available guidance re-1

garding the intersection between this subsection and2

title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, in3

order to clarify how the provisions of this subsection4

and such title shall be carried out. The guidance5

shall include clarifying language on how this sub-6

section and such title IX interact pertaining to sex-7

ual violence, and shall clarify and resolve any poten-8

tial discrepancies or inconsistencies between the two.9

‘‘(21) Notwithstanding any other provision of10

this Act, upon determination, after reasonable notice11

and opportunity for a hearing, that an eligible insti-12

tution has violated or failed to carry out any provi-13

sion of this subsection, or agreement made to resolve14

a compliance review under this subsection, or any15

regulation prescribed under this subsection, the Sec-16

retary may impose a civil penalty upon such institu-17

tion not to exceed $150,000, which shall be adjusted18

for inflation annually, for each violation or misrepre-19

sentation, or per month a survey is not completed at20

the standard required. The Secretary may use any21

such civil penalty funds to enforce and administer22

the provisions of this subsection.’’.23



10

AEG14416 S.L.C.

SEC. 3. COORDINATION WITH LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.1

(a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title I of the Higher2

Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amend-3

ed by adding at the end the following:4

‘‘SEC. 124. COORDINATION WITH LOCAL LAW ENFORCE-5

MENT.6

‘‘Each institution of higher education that receives7

funds or any other form of financial assistance under any8

Federal program, including participation in any federally9

funded or guaranteed student loan program, shall enter10

into, and update every 2 years, a memorandum of under-11

standing with all applicable local law enforcement agencies12

to clearly delineate responsibilities and share information,13

in accordance with applicable Federal confidentiality laws,14

about certain serious crimes that shall include, but not15

be limited to, sexual violence, occurring against students16

of the institution or against other individuals on the cam-17

pus of the institution. The memorandum of understanding18

shall include, but is not limited to—19

‘‘(1) delineation and sharing protocols of inves-20

tigative responsibilities;21

‘‘(2) protocols for investigations, including22

standards for notification and communication and23

measures to promote evidence preservation;24



11

AEG14416 S.L.C.

‘‘(3) agreed upon training and requirements for1

the institution on issues related to sexual violence;2

and3

‘‘(4) a method of sharing information about4

specific crimes, when directed by the victim, and a5

method of sharing crime details anonymously in6

order to better protect overall campus safety.’’.7

(b) EFFECTIVE D ATE AND PENALTY .—8

(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made9

by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that10

is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.11

(2) PENALTY .—The Secretary of Education—12

(A) may impose a civil penalty of not more13

than 1 percent of an institution’s operating14

budget, as defined by the Secretary of Edu-15

cation, each year that the institution of higher16

education fails to carry out the requirements of17

section 124 of the Higher Education Act of18

1965, as added by subsection (a), by the date19

that is 1 year after the date of enactment of20

this Act; and21

(B) may waive the penalty pursuant to22

paragraph (3).23

(3) W AIVER.—24



12

AEG14416 S.L.C.

(A) IN GENERAL.—If local law enforce-1

ment refuses to enter into a memorandum of2

understanding under section 124 of the Higher3

Education Act of 1965, as added by subsection4

(a), the Secretary of Education may waive the5

penalty under paragraph (2) if the institution6

certifies why the institution was unable to ob-7

tain an agreement and that the institution8

acted in good faith, and submits to the Sec-9

retary a copy of the institution’s final offer that10

was ultimately rejected. The Secretary of Edu-11

cation will then have the discretion to grant the12

waiver.13

(B) REFERRAL TO DEPARTMENT OF JUS-14

TICE.—The Secretary of Education shall refer15

to the Attorney General a copy of each waiver16

granted under paragraph (2)(B) and the rea-17

son, the Secretary has determined, why local18

law enforcement refuses to enter into a memo-19

randum of understanding.20

(C) A DMINISTRATIVE REVIEW .—If the Sec-21

retary of Education does not grant a waiver22

under paragraph (2)(B), the institution may23

submit additional information to receive such24

waiver. If, after submitting additional informa-25



15

AEG14416 S.L.C.

‘‘(C) The confidential advisor shall be1

trained to perform a victim-centered, trauma-2

informed (forensic) interview, which shall focus3

on the experience of the victim. The confidential4

advisor may perform the interview for which the5

goal is to elicit information about the traumatic6

event in question so that the interview can be7

used in either a campus or criminal investiga-8

tion or disciplinary proceeding.9

‘‘(D) The confidential advisor shall inform10

the victim of the victim’s control over possible11

next steps regarding the victim’s reporting op-12

tions and the consequences of those options, in-13

cluding, but not limited to, the option to con-14

duct a forensic interview with the option to15

have the forensic interview be recorded, the op-16

tion to receive a copy of the recorded forensic17

interview with the option to notify a responsible18

employee and initiate a campus disciplinary19

proceeding, the option to notify local law en-20

forcement and initiate a criminal investigation,21

the option to grant campus disciplinary officials22

access to the forensic interview, and the option23

to grant law enforcement officials access to the24

forensic interview. The confidential advisor shall25



16

AEG14416 S.L.C.

assist in conducting a forensic interview, mak-1

ing notifications, and granting access to a fo-2

rensic interview as directed by the victim.3

‘‘(E) The confidential advisor shall liaise4

with campus or local law enforcement when di-5

rected by the victim, and, as appropriate, may6

assist the victim in contacting and reporting to7

campus or local law enforcement.8

‘‘(F) The confidential advisor shall be au-9

thorized by the institution to arrange reason-10

able accommodations through the institution to11

allow the victim to change living arrangements12

or class schedules, or obtain accessibility serv-13

ices, and make other changes.14

‘‘(G) The confidential advisor shall also ad-15

vise the victim of both the victim’s rights and16

the institution’s responsibilities regarding or-17

ders of protection, no contact orders, restrain-18

ing orders, or similar lawful orders issued by19

the institution or a criminal, civil, or tribal20

court.21

‘‘(H) The confidential advisor shall not be22

obligated to report crimes to the institution or23

law enforcement, unless otherwise required to24

do so by State law, and shall provide confiden-25



17

AEG14416 S.L.C.

tial services to students and employees. Re-1

quests for arrangement made by a confidential2

advisor do not constitute notice to a responsible3

employee for title IX purposes, even when such4

advisors work only in the area of sexual assault.5

‘‘(I) The name and contact information for6

the confidential advisor, as well as a victims’ re-7

porting options, the process of investigation and8

adjudication both by the institution and by law9

enforcement, and potential reasonable accom-10

modations, which shall be listed on the website11

of the institution.12

‘‘(J) The institution may partner with an13

outside victim advocacy organization to provide14

the service described in this subparagraph.15

‘‘(K) Each institution that enrolls fewer16

than 1000 students may partner with another17

institution in their region or State to provide18

the services described in this subparagraph.19

‘‘(L) The institution shall appoint an ade-20

quate number of confidential advisors not later21

than the earlier of—22

‘‘(i) 1 year after the Secretary deter-23

mines through a negotiated rulemaking24

process what an adequate number of con-25



18

AEG14416 S.L.C.

fidential advisors is for an institution1

based on its size; or2

‘‘(ii) 3 years after the date of enact-3

ment of the Campus Accountability and4

Safety Act.5

‘‘(2) The institution may provide an online re-6

porting system to collect anonymous disclosures of7

crimes. The victim may submit an anonymous report8

but the institution would only be obligated to inves-9

tigate when a formal report is submitted to a re-10

sponsible employee.11

‘‘(3) The telephone number and URL for a12

local, State, or national hotline providing informa-13

tion to sexual violence victims shall be clearly com-14

municated on the website of the institution and up-15

dated on a timely basis.16

‘‘(4) The name and location of the nearest med-17

ical facility where an individual may have a rape kit18

administered by a trained sexual violence forensic19

nurse shall be included on the website of the institu-20

tion, including information on transportation options21

and reimbursement for a visit to such facility.22

‘‘(5) The institution shall provide an amnesty23

clause for any student who reports, in good faith,24

sexual violence to a responsible employee so that25



19

AEG14416 S.L.C.

they will not be sanctioned by the institution for a1

student conduct violation, such as underage drink-2

ing, that is revealed in the course of such a report.’’.3

(b) EFFECTIVE D ATE.—Paragraphs (2) through (5)4

of section 125 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as5

added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the date that6

is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.7

(c) PENALTY .—8

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education9

may impose a civil penalty of not more than 1 per-10

cent of an institution’s operating budget, as defined11

by the Secretary, each year that the institution fails12

to carry out the requirements of —13

(A) section 125(1) of the Higher Edu-14

cation Act of 1965, as added by subsection (a),15

by not later than the earlier of—16

(i) 1 year after the Secretary of Edu-17

cation determines through a negotiated18

rulemaking process what an adequate19

number of confidential advisors is for the20

institution based on its size; or21

(ii) 3 years after the date of enact-22

ment of this Act; and23

(B) paragraphs (2) through (5) of section24

125 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as25



20

AEG14416 S.L.C.

added by subsection (a), by the date that is 11

year after the date of enactment of this Act.2

(2) V OLUNTARY RESOLUTION.—Nothing in this3

subsection shall prevent the Secretary of Education4

from entering into a voluntary resolution with an in-5

stitution of higher education that fails to carry out6

the requirements of—7

(A) section 125(1) of the Higher Edu-8

cation Act of 1965, as added by subsection (a),9

by not later than the earlier of—10

(i) 1 year after the Secretary of Edu-11

cation determines through a negotiated12

rulemaking process what an adequate13

number of confidential advisors is for the14

institution based on its size; or15

(ii) 3 years after the date of enact-16

ment of this Act; and17

(B) paragraphs (2) through (5) of section18

125 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as19

added by subsection (a), by the date that is 120

year after the date of enactment of this Act.21

(d) NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING.—The Secretary of22

Education shall establish regulations to carry out the this23

section and the amendment made by this section in ac-24

cordance with the requirements described under section25



21

AEG14416 S.L.C.

492 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.1

1098a).2

SEC. 5. PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS.3

Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 19654

(20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by striking paragraph5

(12) and inserting the following:6

‘‘(12) The institution certifies that—7

‘‘(A) the institution is in compliance with8

the requirements of section 124 regarding co-9

ordination with local law enforcement;10

‘‘(B) the institution has established sup-11

port for survivors of sexual violence that meets12

the requirements of section 125; and13

‘‘(C) the institution has complied with the14

disclosure requirements of section 485(f).’’.15

SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT AND TRAINING; SUBPOENA AU-16

THORITY.17

Section 901 of the Education Amendments of 197218

(20 U.S.C. 1681) is amended by adding at the end the19

following:20

‘‘(d) W EBSITE.—The Secretary of Education shall21

establish a title IX website that includes the following:22

‘‘(1) The name and contact information for the23

title IX coordinator, including a brief description of24

the coordinator’s role and the roles of other officials25



22

AEG14416 S.L.C.

who may be contacted to discuss or report sexual1

harassment, for each educational institution. Each2

educational institution shall provide the name and3

contact information for the title IX coordinator to4

the Secretary of Education not later than 30 days5

after the date of enactment of the Campus Account-6

ability and Safety Act.7

‘‘(2) The Department’s pending investigations,8

enforcement actions, letters of finding, final resolu-9

tions, and voluntary resolution agreements for all10

complaints and compliance reviews under this title11

related to sexual harassment. The Secretary shall in-12

dicate whether the investigation, action, letter, reso-13

lution, or agreement is based on a complaint or com-14

pliance review. The Secretary shall make the infor-15

mation under this subsection available regarding a16

complaint once the Office for Civil Rights receives a17

written complaint, and conducts an initial evalua-18

tion, and has determined that the complaint should19

be opened for investigation of an allegation that, if20

substantiated, would constitute a violation of this21

title. In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary22

shall ensure that personally identifiable information23

is not reported and shall comply with section 444 of24

the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C.25



23

AEG14416 S.L.C.

1232g), commonly known as the ‘Family Edu-1

cational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974’.2

‘‘(e) TRAINING OF RESPONSIBLE EMPLOYEES AND 3

OTHER EMPLOYEES.—4

‘‘(1) RESPONSIBLE EMPLOYEE.—In this sub-5

section, the term ‘responsible employee’ means an6

employee of an institution of higher education who7

has the authority to redress sexual harassment or8

who has the duty to report incidents of sexual har-9

assment or other misconduct by students or employ-10

ees to the title IX coordinator or other appropriate11

school designee.12

‘‘(2) TRAINING OF RESPONSIBLE EMPLOY -13

EES.—Each institution of higher education shall em-14

ploy a responsible employee who shall complete min-15

imum training requirements (as determined by the16

Secretary of Education in coordination with the At-17

torney General and to include training by local,18

State, or national victim services organizations) and19

shall be responsible for—20

‘‘(A) reporting cases of sexual harassment21

to the title IX coordinator of the institution;22

and23

‘‘(B) providing a student or employee who24

reports that the student or employee has been25



24

AEG14416 S.L.C.

a victim of sexual harassment, including, but1

not limited to, sexual violence, whether the of-2

fense occurred on or off campus, with a written3

explanation of the student or employee’s rights4

and options, as described in clauses (ii) through5

(vii) of section 485(f)(8)(B) of the Higher Edu-6

cation Act of 1965.7

‘‘(3) OTHER / ADDITIONAL TRAINING.—Each in-8

dividual who is involved in implementing an institu-9

tion of higher education’s grievance procedures, in-10

cluding each individual who is responsible for resolv-11

ing complaints of reported crimes, shall have train-12

ing or experience in handling sexual violence com-13

plaints, and the operations of the institution’s griev-14

ance procedures, not later than 1 year after the date15

of enactment of the Campus Accountability and16

Safety Act. The training shall include, but is not17

limited to—18

‘‘(A) information on working with and19

interviewing persons subjected to sexual vio-20

lence;21

‘‘(B) information on particular types of22

conduct that would constitute sexual violence,23

including same-sex sexual violence;24



25

AEG14416 S.L.C.

‘‘(C) information on consent and the role1

drugs or alcohol can play in the ability to con-2

sent;3

‘‘(D) the effects of trauma, including4

neurobiological change; and5

‘‘(E) cultural awareness training regarding6

how sexual violence may impact students dif-7

ferently depending on their cultural back-8

ground.9

‘‘(4) UNIFORM CAMPUS- WIDE PROCESS FOR 10

DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDING RELATING TO CLAIM OF 11

SEXUAL VIOLENCE.—Each institution of higher edu-12

cation that receives Federal funding—13

‘‘(A) shall establish and carry out a uni-14

form process (for each campus of the institu-15

tion) for disciplinary proceedings relating to16

any claims of sexual violence; and17

‘‘(B) shall not carry out a different dis-18

ciplinary process on the same campus for a19

matter of sexual violence, or alter the uniform20

process described in subparagraph (A), based21

on the status or characteristics of a student22

who will be involved in that disciplinary pro-23

ceeding, including characteristics such as a stu-24

dent’s membership on an athletic team, aca-25



26

AEG14416 S.L.C.

demic major, or any other characteristic or sta-1

tus of a student.2

‘‘(f) DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND DEPART-3

MENT OF JUSTICE CIVIL PENALTIES FOR INSTITUTIONS 4

OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—5

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon determination, after6

reasonable notice and opportunity for a hearing, that7

an educational institution that is an institution of8

higher education has violated or failed to carry out9

any provision of this section in a factual cir-10

cumstance related to sexual violence or any regula-11

tion prescribed under this section related to sexual12

violence, the Secretary of Education or Attorney13

General, may impose a civil penalty upon such insti-14

tution of not more than 1 percent of the institution’s15

1-year operating budget, as defined by the Secretary16

of Education, for each violation or failure. A civil17

penalty shall not interfere with the Secretary’s or18

Attorney General’s ability to enter into a voluntary19

resolution agreement with an institution of higher20

education.21

‘‘(2) A DJUSTMENT TO PENALTIES.—Any civil22

penalty under paragraph (1) may be modified by the23

Secretary of Education or Attorney General. In de-24

termining the amount of such penalty, or the25



27

AEG14416 S.L.C.

amount agreed upon in compromise, the appro-1

priateness of the penalty to the size of the operating2

budget of the educational institution subject to the3

determination, and the gravity of the violation or4

failure, and whether the violation or failure was done5

intentionally, negligently, or otherwise, shall be con-6

sidered.7

‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION.—Any civil monetary pen-8

alty or monetary settlement collected under this sub-9

section shall be transferred to the Office for Civil10

Rights of the Department of Education or the De-11

partment of Justice to be used for purposes of en-12

forcing the provisions of this title related to sexual13

harassment.14

‘‘(4) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in the Campus15

Accountability and Safety Act, or any amendment16

made by such Act, shall alter, amend, or interfere17

with the rights and remedies provided for and avail-18

able under this title.19

‘‘(g) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—An individual may20

file a complaint for a violation of this title, with regards21

to sexual violence, with the Office for Civil Rights of the22

Department of Education not later than 180 days after23

the date of graduation or disaffiliation with the institution.24



28

AEG14416 S.L.C.

‘‘(h) SUBPOENA AND CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND 1

A UTHORITY .—2

‘‘(1) A UTHORITY TO COMPEL.—In order to ob-3

tain information and documents that are relevant to4

determining compliance with this title, including any5

regulations promulgated to carry out this title, the6

Assistant Secretary of the Office for Civil Rights of7

the Department of Education and the Assistant At-8

torney General of the Civil Rights Division of the9

Department of Justice are authorized to require by10

subpoena the attendance and testimony of any per-11

son that one can reasonably believe to have first-12

hand knowledge, including current and former stu-13

dents and employees of institutions of higher edu-14

cation, and the production of documents, including15

reports, answers, records, accounts, papers, and16

other data in any medium (including electronically17

stored information), and any tangible thing.18

‘‘(2) REFUSAL TO OBEY .—A subpoena issued19

under this subsection, in the case of contumacy or20

refusal to obey, shall be enforceable by order of any21

appropriate United States district court.22

‘‘(3) CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND AUTHOR-23

ITY .—The Assistant Secretary of the Office for Civil24

Rights of the Department of Education and the As-25



29

AEG14416 S.L.C.

sistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division1

of the Department of Justice shall have civil inves-2

tigative demand authority, which authorizes the re-3

quest for documents of the institutions and written4

answers to interrogatories in order to determine5

compliance with title IX.6

‘‘(i) COORDINATOR.—Each educational institution7

that receives Federal financial assistance from the Depart-8

ment of Education shall submit, annually, to the Office9

for Civil Rights of the Department of Education and the10

Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the11

name of the title IX coordinator of the institution, includ-12

ing a brief description of the coordinator’s role and the13

roles of other officials of the institution who may be con-14

tacted to discuss or report sexual violence, and documenta-15

tion of training received by the title IX coordinator. The16

educational institution shall provide updated information17

to the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Edu-18

cation and the Civil Rights Division of the Department19

of Justice not later than 30 days after the date of any20

change.’’.21



30

AEG14416 S.L.C.

SEC. 7. TRAINING FOR CAMPUS PERSONNEL ON VICTIM-1

CENTERED TRAUMA-INFORMED (FORENSIC)2

INTERVIEWS.3

Section 304 of the Violence Against Women and De-4

partment of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (425

U.S.C. 14045b) is amended—6

(1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘$300,000’’7

and inserting ‘‘$500,000’’;8

(2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the9

following;10

‘‘(11) To train campus personnel in conducting11

victim-centered, trauma-informed (forensic) inter-12

views.’’; and13

(3) in subsection (g)—14

(A) by striking ‘‘In this section’’ and in-15

serting ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section’’;16

and17

(B) by adding at the end the following;18

‘‘(2) V ICTIM-CENTERED, TRAUMA -INFORMED 19

(FORENSIC) INTERVIEW .—In this section, the term20

‘victim-centered, trauma-informed (forensic) inter-21

view’ means an evidence-based interview focused on22

the experience of the victim, conducted by a trained23

forensic interviewer, in which the goal of the inter-24

view is to elicit information about the traumatic25

event in question for use in a future investigation.26



31

AEG14416 S.L.C.

The victim shall be given the option to have the1

interview recorded and to receive a copy of the re-2

corded interview. The victim shall be informed of the3

reasons why the victim may or may not choose to4

have the interview recorded.’’.5

a bill to amend the higher education act of 1965

Documents