June 24, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 106 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages S4461-S4462]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 262--AFFIRMING THE IMPORTANCE OF TITLE IX, APPLAUDING 
  THE INCREASE IN EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO ALL PEOPLE, 
 REGARDLESS OF SEX OR GENDER, AND RECOGNIZING THE TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF 
      WORK LEFT TO BE DONE TO FURTHER INCREASE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES

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

                              S. Res. 262

       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 2017, women earned the majority of doctoral, 
     master's, and associate degrees;
       Whereas in the 2016-2017 academic year, women earned 
     approximately 57 percent of the bachelor's degrees awarded by 
     institutions of higher education in the United States for the 
     18th consecutive year;
       Whereas since 1972, the participation of women and girls in 
     sports has increased by 1,000 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 transgender and gender non-conforming students 
     in the United States are still frequently denied equal 
     educational opportunities;

[[Page S4462]]

       Whereas pregnant and parenting students are more likely to 
     drop out of high school compared to other students, and only 
     51 percent of teenage mothers earn a high school diploma by 
     the age of 22, leading to decreased opportunities for 
     continuing education and employment;
       Whereas the number of baccalaureate degrees in science, 
     technology, engineering, and math earned by women has 
     decreased over the past decade and, as of the 2016-2017 
     academic year, women earn only--
       (1) 38 percent of physical science degrees;
       (2) 19 percent of computing degrees;
       (3) 20 percent of engineering degrees; and
       (4) 42 percent of mathematics degrees;
       Whereas, despite representing 56 percent of all students 
     enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States, 
     women hold almost \2/3\ of all outstanding student debt 
     ($900,000,000,000 of the total $1,400,000,000,000), and the 
     average amount of student debt owed by a woman following the 
     completion of a baccalaureate degree is $2,700 more than the 
     average amount of student debt owed by a man;
       Whereas, despite constituting 50 percent of law school 
     graduates over the past 20 years, women constitute only 22.7 
     percent of partners at major law firms;
       Whereas, while women represent 75 percent of the healthcare 
     workforce, only 12 percent of the chief executive officers of 
     hospitals are women;
       Whereas 44 percent of all National Collegiate Athletic 
     Association Division I, Division II, and Division III student 
     athletes are women, but only 11 percent of the athletic 
     directors in Division I sports are women;
       Whereas men still hold the vast majority of leadership 
     positions, while women make up approximately--
       (1) 4.8 percent of the chief executive officers of 
     companies included in the S&P 500;
       (2) 18 percent of Governors;
       (3) 27.6 percent of executive officers elected in statewide 
     elections; and
       (4) 30 percent of college and university presidents;
       Whereas, when data is disaggregated, women of color have 
     lower rates of--
       (1) leadership positions; and
       (2) science, technology, engineering, and math degrees;
       Whereas women continue to experience sexual harassment and 
     assault--
       (1) as minors;
       (2) at colleges and universities; and
       (3) in the workplace;
       Whereas 1 in 4 girls will experience some form of sexual 
     abuse before turning 18 years old, with--
       (1) 8 percent of high school students experiencing physical 
     dating violence; and
       (2) 7 percent of high school students experiencing sexual 
     assault by a dating partner;
       Whereas experiencing sexual abuse can--
       (1) lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety; and
       (2) negatively impact academic achievement;

       Whereas multiple studies have confirmed that--
       (1) 1 in 5 women and 1 in 4 transgender or gender non-
     conforming students are sexually assaulted on college 
     campuses; and
       (2) approximately 20 percent of girls have been the victims 
     of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault while in high 
     school;
       Whereas students face pervasive discrimination and 
     harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender 
     identity in school, on college campuses, and in the 
     workplace, 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;
       Whereas, because of the recent national focus on sexual 
     harassment and assault, reporting to the Equal Employment 
     Opportunity Commission (referred to in this preamble as the 
     ``EEOC'') has increased 12 percent from 2017 to 2018, 
     reflecting more accurate data on the prevalence of harassment 
     and resulting in a 50 percent increase in lawsuits filed by 
     the EEOC in 2018;
       Whereas the rule proposed by the Department of Education 
     regarding title IX would substantially narrow campus 
     protections and would irresponsibly reverse much of the 
     progress made to combat sexual assaults on educational 
     campuses; 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 that there 
     will be fewer resources and less attention focused on issues 
     of sexual and dating violence and discrimination against 
     transgender students 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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