| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 826 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination |
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| 6 | 6 | | under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance |
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| 7 | 7 | | on the ground of religion, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 |
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| 8 | 8 | | to provide for rigorous enforcement of prohibitions against discrimination |
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| 9 | 9 | | by institutions of higher education on the basis of antisemitism, and |
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| 10 | 10 | | for other purposes. |
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| 11 | 11 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 12 | 12 | | MARCH4, 2025 |
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| 13 | 13 | | Mr. S |
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| 14 | 14 | | COTTof Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and |
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| 15 | 15 | | referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions |
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| 16 | 16 | | A BILL |
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| 17 | 17 | | To amend title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit |
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| 18 | 18 | | discrimination under any program or activity receiving |
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| 19 | 19 | | Federal financial assistance on the ground of religion, |
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| 20 | 20 | | to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide |
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| 21 | 21 | | for rigorous enforcement of prohibitions against discrimi- |
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| 22 | 22 | | nation by institutions of higher education on the basis |
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| 23 | 23 | | of antisemitism, and for other purposes. |
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| 24 | 24 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | •S 826 IS |
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| 29 | 29 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Antisemitic 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | Harassment on Campus Act of 2025’’. 3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION ON THE 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | GROUND OF RELIGION. 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (a) I |
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| 35 | 35 | | NGENERAL.—Section 601 of the Civil Rights 6 |
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| 36 | 36 | | Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d) is amended by striking 7 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ‘‘or national origin’’ and inserting ‘‘national origin, or reli-8 |
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| 38 | 38 | | gion’’. 9 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (b) N |
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| 40 | 40 | | ON-APPLICATION.—Title VI of the Civil Rights 10 |
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| 41 | 41 | | Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) is amended by add-11 |
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| 42 | 42 | | ing at the end the following: 12 |
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| 43 | 43 | | ‘‘SEC. 607. NON-APPLICATION OF PROHIBITION OF DIS-13 |
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| 44 | 44 | | CRIMINATION ON THE GROUND OF RELIGION 14 |
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| 45 | 45 | | TO RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. 15 |
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| 46 | 46 | | ‘‘The prohibition of discrimination under any pro-16 |
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| 47 | 47 | | gram or activity receiving Federal financial assistance on 17 |
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| 48 | 48 | | the ground of religion under this title shall not apply to 18 |
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| 49 | 49 | | a program or activity that is conducted or controlled by, 19 |
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| 50 | 50 | | or is otherwise affiliated with, a religious organization, in-20 |
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| 51 | 51 | | cluding a student religious organization.’’. 21 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (c) H |
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| 53 | 53 | | ARASSMENT.—Section 601 of the Civil Rights 22 |
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| 54 | 54 | | Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d) is amended— 23 |
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| 55 | 55 | | (1) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting the 24 |
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| 56 | 56 | | following: ‘‘ |
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| 57 | 57 | | PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINA -25 |
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| 58 | 58 | | TION.— 26 |
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| 61 | 61 | | •S 826 IS |
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| 62 | 62 | | ‘‘(a) INGENERAL.—No person’’; and 1 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (2) by adding at the end the following: 2 |
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| 64 | 64 | | ‘‘(b) I |
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| 65 | 65 | | NCLUSION OF INDIFFERENCE TO HARASS-3 |
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| 66 | 66 | | MENT.—The term ‘discrimination’, for purposes of this 4 |
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| 67 | 67 | | title and with respect to an educational program or activ-5 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ity of a college, university, or other postsecondary institu-6 |
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| 69 | 69 | | tion, or a public system of higher education, includes delib-7 |
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| 70 | 70 | | erate indifference to harassment that is so severe, perva-8 |
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| 71 | 71 | | sive, and objectively offensive, and that so undermines and 9 |
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| 72 | 72 | | detracts from a victim’s educational experience, that the 10 |
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| 73 | 73 | | victim is effectively denied equal access to the resources 11 |
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| 74 | 74 | | and opportunities of the educational program or activity.’’. 12 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (d) P |
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| 76 | 76 | | OLICY.— 13 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (1) I |
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| 78 | 78 | | N GENERAL.—It shall be the policy of the 14 |
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| 79 | 79 | | United States to enforce title VI of the Civil Rights 15 |
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| 80 | 80 | | Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) against pro-16 |
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| 81 | 81 | | hibited forms of discrimination rooted in anti-17 |
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| 82 | 82 | | semitism no less vigorously than against all other 18 |
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| 83 | 83 | | forms of discrimination prohibited by such title VI. 19 |
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| 84 | 84 | | (2) D |
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| 85 | 85 | | EFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM .—In this 20 |
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| 86 | 86 | | subsection, the term ‘‘antisemitism’’ means a certain 21 |
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| 87 | 87 | | perception of Jews, which may be expressed as ha-22 |
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| 88 | 88 | | tred toward Jews, and the rhetorical and physical 23 |
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| 89 | 89 | | manifestations of which are directed toward— 24 |
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| 92 | 92 | | •S 826 IS |
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| 93 | 93 | | (A) Jewish or non-Jewish individuals or 1 |
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| 94 | 94 | | their property; or 2 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (B) Jewish community institutions or reli-3 |
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| 96 | 96 | | gious facilities. 4 |
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| 97 | 97 | | SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 5 |
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| 98 | 98 | | 1965. 6 |
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| 99 | 99 | | Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 7 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 8 |
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| 101 | 101 | | the following: 9 |
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| 102 | 102 | | ‘‘SEC. 124. SANCTIONS FOR NONCOMPLIANCE WITH TITLE 10 |
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| 103 | 103 | | VI. 11 |
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| 104 | 104 | | ‘‘(a) D |
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| 105 | 105 | | EFINITION OFINSTITUTION OFHIGHEREDU-12 |
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| 106 | 106 | | CATION.—In this section, the term ‘institution of higher 13 |
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| 107 | 107 | | education’ has the meaning given the term in section 102. 14 |
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| 108 | 108 | | ‘‘(b) S |
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| 109 | 109 | | ANCTIONS FORCERTAINVIOLATIONS.— 15 |
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| 110 | 110 | | ‘‘(1) S |
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| 111 | 111 | | ANCTIONS.— 16 |
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| 112 | 112 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 113 | 113 | | N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec-17 |
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| 114 | 114 | | tion 602 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 18 |
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| 115 | 115 | | U.S.C. 2000d–1), an institution of higher edu-19 |
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| 116 | 116 | | cation that receives Federal financial assistance 20 |
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| 117 | 117 | | under this Act and is found, by the Office for 21 |
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| 118 | 118 | | Civil Rights of the Department, to be in viola-22 |
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| 119 | 119 | | tion of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 23 |
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| 120 | 120 | | (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) with respect to 24 |
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| 121 | 121 | | antisemitic discrimination in a program or ac-25 |
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| 124 | 124 | | •S 826 IS |
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| 125 | 125 | | tivity as described in subparagraph (B) or (C) 1 |
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| 126 | 126 | | shall be subject to the sanction provided in sub-2 |
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| 127 | 127 | | paragraph (B) or (C), after the Secretary— 3 |
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| 128 | 128 | | ‘‘(i) notifies the institution of such 4 |
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| 129 | 129 | | finding; and 5 |
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| 130 | 130 | | ‘‘(ii) provides the institution with an 6 |
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| 131 | 131 | | opportunity for a hearing. 7 |
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| 132 | 132 | | ‘‘(B) T |
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| 133 | 133 | | WO VIOLATIONS.—In the case of a 8 |
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| 134 | 134 | | particular program of an institution that vio-9 |
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| 135 | 135 | | lates title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 10 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) with respect to 11 |
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| 137 | 137 | | antisemitic discrimination for a second time 12 |
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| 138 | 138 | | within the 5-year period preceding the date of 13 |
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| 139 | 139 | | the second violation, the Secretary shall impose 14 |
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| 140 | 140 | | a fine on the institution in an amount that is 15 |
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| 141 | 141 | | not less than 10 percent of the Federal finan-16 |
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| 142 | 142 | | cial assistance received under this Act by the 17 |
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| 143 | 143 | | particular program of the institution in which 18 |
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| 144 | 144 | | the violation was found during the year of the 19 |
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| 145 | 145 | | second violation (regardless of how long the in-20 |
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| 146 | 146 | | stitution remains in violation) and any subse-21 |
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| 147 | 147 | | quent year during which the institution remains 22 |
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| 148 | 148 | | in violation for not less than 90 days. 23 |
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| 149 | 149 | | ‘‘(C) T |
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| 150 | 150 | | HREE VIOLATIONS.—In the case of 24 |
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| 151 | 151 | | a particular program of an institution that vio-25 |
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| 154 | 154 | | •S 826 IS |
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| 155 | 155 | | lates title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 1 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) with respect to 2 |
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| 157 | 157 | | antisemitic discrimination for a third time with-3 |
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| 158 | 158 | | in the 5-year period preceding the date of the 4 |
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| 159 | 159 | | third violation, the Secretary shall impose a fine 5 |
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| 160 | 160 | | on the institution in an amount that is not less 6 |
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| 161 | 161 | | than 33 percent of the Federal financial assist-7 |
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| 162 | 162 | | ance received under this Act by the particular 8 |
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| 163 | 163 | | program of the institution in which the violation 9 |
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| 164 | 164 | | was found during the year of the third violation 10 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (regardless of how long the institution remains 11 |
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| 166 | 166 | | in violation) and any subsequent year during 12 |
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| 167 | 167 | | which the institution remains in violation for 13 |
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| 168 | 168 | | not less than 90 days. 14 |
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| 169 | 169 | | ‘‘(2) W |
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| 170 | 170 | | AIVER.—For purposes of imposing sanc-15 |
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| 171 | 171 | | tions under paragraph (1), the Secretary may treat 16 |
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| 172 | 172 | | violations described in paragraph (1) as a single vio-17 |
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| 173 | 173 | | lation if the violations— 18 |
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| 174 | 174 | | ‘‘(A) are in relation to discrimination that 19 |
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| 175 | 175 | | was conducted by a person other than the insti-20 |
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| 176 | 176 | | tution or its faculty or staff; and 21 |
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| 177 | 177 | | ‘‘(B) occurred within a span of not more 22 |
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| 178 | 178 | | than 24 hours. 23 |
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| 179 | 179 | | ‘‘(c) M |
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| 180 | 180 | | ONITORING.—The Secretary shall monitor pri-24 |
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| 181 | 181 | | vate lawsuits brought against institutions of higher edu-25 |
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| 184 | 184 | | •S 826 IS |
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| 185 | 185 | | cation that receive Federal financial assistance under this 1 |
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| 186 | 186 | | Act for a violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 2 |
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| 187 | 187 | | 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) with respect to antisemitic 3 |
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| 188 | 188 | | discrimination to independently evaluate whether the insti-4 |
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| 189 | 189 | | tution violated title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 5 |
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| 190 | 190 | | (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) with respect to antisemitic dis-6 |
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| 191 | 191 | | crimination. 7 |
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| 192 | 192 | | ‘‘(d) N |
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| 193 | 193 | | OTIFICATION TOSTUDENTS, FACULTY, AND 8 |
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| 194 | 194 | | S |
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| 195 | 195 | | TAFF.—An institution of higher education that receives 9 |
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| 196 | 196 | | Federal financial assistance under this Act and is found 10 |
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| 197 | 197 | | to be in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 11 |
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| 198 | 198 | | 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) with respect to antisemitic 12 |
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| 199 | 199 | | discrimination shall provide a notification of such finding 13 |
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| 200 | 200 | | to all enrolled students, faculty, and staff of the institu-14 |
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| 201 | 201 | | tion. 15 |
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| 202 | 202 | | ‘‘(e) R |
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| 203 | 203 | | EPORT.—The Secretary shall submit a full 16 |
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| 204 | 204 | | written report to the Committee on Health, Education, 17 |
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| 205 | 205 | | Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 18 |
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| 206 | 206 | | Education and the Workforce of the House of Representa-19 |
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| 207 | 207 | | tives with respect to each action to impose a fine under 20 |
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| 208 | 208 | | subsection (b) that includes the circumstances and 21 |
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| 209 | 209 | | grounds for such action.’’. 22 |
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| 212 | 212 | | •S 826 IS |
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| 213 | 213 | | SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 1 |
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| 214 | 214 | | Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2 |
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| 215 | 215 | | 2000d et seq.), as amended by section 2, is further amend-3 |
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| 216 | 216 | | ed by adding at the end the following: 4 |
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| 217 | 217 | | ‘‘SEC. 608. FACTORS IN DETERMINATION OF NONCOMPLI-5 |
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| 218 | 218 | | ANCE; MONITOR. 6 |
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| 219 | 219 | | ‘‘(a) F |
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| 220 | 220 | | ACTORS.—Each Federal department and agen-7 |
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| 221 | 221 | | cy in determining whether a person is in compliance with 8 |
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| 222 | 222 | | a requirement adopted pursuant to section 602, and court 9 |
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| 223 | 223 | | in determining whether a person has violated this title, 10 |
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| 224 | 224 | | shall make considerations, including of the following fac-11 |
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| 225 | 225 | | tors: 12 |
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| 226 | 226 | | ‘‘(1) The person’s prevention of discrimination, 13 |
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| 227 | 227 | | and remediation (including disciplining faculty and 14 |
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| 228 | 228 | | staff) with respect to discrimination, on the basis of 15 |
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| 229 | 229 | | another ground provided in section 601. 16 |
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| 230 | 230 | | ‘‘(2) The person’s prevention of discrimination, 17 |
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| 231 | 231 | | and remediation (including disciplining faculty and 18 |
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| 232 | 232 | | staff) with respect to discrimination, against another 19 |
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| 233 | 233 | | group on the basis of the same ground for which the 20 |
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| 234 | 234 | | determination of compliance or a violation is being 21 |
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| 235 | 235 | | made. 22 |
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| 236 | 236 | | ‘‘(b) M |
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| 237 | 237 | | ONITOR.—A court that finds a violation of this 23 |
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| 238 | 238 | | title or upholds a department or agency determination of 24 |
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| 239 | 239 | | noncompliance with a requirement adopted pursuant to 25 |
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| 240 | 240 | | section 602 may appoint a monitor to review and report 26 |
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| 243 | 243 | | •S 826 IS |
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| 244 | 244 | | on the implementation of any remedy with respect to such 1 |
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| 245 | 245 | | finding or determination.’’. 2 |
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| 246 | 246 | | SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 3 |
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| 247 | 247 | | Nothing in this Act, or any of the amendments made 4 |
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| 248 | 248 | | under this Act, shall be construed— 5 |
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| 249 | 249 | | (1) to expand the authority of the Secretary of 6 |
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| 250 | 250 | | Education; 7 |
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| 251 | 251 | | (2) to infringe on, or otherwise diminish, the 8 |
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| 252 | 252 | | rights protected under any other provision of law; 9 |
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| 253 | 253 | | (3) to create any negative inference as to either 10 |
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| 254 | 254 | | the legal protections provided to victims of anti-11 |
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| 255 | 255 | | semitism or the prohibitions on antisemitic discrimi-12 |
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| 256 | 256 | | nation by Federal law prior to date of enactment of 13 |
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| 257 | 257 | | this Act; and 14 |
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| 258 | 258 | | (4) to infringe on, diminish, or otherwise con-15 |
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| 259 | 259 | | flict with any right protected under the First 16 |
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| 260 | 260 | | Amendment to the Constitution of the United 17 |
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| 261 | 261 | | States. 18 |
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| 262 | 262 | | SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 19 |
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| 263 | 263 | | If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 20 |
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| 264 | 264 | | this Act, or the application of such provision or amend-21 |
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| 265 | 265 | | ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti-22 |
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| 266 | 266 | | tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 23 |
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| 267 | 267 | | by this Act, and the application of such provisions and 24 |
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| 270 | 270 | | •S 826 IS |
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| 271 | 271 | | amendments to any other person or circumstance shall not 1 |
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| 272 | 272 | | be affected. 2 |
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| 273 | 273 | | Æ |
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