The House on June 12 approved, by voice vote, a bill (H.R. 4504) containing a provision related to sex offenders enrolled in public colleges and universities. The measure was considered under an expedited procedure known as suspension of the rules, which bars amendments and requires a two-thirds vote to pass.
Intended as a set of technical corrections to the Higher Education Amendments Act (P.L. 105-244) approved by Congress in 1998, H.R. 4504 contains a provision requiring public colleges and universities to publish information about convicted sex offenders who register for classes. The provision was adopted as an amendment when the bill was considered by the House Education and Workforce Committee on May 25. Offered by Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ), the amendment would expand a statute known as Megan’s Law (P.L. 104-145), which requires state and local law enforcement to release information about convicted sex offenders. Convicted offenders would be required to inform colleges and universities if they enroll; the institutions would then be required to make the information available on campus.
Speaking in favor of the bill on the House floor, Education and the Workforce Committee Chair Bill Goodling (R-PA) said the provision on sex offenders “will ensure that the same information about sex offenders available to other state citizens is available to college students….Without a clear statement that schools are obligated to release this information, questions will remain about the legality of releasing sex offender information.” In addition, he said, H.R. 4504 “sensibly provides that universities develop a policy statement regarding the availability of this information as part of their annual crime statistics report.”
