September 8th, 2017 by WCBC Radio

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a cosponsor of the bipartisan Campus Accountability and Safety Act (S. 856), released the following statement regarding Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ Title IX Enforcement Announcement.

“It’s appalling that the Secretary of Education would try to dilute the Department of Education’s landmark 2011 campus sexual assault protections. The Department of Justice found that one in five women experiences sexual assault in college. This should lead us to increase protections for these victims, as so many colleges have already been doing, not minimize their experiences. 

“A move in the right direction would be removing the Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Candice Jackson, who made the egregious comment in July that ‘90 percent’ of campus sexual assault claims were actually regretted sex. Jackson also has instructed the staff of the Office of Civil Rights to shrink the scope of their civil rights investigations, which sends a signal to sexual assault survivors that the Department does not intend to fulfill its commitment under Title IX to protect vulnerable students. I urge Secretary DeVos and President Trump to protect America’s students by nominating a permanent Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights that will commit themselves to the Office’s mission of vigorous enforcement of civil rights.”