I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5974 

To direct the Secretary of Education to pay to Fort Lewis College in the 

State of Colorado an amount equal to the tuition charges for Indian 

students who are not residents of the State of Colorado. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2010 

Mr. SALAZAR (for himself, Mr. LUJA ́N, Ms. MARKEY of Colorado, Mr. POLIS

of Colorado, Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado, and Mr. PERLMUTTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to pay to Fort Lewis 

College in the State of Colorado an amount equal to 

the tuition charges for Indian students who are not residents of the State of Colorado. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PURPOSE. 

4 It is the purpose of this Act to ensure that Federal 

5 funding is provided to support and sustain the long6 standing Federal mandate requiring Fort Lewis College 

7 in the State of Colorado to waive tuition charges for each 


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1 Indian student it admits to an undergraduate program, 

2 including the waiver of tuition charges for Indian students 

3 who are not residents of the State of Colorado. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds that— 

6 (1) Fort Lewis College in the State of Colorado 

7 is a signature school for Indian students from 

8 throughout the Nation and graduates more Indian 

9 students than any other institution of higher edu10 cation; 

11 (2) in 2009 Fort Lewis College awarded 

12 science, technology, engineering, and math degrees 

13 to 95 Indian students, which is equal to 13.5 per14 cent of the total number of degrees awarded to In15 dian students in the Nation in 2009 and more than 

16 the number of degrees awarded by any other institu17 tion of higher education awarded in 2009; 

18 (3) Fort Lewis College currently provides feder19 ally mandated tuition-free education to approxi20 mately 750 Indian students from 122 different In21 dian tribes and 30 States, representing about 21 

22 percent of the overall student population at this Na23 tive American-Serving Non-Tribal College; 

24 (4) this Federal mandate to provide tuition-free 

25 education to Indian students was first placed upon 


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1 the State of Colorado in the Act of April 4, 1910 

2 (Session II, Chapter 140), as a condition of the 

3 transfer of the land, buildings, and fixtures com4 prising the then federally operated Fort Lewis 

5 School; 

6 (5) the amount of funds expended by the State 

7 of Colorado to meet the waiver of tuition obligations 

8 under the Act of April 4, 1910 (Session II, Chapter 

9 140), for all Indian students, both out-of-State and 

10 in-State, far exceeds the value of the land, buildings, 

11 and fixtures it holds for the benefit of Fort Lewis 

12 College; 

13 (6) while the present value of the land, build14 ings, and fixtures conveyed in 1910 is approximately 

15 $19,000,000, the State of Colorado has expended, 

16 just counting the past 25 years, over $110,000,000 

17 to meet the costs of the tuition waivers for Native 

18 American Indian students from 44 different States; 

19 and 

20 (7) the federally mandated tuition waiver pro21 gram for Indian students at Fort Lewis College is 

22 now at risk of being reduced by severe budget con23 straints being experienced by the State of Colorado, 

24 thereby jeopardizing the education of many talented 


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1 Indian students in present and future classes from 

2 around the Nation. 

3 SEC. 3. STATE RELIEF FROM FEDERAL MANDATE. 

4 (a) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

6 for fiscal year 2011 and each succeeding fiscal year, 

7 the Secretary of Education shall pay to Fort Lewis 

8 College in the State of Colorado an amount equal to 

9 the charges for tuition for all Indian students who 

10 are not residents of the State of Colorado and who 

11 are enrolled in Fort Lewis College for the academic 

12 year ending before the beginning of such fiscal year. 

13 (2) LIMITATION.—The amount paid to Fort 

14 Lewis College for each fiscal year under paragraph 

15 (1) may not exceed an amount equal to the charges 

16 for tuition for all Indian students who were not resi17 dents of the State of Colorado and who were en18 rolled in Fort Lewis College for academic year 

19 2009–2010. 

20 (b) TREATMENT OF PAYMENT.—Any amounts re21 ceived under this section shall be treated as a reimburse22 ment from the State of Colorado to Fort Lewis College 

23 for complying with the requirement of the Act of April 

24 4, 1910 (Session II, Chapter 140), to admit Indian stu25 dents free of charge of tuition. 


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1 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

2 shall be construed to relieve the State of Colorado from 

3 reimbursing, for purposes of complying with the require4 ments of the Act of April 4, 1910 (Session II, Chapter 

5 140), Fort Lewis College for each academic year— 

6 (1) with respect to Indian students who are not 

7 residents of the State of Colorado and who are en8 rolled in Fort Lewis College, any amount of charges 

9 for tuition for such students that exceeds the 

10 amount received under this section for such aca11 demic year; and 

12 (2) with respect to Indian students who are 

13 residents of the State of Colorado and who are en14 rolled in Fort Lewis College, an amount equal to the 

15 charges for tuition for such students for such aca16 demic year. 

17 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Indian 

18 students’’ refers to the term ‘‘Indian pupils’’ in the Act 

19 of April 4, 1910 (Session II, Chapter 140). 

20 (e) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro21 priated, and there are appropriated (in addition to any 

22 other amounts appropriated to carry out this section and 

23 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise approVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:58 Aug 02, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5974.IH H5974

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1 priated), such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 

2 section. 

Æ 


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