IIB 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3966 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 31, 2004 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

AN ACT 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the 

ability of the Department of Defense to establish and 

maintain Senior Reserve Officer Training Corps units 

at institutions of higher education, to improve the ability 

of students to participate in Senior ROTC programs, 

and to ensure that institutions of higher education provide military recruiters entry to campuses and access 

to students that is at least equal in quality and scope 

to that provided to any other employer. 

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ROTC and Military 

3 Recruiter Equal Access to Campus Act of 2004’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) The Reserve Officers Training Corps 

7 (ROTC) program is the most common path for un8 dergraduates to become United States military offi9 cers. 

10 (2) The inclusion of both public and private un11 dergraduate institutions in the ROTC program in12 sures a more racially, ethnically, and socially diverse 

13 pool for leadership in the higher ranks of the Armed 

14 Forces. 

15 (3) The majority of both minority officers and 

16 female officers in the Armed Forces are acquired 

17 through undergraduate ROTC programs. 

18 (4) The presence of ROTC programs on college 

19 campuses benefits even those students who are not 

20 enrolled by making them aware of the presence and 

21 role of the United States military. 

22 (5) Land-grant colleges received land from the 

23 United States on the condition that they offer some 

24 military instruction in addition to their regular cur25 riculum, forming the basis for the Nation’s tradition 
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1 of college and university acceptance of responsibility 

2 to contribute to the Nation’s readiness. 

3 (6) The Armed Forces face a constant challenge 

4 in recruiting top-quality personnel that ROTC pro5 grams are ideally suited to meet. 

6 (7) Military recruiters should have access to 

7 college campuses and to college students equal in 

8 quality and scope to that provided all other employ9 ers. 

10 (8) If any college or university discriminates 

11 against ROTC programs or military recruiters, then 

12 under current law that college or university becomes 

13 ineligible for certain Federal taxpayer support, espe14 cially funding for many military and defense pro15 grams. 

16 (9) The personnel and programs of the Depart17 ment of Homeland Security and the Department of 

18 Energy are mutually dependent upon a high caliber 

19 of well-educated, professional leadership in the 

20 Armed Forces in order to protect the people and ter21 ritory of the United States. 

22 (10) In order to more fully promote the ability 

23 of the Nation’s Armed Forces to recruit on college 

24 campuses and to facilitate the ability of students to 

25 participate in ROTC programs on campus, the laws 
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1 to prevent discrimination against ROTC and mili2 tary recruiters should be updated. 

3 SEC. 3. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH ROTC AC4 CESS PROVISIONS. 

5 Subsection (a) of section 983 of title 10, United 

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘No funds’’; 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘prevents—’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘prevents, either (or both) of the following:’’; 

10 (3) by striking ‘‘(1) the’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) 

11 The’’; 

12 (4) by striking ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a period; 

13 (5) by striking ‘‘(2) a’’ and inserting ‘‘(B) A’’; 

14 and 

15 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(2)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of 

17 the enactment of the ROTC and Military Recruiter Equal 

18 Access to Campus Act of 2004 and annually thereafter, 

19 the Secretary of Defense shall request from each institu20 tion of higher education that has students participating 

21 in a Senior Reserve Officer Training Corps program dur22 ing the then-current academic year of that institution a 

23 certification that such institution, during the next aca24 demic year of the institution, will— 
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1 ‘‘(i) permit the Secretary of each military de2 partment to maintain a unit of the Senior Officer 

3 Training Corps (in accordance with subsection (a)) 

4 at that institution (or any subelement of that insti5 tution), should such Secretary elect to maintain such 

6 a unit; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) if the Secretary of the military department 

8 concerned elects not to establish or maintain a unit 

9 of the Senior Reserve Officer Training Corps at that 

10 institution, permit a student of that institution (or 

11 any subelement of that institution) to enroll in a 

12 unit of the Senior Reserve Officer Training Corps at 

13 another institution of higher education. 

14 ‘‘(B) Any certification under subparagraph (A) shall 

15 be made by the president of the institution (or equivalent 

16 highest ranking administrative official) and shall be sub17 mitted to the Secretary of Defense no later than 90 days 

18 after receipt of the request from the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(C) In the case of any institution from which a cer20 tification is requested under subparagraph (A), if the Sec21 retary of Defense does not receive a certification in accord22 ance with subparagraph (B), or if the certification does 

23 not state that the university will comply with both clauses 

24 (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) during its next academic 

25 year, the Secretary shall make a determination under 
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1 paragraph (1) as to whether the institution has a policy 

2 or practice described in that paragraph.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. EQUAL TREATMENT OF MILITARY RECRUITERS 

4 WITH OTHER RECRUITERS. 

5 Subsection (b)(1) of section 983 of title 10, United 

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘entry to campuses’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘access to campuses’’; and 

9 (2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end 

10 the following: ‘‘in a manner that is at least equal in 

11 quality and scope to the degree of access to cam12 puses and to students that is provided to any other 

13 employer’’. 

14 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF FUNDING FOR POST-SECONDARY 

15 SCHOOLS THAT PREVENT ROTC ACCESS OR 

16 MILITARY RECRUITING. 

17 (a) COVERED FUNDS.—Subsection (d) of section 983 

18 of title 10, United States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘limitation established in 

21 subsection (a) applies’’ and inserting ‘‘limita22 tions established in subsections (a) and (b) 

23 apply’’; 

24 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘for 

25 any department or agency for which regular ap-
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1 propriations are made’’ after ‘‘made available’’; 

2 and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

4 subparagraphs: 

5 ‘‘(C) Any funds made available for the Depart6 ment of Homeland Security. 

7 ‘‘(D) Any funds made available for the National 

8 Nuclear Security Administration of the Department 

9 of Energy. 

10 ‘‘(E) Any funds made available for the Depart11 ment of Transportation. 

12 ‘‘(F) Any funds made available for the Central 

13 Intelligence Agency.’’; and 

14 (2) by striking paragraph (2). 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Subsection (b) 

16 of such section is amended by striking ‘‘subsection (d)(2)’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)(1)’’. 

18 (2) Subsection (e) of such section is amended by in19 serting ‘‘, to the head of each other department and agen20 cy the funds of which are subject to the determination,’’ 

21 after ‘‘Secretary of Education’’. 

22 SEC. 6. EXCLUSION OF AMOUNTS TO COVER INDIVIDUAL 

23 PAYMENTS. 

24 (a) CODIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF EXCLU25 SION.—Subsection (d) of section 983 of title 10, United 
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1 States Code, as amended by section 5(a), is further 

2 amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘The’’ after ‘‘(1)’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (2), the’’; and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(2) Any Federal funding specified in paragraph (1) 

8 that is provided to an institution of higher education, or 

9 to an individual, to be available solely for student financial 

10 assistance, related administrative costs, or costs associated 

11 with attendance, may be used for the purpose for which 

12 the funding is provided.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subsections (a) 

14 and (b) of such section are amended by striking ‘‘(includ15 ing a grant of funds to be available for student aid)’’. 

16 (c) CONFORMING REPEAL OF CODIFIED PROVI17 SION.—Section 8120 of the Department of Defense Ap18 propriations Act, 2000 (Public Law 106–79; 10 U.S.C. 

19 983 note), is repealed. 
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1 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

3 respect to funds appropriated for fiscal year 2005 and 

4 thereafter. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 30, 

2004. 

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk.