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) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation 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 resi-
dents of the State of Colorado. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. PURPOSE. 
It is the purpose of this Act to ensure that Federal 
funding is provided to support and sustain the long-
standing Federal mandate requiring Fort Lewis College 
in the State of Colorado to waive tuition charges for each 
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Indian student it admits to an undergraduate program, 
including the waiver of tuition charges for Indian students 
who are not residents of the State of Colorado. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
(1) Fort Lewis College in the State of Colorado 
is a signature school for Indian students from 
throughout the Nation and graduates more Indian 
students than any other institution of higher edu-
cation; 
(2) in 2009 Fort Lewis College awarded 
science, technology, engineering, and math degrees 
to 95 Indian students, which is equal to 13.5 per-
cent of the total number of degrees awarded to In-
dian students in the Nation in 2009 and more than 
the number of degrees awarded by any other institu-
tion of higher education awarded in 2009; 
(3) Fort Lewis College currently provides feder-
ally mandated tuition-free education to approxi-
mately 750 Indian students from 122 different In-
dian tribes and 30 States, representing about 21 
percent of the overall student population at this Na-
tive American-Serving Non-Tribal College; 
(4) this Federal mandate to provide tuition-free 
education to Indian students was first placed upon 
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the State of Colorado in the Act of April 4, 1910 
(Session II, Chapter 140), as a condition of the 
transfer of the land, buildings, and fixtures com-
prising the then federally operated Fort Lewis 
School; 
(5) the amount of funds expended by the State 
of Colorado to meet the waiver of tuition obligations 
under the Act of April 4, 1910 (Session II, Chapter 
140), for all Indian students, both out-of-State and 
in-State, far exceeds the value of the land, buildings, 
and fixtures it holds for the benefit of Fort Lewis 
College; 
(6) while the present value of the land, build-
ings, and fixtures conveyed in 1910 is approximately 
$19,000,000, the State of Colorado has expended, 
just counting the past 25 years, over $110,000,000 
to meet the costs of the tuition waivers for Native 
American Indian students from 44 different States; 
and 
(7) the federally mandated tuition waiver pro-
gram for Indian students at Fort Lewis College is 
now at risk of being reduced by severe budget con-
straints being experienced by the State of Colorado, 
thereby jeopardizing the education of many talented 
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Indian students in present and future classes from 
around the Nation. 
SEC. 3. STATE RELIEF FROM FEDERAL MANDATE. 
(a) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
for fiscal year 2011 and each succeeding fiscal year, 
the Secretary of Education shall pay to Fort Lewis 
College in the State of Colorado an amount equal to 
the charges for tuition for all Indian students who 
are not residents of the State of Colorado and who 
are enrolled in Fort Lewis College for the academic 
year ending before the beginning of such fiscal year. 
(2) LIMITATION.—The amount paid to Fort 
Lewis College for each fiscal year under paragraph 
(1) may not exceed an amount equal to the charges 
for tuition for all Indian students who were not resi-
dents of the State of Colorado and who were en-
rolled in Fort Lewis College for academic year 
2009–2010. 
(b) TREATMENT OF PAYMENT.—Any amounts re-
ceived under this section shall be treated as a reimburse-
ment from the State of Colorado to Fort Lewis College 
for complying with the requirement of the Act of April 
4, 1910 (Session II, Chapter 140), to admit Indian stu-
dents free of charge of tuition. 
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(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 
shall be construed to relieve the State of Colorado from 
reimbursing, for purposes of complying with the require-
ments of the Act of April 4, 1910 (Session II, Chapter 
140), Fort Lewis College for each academic year— 
(1) with respect to Indian students who are not 
residents of the State of Colorado and who are en-
rolled in Fort Lewis College, any amount of charges 
for tuition for such students that exceeds the 
amount received under this section for such aca-
demic year; and 
(2) with respect to Indian students who are 
residents of the State of Colorado and who are en-
rolled in Fort Lewis College, an amount equal to the 
charges for tuition for such students for such aca-
demic year. 
(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Indian 
students’’ refers to the term ‘‘Indian pupils’’ in the Act 
of April 4, 1910 (Session II, Chapter 140). 
(e) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated, and there are appropriated (in addition to any 
other amounts appropriated to carry out this section and 
out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro-
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priated), such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 
section. 
Æ 
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