[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 539 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 539

   To encourage the President to establish an advisory commission on 
          tribally controlled institutions of higher learning.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 21, 1994

 Mr. Skeen (for himself, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Williams, Mr. Richardson, Ms. 
 English of Arizona, Mr. Fazio, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Pomeroy, 
 Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mr. Swift, Mr. Flake, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. 
 Dellums, Mr. Owens, Mr. Stupak, Mr. Bereuter, Mrs. Meyers of Kansas, 
  Mr. Tejeda, Mr. Pastor, and Mr. Barrett of Nebraska) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
                               and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   To encourage the President to establish an advisory commission on 
          tribally controlled institutions of higher learning.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The House of Representatives finds the following:
            (1) The Federal Government has a special trust relationship 
        and a fiduciary duty to American Indians and the Federal 
        Government's Indian education policies have progressed to a 
        point where Indian tribes establish, control, and administer 
        educational institutions on or near Indian reservations.
            (2) There currently exist 29 tribally operated post-
        secondary institutions serving over 300 tribes nationwide and 
        over 16,000 Indian students in 13 States including Arizona, 
        California, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, 
        North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, Iowa, and 
        Nebraska.
            (3) Tribally controlled and administered post-secondary 
        institutions promote tribal sovereignty and self-determination 
        and promotes individual academic achievement in culturally 
        sensitive environments.
            (4) Despite the overall improvement of educational 
        opportunities for American Indians within the last 20 years, 
        tribally operated post-secondary institutions remain largely 
        underfunded and American Indians continue to experience the 
        lowest overall college attendance rate in the United States.
            (5) The efforts of tribally operated post-secondary 
        colleges to secure continuing and sufficient funding, staff and 
        educational resources which are vital to a successful academic 
        institution have been frustrated by the lack of Federal 
        assistance in promoting the National Education Goals for 
        American Indians and the lack of awareness of the successful 
        contributions of Tribal colleges to tribal communities and 
        tribal members.
            (6) The participation in federally sponsored programs by 
        historically black colleges and universities has been promoted 
        by an Executive order since the Carter Administration and that 
        order has been reaffirmed unconditionally by each subsequent 
        administration. The Hispanic community has also had a similar 
        Executive order for several years. The Nation's 29 tribally 
        controlled institutions of higher learning have been seeking a 
        similar order.
            (7) An Executive order would require no appropriation, but 
        would promote the awareness by the Federal departments of the 
        fact that there exist fully accredited tribally controlled 
        institutions of higher learning among the postsecondary 
        educational institutions in this Nation.
            (8) The tribally controlled institutions of higher learning 
        are not included in many department's defined program 
        eligibility criteria due solely to the fact that most 
        departments remain unaware of the existence and tremendous 
        successes of the institutions.
            (9) Due to the minuscule proportion of the population which 
        American Indians comprise, they remain the last minority 
        community which does not benefit from this unique program, and 
        efforts to include them within the executive branch have been 
        overshadowed by issues which confront larger demographic 
        sectors. A legislative resolution to this deficiency would 
        ensure that this compelling inequity is addressed 
        expeditiously.

SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL ACTION REQUIRED.

    (a) Action Required.--The President is urged to issue an Executive 
order fostering the advancement of the National Education Goals for 
American Indians, promoting Federal assistance for tribally controlled 
and operated post-secondary institutions, and establishing an advisory 
commission on tribally controlled institutions of higher learning.
    (b) Functions of Commission.--Any commission established pursuant 
to subsection (a) should be responsible for the development and 
implementation of policies and programs designed to achieve an increase 
in the participation by tribally controlled institutions of higher 
learning in federally-sponsored programs.
    (c) Membership of Commission.--Any Commission established pursuant 
to subsection (a) should be composed of members appointed by the 
President, but should include representatives of tribally-controlled 
institutions of higher learning, participating Federal departments, and 
agencies, other institutions of higher education and entities from the 
private sector, and elected officials.
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