[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 100 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 100

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Federal commitment for the 
  education of American Indians and Alaska Natives should be affirmed 
through legislative actions of the 105th Congress to bring the quality 
 of Indian education and educational facilities up to parity with the 
                            rest of America.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 17, 1997

 Mr. Domenici (for himself, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Johnson, Mr. 
 Dorgan, and Mr. Wellstone) submitted the following resolution; which 
            was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Federal commitment for the 
  education of American Indians and Alaska Natives should be affirmed 
through legislative actions of the 105th Congress to bring the quality 
 of Indian education and educational facilities up to parity with the 
                            rest of America.

Whereas there exists a unique legal and political relationship between the 
        United States and tribal governments and a unique Federal responsibility 
        to American Indians and Alaska Natives;
Whereas, under law and practice, the United States has undertaken a trust 
        responsibility to protect and preserve Indian tribes, Indians, and 
        tribal assets and resources;
Whereas the Federal Government's commitment to Indian education has been 
        recognized, reinforced, and carried out through most treaties with 
        Indian tribes, Congressional legislation, numerous court decisions and 
        Presidential executive orders;
Whereas this Federal responsibility includes working with tribal governments and 
        their members to improve the education of tribal members;
Whereas the 1990 census shows the poverty rate for American Indians and Alaska 
        Natives was nearly twice the national average--31 percent of Indians 
        live below the poverty level, compared to 13 percent of the total 
        population. Nearly 38 percent of Indian children above the age of 5 were 
        living below the poverty level in 1990, compared with 11 percent of non-
        minority children;
Whereas the development of tribal economies is dependent on physical 
        infrastructure, capital investment, and highly developed human capital 
        and an educated labor force;
Whereas excellence in educational facilities and services is a key to building 
        the skills necessary for Indian people to develop vibrant tribal 
        economies;
Whereas ever-increasing regional, national, and international economic 
        competition demands that Indians have every competitive advantage 
        accruing from achieving excellence in education;
Whereas there are approximately 600,000 American Indian and Alaska Native 
        children attending schools in this country. An estimated 87 percent of 
        these children attend public schools located on or near reservations and 
        in urban areas; another 10 percent attend schools funded by the Bureau 
        of Indian Affairs (BIA) and an estimated 3 percent attend private 
        schools;
Whereas these schools have experienced an increase in student population of 3-4 
        percent in the past 5 years, however, annual funding for the education 
        of Indian children has not increased proportionately;
Whereas United States census data shows that the Indian and Alaska Native 
        population has increased significantly in the past three decades. 
        Primary growth concentrations are at ages 5 through 19;
Whereas the 1994 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) showed over 50 
        percent of American Indian fourth graders scored below the basic level 
        in reading proficiency, compared with 42 percent of all students;
Whereas American Indian students have the highest dropout rate of any racial 
        ethnic group (36 percent) and the lowest high school completion and 
        college attendance rates of any minority group. As of 1990, only 66 
        percent of American Indians aged 25 years or older were high school 
        graduates, compared to 78 percent of the general population;
Whereas the demonstrated need for improvements to Indian schools and colleges is 
        acute as reflected in the great disparity between average annual college 
        funding per student of $2,900 for Indian students, and $6,200 for non-
        Indians in America, and the Federal Government should assist in bringing 
        the Indian schools and colleges up to parity with the rest of America;
Whereas tribal scholarship programs nationally are only able to serve an 
        estimated 40 percent of the eligible college student population and 
        funding for graduate scholarships has been cut in half in the past 2 
        years;
Whereas there is a major backlog of $680 million in funding need for facilities 
        constructions, maintenance and repair for the 185 BIA-funded schools as 
        well as for public schools located on and near Indian reservations;
Whereas there exists an alarming decline in the use of Native languages 
        indigenous to the United States. A 1969 Senate Committee report stated 
        that in 1969 there were 300 separate languages still being spoken. In 
        1996, the number had dropped to 206 still being spoken. These languages 
        are spoken nowhere else in the world; and
Whereas, despite these alarming statistics, funding for the education of 
        American Indian and Alaska Native students has been reduced 
        substantially in the past 3 years. The United States Congress in fiscal 
        year 1996 eliminated discretionary education programs in the Office of 
        Indian Education budget which had funded adult education, research and 
        demonstration programs, the Indian Fellowship Program and teacher 
        training and professional development projects. At the same time, 
        funding for reservation-based education programs in the BIA budget was 
        reduced by more than $100 million in the fiscal year 1996 budget: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the United States Senate--
            (1) that the Senate recognizes and supports the Federal 
        Government's legal and moral commitment to the education of 
        American Indian and Alaska Native children, which is a part of 
        treaties, Executive orders, court decisions and public laws 
        which have been enacted by the House and Senate of the United 
        States Government;
            (2) that funding for all bills, including reauthorizing 
        legislation in the 105th Congress with specific programs for 
        American Indians and Alaska Natives be funded at levels 
        sufficient to meet the ever-increasing educational and economic 
        demands facing Indian people on reservations, urban communities 
        and Alaska Native villages;
            (3) that the Senate recognizes the adult literacy needs of 
        American Indians and Alaska Natives through the inclusion of 
        tribal provisions in the administration's proposal to 
        reauthorize the Adult Education Act;
            (4) that the administration's bill for reauthorization of 
        the Higher Education Act of 1965, Public Law 102-325, preserve 
        the original purpose and intent of the Tribally-Controlled 
        Community Colleges Act and promote access to higher education 
        opportunities for American Indians and Alaska Natives;
            (5) that during the 105th Congress' reauthorization of 
        agricultural research programs, the needs of tribal colleges as 
        designated land-grant institutions must be given close 
        attention, through amendments to the Educational Equity in 
        Land-Grant Status Act of 1994;
            (6) that early childhood programs such as Head Start 
        (Public Law 103-252) and Healthy Start contain resources needed 
        to meet a growing number of American Indian and Alaska Native 
        children whose rate of growth exceeds the national average; and
            (7) that the Senate recognizes the need for development and 
        implementation of a Government-wide policy on Indian education 
        which addresses the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native 
        people.
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