[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3724 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3724

 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 5, 2010

 Mr. Bennet (for himself, Mr. Udall of Colorado, and Mr. Udall of New 
    Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 longstanding Federal mandate 
requiring Fort Lewis College in the State of Colorado to waive tuition 
charges for each 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 education;
            (2) in 2009, Fort Lewis College awarded science, 
        technology, engineering, and mathematics degrees to 95 Indian 
        students, which is equal to 13.5 percent of the total number of 
        degrees awarded to Indian students in the Nation in 2009 and 
        more than the number of degrees awarded to Indian students by 
        any other institution of higher education in 2009;
            (3) Fort Lewis College currently provides federally 
        mandated tuition-free education to approximately 750 Indian 
        students from 122 different Indian tribes and 30 States, 
        representing about 21 percent of the overall student population 
        at this Native American-Serving Non-Tribal College;
            (4) this Federal mandate to provide tuition-free education 
        to Indian students was first placed upon the State of Colorado 
        in the Act of April 4, 1910 (36 Stat. 273, chapter 140), as a 
        condition of the transfer of the land, buildings, and fixtures 
        comprising 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 (36 Stat. 273, 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, buildings, 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 program for 
        Indian students at Fort Lewis College is now at risk of being 
        reduced by severe budget constraints being experienced by the 
        State of Colorado, thereby jeopardizing the education of many 
        talented 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 the amount 
        equal to the charges for tuition for all Indian students who 
        were not residents of the State of Colorado and who were 
        enrolled in Fort Lewis College for academic year 2009-2010.
    (b) Treatment of Payment.--Any amounts received under this section 
shall be treated as a reimbursement from the State of Colorado to Fort 
Lewis College for complying with the requirement of the Act of April 4, 
1910 (36 Stat. 273, chapter 140), to admit Indian students free of 
charge of tuition.
    (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 requirements of the Act of April 4, 1910 (36 Stat. 
273, 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 enrolled in Fort Lewis 
        College, any amount of charges for tuition for such students 
        that exceeds the amount received under this section for such 
        academic year; and
            (2) with respect to Indian students who are residents of 
        the State of Colorado and who are enrolled in Fort Lewis 
        College, an amount equal to the charges for tuition for such 
        students for such academic year.
    (d) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Indian students'' 
refers to the term ``Indian pupils'' in the Act of April 4, 1910 (36 
Stat. 269, chapter 140).
    (e) Funding.--There are authorized to be appropriated, 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 appropriated), such sums as may be necessary to carry out 
this section.
                                 <all>