Fort Lewis College representatives testify before Congressional committee regarding Native American tuition waiver

Denver, CO – Associated Students of Fort Lewis College President Byron Tsabetsaye, a member of the Navajo and Zuni tribes, shouldn’t have any reason to be nervous when he goes in for job interviews in the future, not after testifying at a Congressional field hearing on August 22. Byron was among a number of national, state, educational, and Native American leaders who spoke in support of U.S. Senate Bill 3504 entitled the “Native American Indian Education Act of 2012.”

“I grew up in the capital of the Navajo Reservation, a nation inside a nation where people strive to live [while] in widespread poverty and little opportunities,” Byron said. “It’s not easy to believe that in the year 2012 there are people that live in our country with no electricity and running water. It’s not comfortable to know that children have the capacity to dream big, but dream with limits due to lack of opportunity and exposure. It’s unsettling to witness such great potential dwindle in high school graduates that don’t have the resources to obtain a college education, even after surpassing the level of their parent’s education.”

Senate Bill 3504 aims to help Native American students achieve that great potential. S.3504, which is sponsored by U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, would offer federal financial assistance to Colorado and Minnesota in covering the cost of the Native American tuition waiver programs at Fort Lewis College and the University of Minnesota-Morris. Senator Bennet, a Democrat, is joined in his legislation by Representative Scott Tipton, a Republican, who has introduced a similar bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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Mitch Davis, Public Affairs Officer – 970-247-7401, [email protected]