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A bill to amend Title 25 U.S.C., relating to Indian education programs, and for other purposes.

Public Law 99-228 · S. 1621 · 99th Congress · began in the Senate

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Dec 28, 1985 · Native Americans

Sponsor: Sen. John Melcher (D-MT)

Cosponsors (5): Sen. Mark Andrews,

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateVoice vote
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Amends the Indian Education Act Amendments of 1978 (the Act) to define "eligible Indian student" as a student who: (1) is a member of or at least a one-fourth degree Indian blood descendant of a member of an Indian tribe which is eligible for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) programs and services because of their status as Indians; and (2) resides on or near an Indian reservation or meets the critieria for attendance at a BIA off-reservation boarding school.

Prohibits charging an eligible Indian student for attendance at a BIA or contract school.

Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to permit the attendance at a BIA school of a student who is not an eligible Indian student if: (1) the Secretary determines that the student's attendance will not adversely affect the school's program for eligible Indian students because of cost, overcrowding, or violation of standards; (2) the school board consents; and (3) either the student is a dependent of a BIA, Indian Health Service, or tribal government employee who lives on or near the school site (in which case no tuition may be charged) or tuition is paid for the student (in which case the tuition may not be more than that charged by the nearest public school district for out-of-district students, and is collected in addition to the school's allocation). Authorizes the school board of a contract school to permit students who are not eligible Indian students to attend its contract school and provides that any tuition collected for those students is in addition to specified funding.

Directs the Secretary, for funding purposes under specified provisions of the Act during the 1985-1986 academic year, to count each student attending a BIA or contract school during the count week for that year if the student: (1) was counted for funding purposes under such provisions for the 1984-1985 academic year; and (2) is an eligible Indian student under the amendment made by this Act.

Repeals specified sections of Federal law relating to tuition charges to "white children" in Indian schools.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 11 actions.

  1. Dec 28, 1985Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 99-228.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Dec 18, 1985PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Dec 16, 1985FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
  5. FloorFloor · Called up by House by Unanimous Consent.
  6. Dec 13, 1985FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Voice Vote.
  7. Nov 13, 1985CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Indian Affairs Committee
  8. Nov 7, 1985CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Indian Affairs Committee
  9. Sep 18, 1985CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Senate Indian Affairs Committee
  10. Sep 11, 1985CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Indian Affairs Committee
  11. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes

Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.