A new bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives soon may cut off funding to colleges that restrict military recruiters and Reserve Officer Training Corps programs on their campuses.

The ROTC and Military Recruiter Equal Access to Campus Act, proposed by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), would amend the 1996 “Solomon Law,” which denies Pentagon funding to schools that prevent ROTC programs or military recruiters from equal access to campuses.

Under the new bill, funding from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Transportation, the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Central Intelligence Agency also would be restricted to complying schools. Schools that restrict military and ROTC recruiters from campus would not receive funding from these departments.

The bill currently is under review in the Senate.

“Passage of this bill should help ensure our armed services have equal access to our country’s best and brightest as well as ensure students are aware of the employment opportunities afforded to them by the United States military,” Rogers said.

The bill was long overdue for schools that got rid of their programs years ago, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) said.

“[It] might just as well be called the Harvard Act,” Cox said, “because it squarely addresses the scandal of Harvard University and other schools banishing ROTC and military recruiters from campus, while cashing Uncle Sam’s checks for billions of taxpayer dollars each year from the Department of Defense and other federal agencies fighting the global war on terror.”

Civil rights groups such as the Human Rights Campaign have criticized the bill, claiming it forces colleges to break their own rules barring discrimination against gays and lesbians.

“Schools should never be forced to allow discrimination,” said Cheryl Jacques, Human Rights Campaign president. “There’s no need for legislation that requires discrimination.”

NIU currently features both an ROTC program and an armed forces recruiting station representing the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps on campus.

Capt. Dale Burbank, an NIU military science professor, said 84 students currently are enrolled in the university’s ROTC program.

The program offers an academic minor in military science and the opportunity to be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army.