[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1402 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1402

 To amend the Native American Languages Act to ensure the survival and 
    continuing vitality of Native American languages, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 28, 2021

  Mr. Schatz (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Native American Languages Act to ensure the survival and 
    continuing vitality of Native American languages, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Durbin Feeling Native American 
Languages Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. ENSURING THE SURVIVAL AND CONTINUING VITALITY OF NATIVE 
              AMERICAN LANGUAGES.

    (a) In General.--Section 106 of the Native American Languages Act 
(25 U.S.C. 2905) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Evaluation; Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this subsection, the President shall--
            ``(1) require the heads of the various Federal departments, 
        agencies, and instrumentalities to carry out an evaluation 
        described in subsection (a)(1); and
            ``(2) submit to Congress a report that describes--
                    ``(A) the results of the evaluations; and
                    ``(B) the recommendations of the Secretary of the 
                Interior, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
                and the Secretary of Education, after consultation with 
                Indian tribes, traditional leaders, and representatives 
                of Native American language communities, for amendments 
                to Federal laws that are needed--
                            ``(i) to bring the Federal laws into 
                        compliance with this Act;
                            ``(ii) to improve interagency coordination 
                        for purposes of supporting revitalization, 
                        maintenance, and use of Native American 
                        languages; and
                            ``(iii) to reduce duplication, 
                        inefficiencies, and barriers Native American 
                        language communities face in accessing Federal 
                        programs to support efforts to revitalize, 
                        maintain, or increase the use of Native 
                        American languages.''.
    (b) Survey on Native American Languages.--The Native American 
Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

``SEC. 108. SURVEY ON NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
enactment of this section, and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services, acting through the Commissioner of the 
Administration for Native Americans (referred to in this section as the 
`Secretary'), shall undertake a survey of the use of all Native 
American languages in the United States.
    ``(b) Updates.--Prior to conducting each subsequent survey after 
the initial survey under subsection (a), the Secretary shall update the 
survey in accordance with this section.
    ``(c) Consultation Required.--The Secretary shall design the 
initial survey under subsection (a) and each updated survey under 
subsection (b)--
            ``(1) in consultation with Indian tribes; and
            ``(2) after considering feedback received from Native 
        American language speakers and experts.
    ``(d) Contents.--Each survey under subsection (a) shall solicit--
            ``(1) information on which Native American languages are 
        currently spoken;
            ``(2) estimates of the number of speakers of each Native 
        American language;
            ``(3) any language usage statistics or information that the 
        Secretary, in consultation with Indian tribes and Native 
        American language speakers and experts, determines to be 
        relevant and appropriate;
            ``(4) information on the types of Native American language 
        maintenance and revitalization projects and practices that are 
        currently being carried out;
            ``(5) information on any unmet Native American language 
        resource needs of Indian tribes and Native American language 
        communities; and
            ``(6) any other information that the Secretary, in 
        consultation with Indian tribes and Native American language 
        speakers and experts, determines to be necessary.
    ``(e) Coordination.--The Secretary may coordinate, and enter into 
cooperative agreements with, the Director of the Bureau of the Census 
for the purposes of carrying out this section.
    ``(f) Outreach and Engagement.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out outreach 
        and engagement activities to provide Indian tribes, Native 
        language communities, and the public information about--
                    ``(A) opportunities to provide input on the 
                development and design of each survey under subsection 
                (a), including information on the consultations 
                required under subsection (c);
                    ``(B) the goals and purpose of the surveys 
                conducted under subsection (a); and
                    ``(C) the benefits and importance of participation 
                in surveys under subsection (a).
            ``(2) Grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements 
        authorized.--The Secretary may carry out the outreach and 
        engagement activities required under paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) directly;
                    ``(B) in partnership with the Bureau of the Census; 
                or
                    ``(C) through grants to, or contracts or 
                cooperative agreements with--
                            ``(i) Indian tribes;
                            ``(ii) tribal organizations; and
                            ``(iii) nonprofit organizations that work 
                        with Indian tribes, Native American language 
                        programs, and Native American language 
                        communities.
    ``(g) Limitation.--Nothing in this section requires an Indian 
tribe, Native American language community, or Native American language 
speaker--
            ``(1) to participate in a survey under subsection (a); or
            ``(2) to provide specific or culturally sensitive 
        information in completing such a survey.
    ``(h) Availability of Survey Materials and Findings.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this section, and prior to conducting each survey 
        under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the 
        Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
        Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, and make 
        publicly available, a description of--
                    ``(A) the feedback received under subsection (c) on 
                the design of the survey;
                    ``(B) the form and content of the survey;
                    ``(C) the plan for deploying the survey to ensure a 
                robust response; and
                    ``(D) how the Secretary will ensure any survey 
                enumeration efforts are culturally informed and 
                appropriate.
            ``(2) Results.--Not later than 90 days after the date on 
        which analysis of each survey under subsection (a) is 
        completed, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
        Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 
        Resources of the House of Representatives, and make publicly 
        available, the results of the survey.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $1,500,000 for each fiscal 
year--
            ``(1) preceding a fiscal year during which a survey under 
        subsection (a) is conducted; and
            ``(2) during which a survey under that subsection is 
        conducted.''.
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