[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 989 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>





                                                       Calendar No. 176
117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 989

                          [Report No. 117-46]

To establish a Native American language resource center in furtherance 
     of the policy set forth in the Native American Languages Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 25, 2021

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

                            December 2, 2021

               Reported by Mr. Schatz, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a Native American language resource center in furtherance 
     of the policy set forth in the Native American Languages Act.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Native American Language 
Resource Center Act of 2021''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. PURPOSES.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    The purposes of this Act are to further the policies set 
forth in the Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.) by 
creating a national resource center and, through such national resource 
center and actions, to--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) preserve, protect, and promote the rights and 
        freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop 
        Native American languages (as defined in section 103 of the 
        Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2902));</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) allow the United States to fulfill its trust 
        responsibility to Native American communities and address the 
        effects of past discrimination against Native American language 
        speakers;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) support revitalization of Native American 
        languages;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) encourage and support the use of Native 
        American languages as a medium of instruction, including use as 
        a medium of education in schools operated by Tribes, States, 
        territories, the Federal Government, and Native American 
        language educational organizations;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) encourage and support the use and development 
        of Native American languages as the medium of instruction for a 
        wide variety of age levels and academic content 
        areas;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) support metrics aligned with the Native 
        American language of instruction, including assessments, 
        qualifications, and processes based on well-demonstrated best 
        practices in Native American language medium 
        education;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (7) identify--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) barriers to Native American language 
                education and learning within Federal laws; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) actions needed for alignment with the 
                Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et 
                seq.);</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (8) encourage and support elementary schools, 
        secondary schools, and institutions of higher education to 
        include Native American languages in the curriculum in the same 
        manner as other world languages, including through cooperative 
        agreements and distance education, and to grant proficiency in 
        Native American languages the same full academic credit as 
        proficiency in other world languages;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (9) encourage and support the development of 
        appropriate teacher preparation programming for the teaching 
        of, and through, Native American languages, including 
        appropriate alternative pathways to teacher 
        certification;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (10) provide a resource base to provide 
        information to Federal, Tribal, State, territory, and local 
        governments and Native American educational organizations to 
        allow the spread of best practices in the use, practice, and 
        development of Native American languages in Native American 
        communities, including use in educational 
        institutions;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (11) provide a resource base for the use of 
        technology in intensive community-, land-, and archive-based 
        programs, as well as hybrid and collaborative programs in 
        supporting the retention, use, development, and teaching of 
        Native American languages by government and private 
        entities;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (12) provide a developmental base from which 
        interested Tribal colleges and universities and other Native 
        American entities might develop fully functioning Native 
        American language medium education systems that include 
        associated preschool, elementary school, secondary school, and 
        adult education programs conducted through the medium of Native 
        American languages;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (13) provide a means to further collaboration 
        among formal government, institutional, and community-based 
        Native American language programs, resources, and research 
        efforts with additional access to international best practices 
        in indigenous language revitalization; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (14) develop a support center system for Native 
        American language participants to gather and share helpful 
        information and experiences.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE RESOURCE CENTER.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Section 603 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1123) is amended--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 
        subsections (c) and (d), respectively;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the 
        following:</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(b) Native American Language Resource Center 
Authorized.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to 
        make a grant to, or enter into a contract with, an eligible 
        entity for the purpose of--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) establishing, strengthening, and 
                operating a Native American language resource and 
                training center as described in paragraph (2); 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) staffing the center with individuals 
                who have high-level fluency in American Indian, Alaska 
                Native, and Native Hawaiian languages and are 
                experienced with Native American language education in 
                preschool, elementary school, secondary school, adult 
                education, and higher education programs.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) Purposes of center.--The Native American 
        language resource center established under paragraph (1) shall 
        serve as a resource to--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) improve the capacity to teach and 
                learn Native American languages and further Native 
                American language acquisition;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) preserve, protect, and promote the 
                rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, 
                practice, and develop Native American 
                languages;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) allow the United States to fulfill 
                its trust responsibility to Native American communities 
                and address the effects of past discrimination against 
                Native American language speakers;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(D) support revitalization of Native 
                American languages;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(E) encourage and support the use of 
                Native American languages as a medium of instruction, 
                including use as a medium of education in schools 
                operated by Tribes, States, the Federal Government, and 
                Native American language educational 
                organizations;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(F) encourage and support the use and 
                development of Native American languages as the medium 
                of instruction for a wide variety of age levels and 
                academic content areas;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(G) support metrics aligned with the 
                Native American language of instruction, including 
                assessments, qualifications, and processes based on 
                well-demonstrated best practices in Native American 
                language medium education;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(H) identify barriers to Native American 
                language education and learning within Federal laws and 
                actions needed for alignment with the Native American 
                Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901);</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(I) encourage and support elementary 
                schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher 
                education to include Native American languages in the 
                curriculum in the same manner as other world languages, 
                including through cooperative agreements and distance 
                education, and to grant proficiency in Native American 
                languages the same full academic credit as proficiency 
                in other world languages;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(J) encourage and support the 
                development of appropriate teacher preparation 
                programming for the teaching of, and through, Native 
                American languages, including appropriate alternative 
                pathways to teacher certification;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(K) provide a resource base to provide 
                information to Federal, Tribal, State, and local 
                governments and Native American educational 
                organizations to allow the spread of best practices in 
                the use, practice, and development of Native American 
                languages in Native American communities, including use 
                in educational institutions;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(L) provide a resource base for the use 
                of technology in intensive community-, land-, and 
                archive-based programs, as well as hybrid and 
                collaborative programs in supporting the retention, 
                use, development, and teaching of Native American 
                languages by government and private entities;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(M) support the acquisition of distance 
                learning technologies and training for parents, 
                students, teachers, and learning support staff, 
                including the compilation and curation of digital 
                libraries and other online resources in target Native 
                American languages, the development of distance 
                learning curricula appropriate for preschool, 
                elementary school, secondary school, adult education, 
                and postsecondary education, the pedagogical training 
                for teachers, and other efforts necessary to continue 
                Native American language acquisition through distance 
                learning;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(N) provide a developmental base from 
                which interested Tribal colleges and universities and 
                other Native American entities might develop fully 
                functioning Native American language medium education 
                systems that include associated preschool, elementary 
                school, secondary school, and adult education programs 
                conducted through the medium of Native American 
                languages;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(O) provide a means to further 
                collaboration among formal government, institutional, 
                and community-based Native American language programs, 
                resources, and research efforts with additional access 
                to international best practices in indigenous language 
                revitalization;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(P) develop a support center system for 
                Native American language participants to gather and 
                share helpful information and experiences; 
                and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(Q) address any of the purposes of 
                foreign language centers included under this section 
                if, in doing so, the Native American language resource 
                center--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) does so as a subsidiary 
                        activity;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) focuses benefits on Native 
                        Americans living in Native American 
                        communities, or closely tied to such 
                        communities; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iii) ensures that one of the 
                        outcomes being strengthened through this 
                        subparagraph is the use of one or more Native 
                        American languages in a Native American 
                        community.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(3) Definitions.--In this subsection:</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible 
                entity' means--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) an institution of higher 
                        education;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) an entity within an 
                        institution of higher education with dedicated 
                        responsibility for Native American language and 
                        culture education;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iii) a consortium of such 
                        institutions; or</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iv) a consortium of such 
                        institutions and other entities with unique 
                        responsibilities for Native American 
                        languages.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Native american; native american 
                language.--The terms `Native American' and `Native 
                American language' have the meanings given those terms 
                in section 103 of the Native American Languages Act (25 
                U.S.C. 2902).</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(4) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection, 
        $3,000,000 for each fiscal year.''; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) of 
        subsection (c), as redesignated by paragraph (1), by striking 
        ``subsection (a)'' and inserting ``this section''.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Native American Language Resource 
Center Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE RESOURCE CENTERS.

    (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to further align the 
resources provided by the Department of Education with the policies set 
forth in the Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.) 
through establishment of a program within the Department of Education 
to support 1 or more Native American language resource centers.
    (b) In General.--The Secretary of Education is authorized to make a 
grant to, or enter into a contract with, an eligible entity for the 
purpose of--
            (1) establishing, strengthening, and operating a Native 
        American language resource center; and
            (2) staffing the center with individuals with relevant 
        expertise and experience, including staff who speak American 
        Indian and Alaska Native languages and the Native Hawaiian 
        language and have worked in language education in the American 
        Indian and Alaska Native languages and the Native Hawaiian 
        language in a preschool, elementary school, secondary school, 
        adult education, or higher education program.
    (c) Authorized Activities.--The Native American language resource 
center established under subsection (b) shall carry out activities to--
            (1) improve the capacity to teach and learn Native American 
        languages;
            (2) further Native American language use and acquisition;
            (3) preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom 
        of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native 
        American languages in furtherance of--
                    (A) the policies set forth in the Native American 
                Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.); and
                    (B) the United States trust responsibility to 
                Native American communities;
            (4) address the effects of past discrimination and ongoing 
        inequities experienced by Native American language speakers;
            (5) support the revitalization and reclamation of Native 
        American languages; and
            (6) support the use of Native American languages as a 
        medium of instruction for a wide variety of age levels, 
        academic content areas, and types of schools, including Native 
        American language medium education.
    (d) Additional Authorized Activities.--The Native American language 
resource center established under subsection (b) may also carry out 
activities--
            (1) to encourage and support the use of Native American 
        languages within educational systems in the same manner as 
        other world languages, including by encouraging State 
        educational agencies, local educational agencies, and 
        institutions of higher education to offer Native American 
        language courses the same full academic credit as courses in 
        other world languages;
            (2) to support the development, adoption, and use of 
        educational outcome metrics aligned with the Native American 
        language of instruction, including assessments, qualifications, 
        and processes based on promising practices in Native American 
        language medium education;
            (3) to provide assistance to Native American language 
        programs seeking Federal resources;
            (4) to encourage and support teacher preparation programs 
        that prepare teachers to teach Native American languages and to 
        use Native American languages as a medium of instruction, 
        including by disseminating promising practices and developing 
        pedagogical programming and through appropriate alternative 
        pathways to teacher certification;
            (5) to provide information and resources--
                    (A) on promising practices in the use and 
                revitalization of Native American languages in Native 
                American communities, including use in educational 
                institutions; and
                    (B) for the use of technology in school and 
                community-based Native American language programs to 
                support the retention, use, and teaching of Native 
                American languages;
            (6) to support the use of distance learning technologies 
        and training for parents, students, teachers, and learning 
        support staff associated with Native American language 
        programs, including--
                    (A) the compilation and curation of digital 
                libraries and other online resources for Native 
                American languages, except that any materials collected 
                by the center shall only be materials provided by a 
                Native American language program or Native American 
                community;
                    (B) the development of distance learning curricula 
                appropriate for preschool, elementary school, secondary 
                school, adult education, and postsecondary education;
                    (C) pedagogical training for Native American 
                language teachers; and
                    (D) other efforts necessary to continue Native 
                American language acquisition through distance 
                learning;
            (7) to provide technical assistance for Native American 
        communities and school systems to develop Native American 
        language medium education programs in preschool, elementary 
        school, secondary school, or adult education programs conducted 
        through the medium of Native American languages;
            (8) to support Native American language programs and Native 
        American communities in--
                    (A) accessing international best practices, 
                resources, and research in indigenous language 
                revitalization; and
                    (B) gathering and sharing technical assistance, 
                promising practices, and experiences;
            (9) for the operation of intensive programs, including 
        summer institutes, to train Native American language speakers, 
        to provide professional development, and to improve Native 
        American language instruction through preservice and in-service 
        language training for teachers; and
            (10) that otherwise support the Native American language 
        resource center established under subsection (b) to carry out 
        the activities required in subsection (c).
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) ESEA definitions.--The terms ``elementary school'', 
        ``local educational agency'', ``secondary school'', and ``State 
        educational agency'' have the meanings given the terms in 
        section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
        1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
                    (A) an institution of higher education;
                    (B) an entity within an institution of higher 
                education with dedicated expertise in Native American 
                language and culture education; or
                    (C) a consortium that includes 1 or more 
                institutions of higher education or 1 or more entities 
                described in subparagraph (B).
            (3) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001).
            (4) Native american; native american language.--The terms 
        ``Native American'' and ``Native American language'' have the 
        meanings given those terms in section 103 of the Native 
        American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2902).
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $3,000,000 for each fiscal 
year.
                                                       Calendar No. 176

117th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 989

                          [Report No. 117-46]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To establish a Native American language resource center in furtherance 
     of the policy set forth in the Native American Languages Act.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            December 2, 2021

                       Reported with an amendment