[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 124 (Thursday, September 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1896-E1897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ESTHER MARTINEZ NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES PRESERVATION ACT OF 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 27, 2006

  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, there is an urgent need to 
protect and preserve Native American languages. In my state of 
Minnesota, it is becoming more difficult to find elders to teach the 
Ojibwe language--the fourth most spoken Native language in North 
America.
  The facts cannot be ignored--decades of federal restrictions on the 
instruction and use of Native languages led to their deliberate 
decline.
  Despite treaties and laws and executive orders that call for the 
preservation and incorporation of Native language and culture in 
education--we are living at a time when Native American languages and 
culture are being eroded.
  Title VII--which exists to ensure Native children receive Native 
language and culture instruction--has been reduced or reallocated to

[[Page E1897]]

other functions of the No Child Left Behind law--despite significant 
research proving that Native children do better in all subjects when 
taught through the use of Native languages and culture.
  Schools have felt pressure from the Bush administration to instead 
spend resources for Native language and culture on the goals of Bush's 
No Child Left Behind law. Title VII resources must be focused on Title 
VII goals--not siphoned off to support other goals of the Bush 
administration--especially at the expense of Native American children.
  Native children have the right to the education they are promised--
that means the highest quality education--including instruction in 
their language.
  As a Nation, we must reaffirm our commitment to preserve, to honor, 
and to teach the living traditions, cultures, and languages of the 
First Americans who have and continue to contribute to the strength of 
our Nation as teachers, community leaders, business owners, artists, 
elected officials, and neighbors--and the brave men and women who have 
fought in our armed services.
  Native Americans have identified the recovery and preservation of 
their languages as one of their highest priorities. As a country, we 
have a moral obligation to live up to our commitments to the First 
Americans.
  It is my hope that Congress will do what is right--and recommit our 
Nation's resources to strengthen Native American languages for all 
Native people across the entire country.

                          ____________________