II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4886 

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 

NOVEMBER 10, 2020 

Mr. UDALL (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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Durbin Feeling Native 

5 American Languages Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENSURING THE SURVIVAL AND CONTINUING VITAL7 ITY OF NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106 of the Native Amer9 ican Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2905) is amended by add10 ing at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) EVALUATION; REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

2 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Presi3 dent shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) require the heads of the various Federal 

5 departments, agencies, and instrumentalities to 

6 carry out an evaluation described in subsection 

7 (a)(1); and 

8 ‘‘(2) submit to Congress a report that de9 scribes— 

10 ‘‘(A) the results of the evaluations; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the recommendations of the Secretary 

12 of the Interior, the Secretary of Health and 

13 Human Services, and the Secretary of Edu14 cation, after consultation with Indian tribes, 

15 traditional leaders, and representatives of Na16 tive American language communities, for 

17 amendments to Federal laws that are needed— 

18 ‘‘(i) to bring the Federal laws into 

19 compliance with this Act; 

20 ‘‘(ii) to improve interagency coordina21 tion for purposes of supporting revitaliza22 tion, maintenance, and use of Native 

23 American languages; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) to reduce duplication, inefficien25 cies, and barriers Native American lanVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886

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1 guage communities face in accessing Fed2 eral programs to support efforts to revi3 talize, maintain, or increase the use of Na4 tive American languages.’’. 

5 (b) SURVEY ON NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES.— 

6 The Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et 

7 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 108. SURVEY ON NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

10 date of enactment of this section, and every 5 years there11 after, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 

12 through the Commissioner of the Administration for Na13 tive Americans (referred to in this section as the ‘Sec14 retary’), shall undertake a survey of the use of Native 

15 American languages in the United States. 

16 ‘‘(b) UPDATES.—Prior to conducting each subse17 quent survey after the initial survey under subsection (a), 

18 the Secretary shall update the survey in accordance with 

19 this section. 

20 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—The Secretary 

21 shall design the initial survey under subsection (a) and 

22 each updated survey under subsection (b)— 

23 ‘‘(1) in consultation with Indian tribes; and 

24 ‘‘(2) after considering feedback received from 

25 Native American language speakers and experts. 


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1 ‘‘(d) CONTENTS.—Each survey under subsection (a) 

2 shall solicit— 

3 ‘‘(1) information on which Native American 

4 languages are currently spoken; 

5 ‘‘(2) estimates of the number of speakers of 

6 each Native American language; 

7 ‘‘(3) any language usage statistics or informa8 tion that the Secretary, in consultation with Indian 

9 tribes and Native American language speakers and 

10 experts, determines to be relevant and appropriate; 

11 ‘‘(4) information on Native American language 

12 maintenance and revitalization projects and prac13 tices that are currently being carried out; 

14 ‘‘(5) information on any unmet Native Amer15 ican language resource needs of Indian tribes and 

16 Native American language communities; and 

17 ‘‘(6) any other information that the Secretary, 

18 in consultation with Indian tribes and Native Amer19 ican language speakers and experts, determines to 

20 be necessary. 

21 ‘‘(e) OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

23 out outreach and engagement activities to provide 

24 Indian tribes, Native language communities, and the 

25 public information about— 


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1 ‘‘(A) opportunities to provide input on the 

2 development and design of each survey under 

3 subsection (a), including information on the 

4 consultations required under subsection (c); 

5 ‘‘(B) the goals and purpose of the surveys 

6 conducted under subsection (a); and 

7 ‘‘(C) the benefits and importance of par8 ticipation in surveys under subsection (a). 

9 ‘‘(2) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE

10 AGREEMENTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

11 carry out the outreach and engagement activities re12 quired under paragraph (1)— 

13 ‘‘(A) directly; or 

14 ‘‘(B) through grants to, or contracts or co15 operative agreements with— 

16 ‘‘(i) Indian tribes; 

17 ‘‘(ii) tribal organizations; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) nonprofit organizations that 

19 work with Indian tribes, Native American 

20 language programs, and Native American 

21 language communities. 

22 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section requires 

23 an Indian tribe, Native American language community, or 

24 Native American language speaker— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to participate in a survey under subsection 

2 (a); or 

3 ‘‘(2) to provide specific or culturally sensitive 

4 information in completing such a survey. 

5 ‘‘(g) AVAILABILITY OF SURVEY MATERIALS AND

6 FINDINGS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 

8 after the date of enactment of this section, and prior 

9 to conducting each survey under subsection (a), the 

10 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Indian 

11 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 

12 Resources of the House of Representatives, and 

13 make publicly available, a description of— 

14 ‘‘(A) the feedback received under sub15 section (c) on the design of the survey; 

16 ‘‘(B) the form and content of the survey; 

17 ‘‘(C) the plan for deploying the survey to 

18 ensure a robust response; and 

19 ‘‘(D) how the Secretary will ensure any 

20 survey enumeration efforts are culturally in21 formed and appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(2) RESULTS.—Not later than 90 days after 

23 the date on which each survey under subsection (a) 

24 is completed, the Secretary shall submit to the Com25 mittee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886

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1 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep2 resentatives, and make publicly available, the results 

3 of the survey. 

4 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

6 $1,500,000 for each fiscal year— 

7 ‘‘(1) preceding a fiscal year during which a sur8 vey under subsection (a) is conducted; and 

9 ‘‘(2) during which a survey under that sub10 section is conducted.’’. 

Æ 


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