II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1579 

To enhance and integrate Native American tourism, empower Native American communities, increase coordination and collaboration between Federal tourism assets, and expand heritage and cultural tourism opportunities in the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 16, 2015 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. THUNE, Mr. UDALL, Mr. HELLER, Mr. 

TESTER, Mr. FRANKEN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To enhance and integrate Native American tourism, empower 

Native American communities, increase coordination and 

collaboration between Federal tourism assets, and expand 

heritage and cultural tourism opportunities in the United 

States. 

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 ‘‘Native American Tour5 ism and Improving Visitor Experience Act’’ or the ‘‘NA6 TIVE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are— 

3 (1) to enhance and integrate Native American 

4 tourism— 

5 (A) to empower Native American commu6 nities; and 

7 (B) to advance the National Travel and 

8 Tourism Strategy; 

9 (2) to increase coordination and collaboration 

10 between Federal tourism assets to support Native 

11 American tourism and bolster recreational travel and 

12 tourism; 

13 (3) to expand heritage and cultural tourism op14 portunities in the United States to spur economic 

15 development, create jobs, and increase tourism reve16 nues; 

17 (4) to enhance and improve self-determination 

18 and self-governance capabilities in the Native Amer19 ican community and to promote greater self-suffi20 ciency; 

21 (5) to encourage Indian tribes and tribal orga22 nizations to engage more fully in Native American 

23 tourism activities to increase visitation to rural and 

24 remote areas in the United States that are too dif25 ficult to access or are unknown to domestic travelers 

26 and international tourists; 


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1 (6) to provide grants, loans, and technical as2 sistance to Indian tribes and tribal organizations 

3 that will— 

4 (A) spur important infrastructure develop5 ment; 

6 (B) increase tourism capacity; and 

7 (C) elevate living standards in Native 

8 American communities; and 

9 (7) to support the development of techno10 logically innovative projects that will incorporate rec11 reational travel and tourism information and data 

12 from Federal assets to improve the visitor experi13 ence. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

17 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, 

18 United States Code. 

19 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

20 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

21 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

22 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

23 (3) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘tribal orga25 nization’’ has the meaning given the term in 


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1 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

2 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

3 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘tribal organi4 zation’’ includes a Native Hawaiian organiza5 tion (as defined in section 7207 of the Native 

6 Hawaiian Education Act (20 U.S.C. 7517)). 

7 SEC. 4. INTEGRATING FEDERAL TOURISM ASSETS TO 

8 STRENGTHEN NATIVE TOURISM OPPORTUNI9 TIES. 

10 (a) SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND SECRETARY OF

11 THE INTERIOR.—The Secretary of Commerce and the 

12 Secretary of the Interior shall update the respective man13 agement plans and tourism initiatives of the Department 

14 of Commerce and the Department of the Interior to in15 clude Indian tribes and tribal organizations. 

16 (b) OTHER AGENCIES.—The head of each agency 

17 that has recreational travel or tourism functions or com18 plementary programs shall update the respective manage19 ment plans and tourism strategies of the agency to include 

20 Indian tribes and tribal organizations. 

21 (c) NATIVE AMERICAN TOURISM PLANS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The plans shall outline pol23 icy proposals— 

24 (A) to improve travel and tourism data col25 lection and analysis; 


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1 (B) to increase the integration, alignment, 

2 and utility of public records, publications, and 

3 Web sites maintained by Federal agencies; 

4 (C) to create a better user experience for 

5 domestic travelers and international visitors; 

6 (D) to align Federal agency Web sites and 

7 publications; 

8 (E) to support national tourism goals; 

9 (F) to identify agency programs that could 

10 be used to support tourism capacity building 

11 and help sustain tourism infrastructure in Na12 tive American communities; 

13 (G) to develop innovative visitor portals for 

14 parks, landmarks, heritage and cultural sites, 

15 and assets that showcase and respect the diver16 sity of the indigenous peoples of the United 

17 States; 

18 (H) to share local Native American herit19 age through the development of bilingual inter20 pretive and directional signage that could in21 clude or incorporate English and the local Na22 tive American language or languages; and 

23 (I) to improve access to transportation 

24 programs related to Native American commu25 nity capacity building for tourism and trade, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 19, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1579.IS S1579

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1 cluding transportation planning for programs 

2 related to visitor enhancement and safety. 

3 (2) CONSULTATION WITH INDIAN TRIBES AND

4 NATIVE AMERICANS.—In developing the plan under 

5 paragraph (1), the head of each agency shall consult 

6 with Indian tribes and the Native American commu7 nity to identify appropriate levels of inclusion of the 

8 Indian tribes and Native Americans in Federal tour9 ism activities, public records and publications, in10 cluding Native American tourism information avail11 able on Web sites. 

12 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte14 rior, in consultation with the Secretary of Com15 merce, shall enter into a memorandum of under16 standing or cooperative agreement with an entity or 

17 organization with a demonstrated record in tribal 

18 communities of defining, introducing, developing, 

19 and sustaining American Indian, Alaska Native, and 

20 Native Hawaiian tourism and related activities in a 

21 manner that respects and honors native traditions 

22 and values. 

23 (2) COORDINATION.—The memorandum of un24 derstanding or cooperative agreement described in 

25 paragraph (1) shall formalize a role for the organiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Jun 19, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1579.IS S1579

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1 zation or entity to serve as a facilitator between the 

2 Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Com3 merce and the Indian tribes and tribal organiza4 tions— 

5 (A) to identify areas where technical as6 sistance is needed through consultations with 

7 Indian tribes and tribal organizations to em8 power the Indian tribes and tribal organizations 

9 to participate fully in the tourism industry; and 

10 (B) to provide a means for the delivery of 

11 technical assistance and coordinate the delivery 

12 of the assistance to Indian tribes and tribal or13 ganizations in collaboration with the Secretary 

14 of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce, and 

15 other entities with distinctive experience, as ap16 propriate. 

17 (3) FUNDING.—Subject to the availability of 

18 appropriations, the head of each Federal agency, in19 cluding the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary 

20 of Commerce, the Secretary of Transportation, the 

21 Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Health 

22 and Human Services, and the Secretary of Labor 

23 shall obligate any funds made available to the head 

24 of the agency to cover any administrative expenses 

25 incurred by the organization or entity described in 


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1 paragraph (1) in carrying out programs or activities 

2 of the agency. 

3 (4) METRICS.—The Secretary of the Interior 

4 and the Secretary of Commerce shall coordinate with 

5 the organization or entity described in paragraph (1) 

6 to develop metrics to measure the effectiveness of 

7 the entity or organization in strengthening tourism 

8 opportunities for Indian tribes and tribal organiza9 tions. 

10 (e) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act, and occasionally thereafter, the 

12 Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce 

13 shall each submit to the Committee on Indian Affairs of 

14 the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

15 the House of Representatives a report that describes— 

16 (1) the manner in which the Secretary of the 

17 Interior or the Secretary of Commerce, as applica18 ble, is including Indian tribes and tribal organiza19 tions in management plans; 

20 (2) the efforts of the Secretary of the Interior 

21 or the Secretary of Commerce, as applicable, to de22 velop departmental and agency tourism plans to sup23 port tourism programs of Indian tribes and tribal 

24 organizations; 


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1 (3) the manner in which the entity or organiza2 tion described in subsection (d)(1) is working to pro3 mote tourism to empower Indian tribes and tribal 

4 organizations to participate fully in the tourism in5 dustry; and 

6 (4) the effectiveness of the entity or organiza7 tion described in subsection (d)(1) based on the 

8 metrics developed under subsection (d)(4). 

9 SEC. 5. NATIVE AMERICAN TOURISM AND BRANDING EN10 HANCEMENT. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency shall— 

12 (1) take actions that help empower Indian 

13 tribes and tribal organizations to showcase the herit14 age, foods, traditions, history, and continuing vital15 ity of the Indian tribes and tribal organizations; 

16 (2) support the efforts of Indian tribes and 

17 tribal organizations— 

18 (A) to identify and enhance or maintain 

19 traditions and cultural features that are impor20 tant to sustain the distinctiveness of the local 

21 Native American community; and 

22 (B) to provide visitor experiences that are 

23 authentic and respectful; 

24 (3) provide assistance to interpret the connec25 tions between the indigenous peoples of the United 


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1 States and the national identity of the United 

2 States; 

3 (4) enhance efforts to promote understanding 

4 and respect for diverse cultures and subcultures in 

5 the United States and the relevance of those cul6 tures to the national brand of the United States; 

7 and 

8 (5) enter into appropriate memoranda of under9 standing and establish public-private partnerships to 

10 ensure that arriving domestic travelers at airports 

11 and arriving international visitors at ports of entry 

12 are welcomed in a manner that both showcases and 

13 respects the diversity of Indian tribes and tribal or14 ganizations. 

15 (b) GRANTS.—To the extent practicable, grants ad16 ministered by the Commissioner of the Administration for 

17 Native Americans, Chairman of the National Endowment 

18 for the Arts, Chairman of the National Endowment for 

19 the Humanities, and any other grant program adminis20 tered by the head of an agency for which Indian tribes 

21 or tribal organizations are eligible may be used— 

22 (1) to support the efforts of Indian tribes and 

23 tribal organizations to tell the story of those Indian 

24 tribes and tribal organizations as the First Peoples 

25 of the United States; 


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1 (2) to use the arts and humanities to help revi2 talize Native communities, promote economic devel3 opment, increase livability, and present the unique4 ness of the United States to visitors in a way that 

5 celebrates the diversity of the United States; and 

6 (3) to carry out this section. 

7 (c) SMITHSONIAN.—The Advisory Council and the 

8 Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution shall 

9 work with Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and non10 profit organizations to establish long-term partnerships 

11 with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cul12 tural organizations— 

13 (1) to share collections, exhibitions, interpretive 

14 materials, and educational strategies; and 

15 (2) to conduct joint research and collaborative 

16 projects that would support tourism efforts for In17 dian tribes and tribal organizations and carry out 

18 the intent of this section. 

Æ 


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