IIB 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4766 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2006 

Received 

NOVEMBER 13, 2006 

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Native American Programs Act of 1974 to 

provide for the revitalization of Native American languages through Native American language immersion 

programs; 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Esther Martinez Na3 tive American Languages Preservation Act of 2006’’. 

4 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF PROGRAM TO ENSURE THE SUR5 VIVAL AND CONTINUING VITALITY OF NA6 TIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 

7 Section 803C of the Native American Programs Act 

8 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 2991b-3) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (5) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

11 the end, 

12 (B) in paragraph (6) by striking the period 

13 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(7)(A) Native American language nests, which 

16 are site-based educational programs that— 

17 ‘‘(i) provide instruction and child care 

18 through the use of a Native American language 

19 for at least 10 children under the age of 7 for 

20 an average of at least 500 hours per year per 

21 student; 

22 ‘‘(ii) provide classes in a Native American 

23 language for parents (or legal guardians) of 

24 students enrolled in a Native American lan25 guage nest (including Native American lan26 guage-speaking parents); and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) ensure that a Native American lan2 guage is the dominant medium of instruction in 

3 the Native American language nest; 

4 ‘‘(B) Native American language survival 

5 schools, which are site-based educational programs 

6 for school-age students that— 

7 ‘‘(i) provide an average of at least 500 

8 hours of instruction through the use of 1 or 

9 more Native American languages for at least 15 

10 students for whom a Native American language 

11 survival school is their principal place of in12 struction; 

13 ‘‘(ii) develop instructional courses and ma14 terials for learning Native American languages 

15 and for instruction through the use of Native 

16 American languages; 

17 ‘‘(iii) provide for teacher training; 

18 ‘‘(iv) work toward a goal of all students 

19 achieving— 

20 ‘‘(I) fluency in a Native American lan21 guage; and 

22 ‘‘(II) academic proficiency in mathe23 matics, reading (or language arts), and 

24 science; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) are located in areas that have high 

2 numbers or percentages of Native American 

3 students; and 

4 ‘‘(C) Native American language restoration pro5 grams, which are educational programs that— 

6 ‘‘(i) operate at least 1 Native American 

7 language program for the community in which 

8 it serves; 

9 ‘‘(ii) provide training programs for teach10 ers of Native American languages; 

11 ‘‘(iii) develop instructional materials for 

12 the programs; 

13 ‘‘(iv) work toward a goal of increasing pro14 ficiency and fluency in at least 1 Native Amer15 ican language; 

16 ‘‘(v) provide instruction in at least 1 Na17 tive American language; and 

18 ‘‘(vi) may use funds received under this 

19 section for— 

20 ‘‘(I) Native American language pro21 grams, such as Native American language 

22 immersion programs, Native American lan23 guage and culture camps, Native American 

24 language programs provided in coordina25 tion and cooperation with educational entiVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:10 Nov 14, 2006 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4766.RFS H4766

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1 ties, Native American language programs 

2 provided in coordination and cooperation 

3 with local universities and colleges, Native 

4 American language programs that use a 

5 master-apprentice model of learning lan6 guages, and Native American language 

7 programs provided through a regional pro8 gram to better serve geographically dis9 persed students; 

10 ‘‘(II) Native American language 

11 teacher training programs, such as train12 ing programs in Native American language 

13 translation for fluent speakers, training 

14 programs for Native American language 

15 teachers, training programs for teachers in 

16 schools to utilize Native American lan17 guage materials, tools, and interactive 

18 media to teach Native American language; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(III) the development of Native 

21 American language materials, such as 

22 books, audio and visual tools, and inter23 active media programs.’’, 

24 (2) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (5) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end, 

3 (B) in paragraph (6) by striking the period 

4 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(7) in the case of an application for a grant 

7 to carry out any purpose specified in subsection 

8 (b)(7)(B), a certification by the applicant that the 

9 applicant has not less than 3 years of experience in 

10 operating and administering a Native American lan11 guage survival school, a Native American language 

12 nest, or any other educational program in which in13 struction is conducted in a Native American lan14 guage.’’, and 

15 (3) in subsection (e)(2) by inserting before the 

16 period the following: ‘‘, except that grants made 

17 under such subsection for any purpose specified in 

18 subsection (b)(7) may be made only on a 3-year 

19 basis’’. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 

21 Section 815 of the Native American Programs Act 

22 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 2992c) is amended— 

23 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

24 (6) as paragraphs (2) through (7), respectively, and 


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1 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re2 designated, the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) ‘average’ means the aggregate number of 

4 hours of instruction through the use of a Native 

5 American language to all students enrolled in a na6 tive language immersion program during a school 

7 year divided by the total number of students enrolled 

8 in the immersion program;’’. 

9 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR PRO10 GRAM TO ENSURE THE SURVIVAL AND CON11 TINUING VITALITY OF NATIVE AMERICAN 

12 LANGUAGES. 

13 Section 816(e) of the Native American Programs Act 

14 of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 2992d(e)) is amended by striking 

15 ‘‘1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2008, 

16 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 27, 

2006. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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