II 

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. 

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 Lan5 guage Resource Center Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are to further the policies 

3 set forth in the Native American Languages Act (25 

4 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.) by creating a national resource center 

5 and, through such national resource center and actions, 

6 to— 

7 (1) preserve, protect, and promote the rights 

8 and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, 

9 and develop Native American languages (as defined 

10 in section 103 of the Native American Languages 

11 Act (25 U.S.C. 2902)); 

12 (2) allow the United States to fulfill its trust 

13 responsibility to Native American communities and 

14 address the effects of past discrimination against 

15 Native American language speakers; 

16 (3) support revitalization of Native American 

17 languages; 

18 (4) encourage and support the use of Native 

19 American languages as a medium of instruction, in20 cluding use as a medium of education in schools op21 erated by Tribes, States, territories, the Federal 

22 Government, and Native American language edu23 cational organizations; 

24 (5) encourage and support the use and develop25 ment of Native American languages as the medium 


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1 of instruction for a wide variety of age levels and 

2 academic content areas; 

3 (6) support metrics aligned with the Native 

4 American language of instruction, including assess5 ments, qualifications, and processes based on well6 demonstrated best practices in Native American lan7 guage medium education; 

8 (7) identify— 

9 (A) barriers to Native American language 

10 education and learning within Federal laws; and 

11 (B) actions needed for alignment with the 

12 Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 

13 2901 et seq.); 

14 (8) encourage and support elementary schools, 

15 secondary schools, and institutions of higher edu16 cation to include Native American languages in the 

17 curriculum in the same manner as other world lan18 guages, including through cooperative agreements 

19 and distance education, and to grant proficiency in 

20 Native American languages the same full academic 

21 credit as proficiency in other world languages; 

22 (9) encourage and support the development of 

23 appropriate teacher preparation programming for 

24 the teaching of, and through, Native American lanVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Dec 03, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S989.RS S989

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1 guages, including appropriate alternative pathways 

2 to teacher certification; 

3 (10) provide a resource base to provide infor4 mation to Federal, Tribal, State, territory, and local 

5 governments and Native American educational orga6 nizations to allow the spread of best practices in the 

7 use, practice, and development of Native American 

8 languages in Native American communities, includ9 ing use in educational institutions; 

10 (11) provide a resource base for the use of tech11 nology in intensive community-, land-, and archive12 based programs, as well as hybrid and collaborative 

13 programs in supporting the retention, use, develop14 ment, and teaching of Native American languages by 

15 government and private entities; 

16 (12) provide a developmental base from which 

17 interested Tribal colleges and universities and other 

18 Native American entities might develop fully func19 tioning Native American language medium education 

20 systems that include associated preschool, elemen21 tary school, secondary school, and adult education 

22 programs conducted through the medium of Native 

23 American languages; 

24 (13) provide a means to further collaboration 

25 among formal government, institutional, and comVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Dec 03, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S989.RS S989

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1 munity-based Native American language programs, 

2 resources, and research efforts with additional access 

3 to international best practices in indigenous lan4 guage revitalization; and 

5 (14) develop a support center system for Native 

6 American language participants to gather and share 

7 helpful information and experiences. 

8 SEC. 3. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE RESOURCE CENTER. 

9 Section 603 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

10 U.S.C. 1123) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 

12 subsections (c) and (d), respectively; 

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(b) NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE RESOURCE CEN16 TER AUTHORIZED.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

18 to make a grant to, or enter into a contract with, 

19 an eligible entity for the purpose of— 

20 ‘‘(A) establishing, strengthening, and oper21 ating a Native American language resource and 

22 training center as described in paragraph (2); 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) staffing the center with individuals 

25 who have high-level fluency in American Indian, 


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1 Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian languages 

2 and are experienced with Native American lan3 guage education in preschool, elementary 

4 school, secondary school, adult education, and 

5 higher education programs. 

6 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES OF CENTER.—The Native 

7 American language resource center established under 

8 paragraph (1) shall serve as a resource to— 

9 ‘‘(A) improve the capacity to teach and 

10 learn Native American languages and further 

11 Native American language acquisition; 

12 ‘‘(B) preserve, protect, and promote the 

13 rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, 

14 practice, and develop Native American lan15 guages; 

16 ‘‘(C) allow the United States to fulfill its 

17 trust responsibility to Native American commu18 nities and address the effects of past discrimi19 nation against Native American language 

20 speakers; 

21 ‘‘(D) support revitalization of Native 

22 American languages; 

23 ‘‘(E) encourage and support the use of Na24 tive American languages as a medium of in25 struction, including use as a medium of eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Dec 03, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S989.RS S989

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1 cation in schools operated by Tribes, States, the 

2 Federal Government, and Native American lan3 guage educational organizations; 

4 ‘‘(F) encourage and support the use and 

5 development of Native American languages as 

6 the medium of instruction for a wide variety of 

7 age levels and academic content areas; 

8 ‘‘(G) support metrics aligned with the Na9 tive American language of instruction, including 

10 assessments, qualifications, and processes based 

11 on well-demonstrated best practices in Native 

12 American language medium education; 

13 ‘‘(H) identify barriers to Native American 

14 language education and learning within Federal 

15 laws and actions needed for alignment with the 

16 Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 

17 2901); 

18 ‘‘(I) encourage and support elementary 

19 schools, secondary schools, and institutions of 

20 higher education to include Native American 

21 languages in the curriculum in the same man22 ner as other world languages, including through 

23 cooperative agreements and distance education, 

24 and to grant proficiency in Native American 


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1 languages the same full academic credit as pro2 ficiency in other world languages; 

3 ‘‘(J) encourage and support the develop4 ment of appropriate teacher preparation pro5 gramming for the teaching of, and through, Na6 tive American languages, including appropriate 

7 alternative pathways to teacher certification; 

8 ‘‘(K) provide a resource base to provide in9 formation to Federal, Tribal, State, and local 

10 governments and Native American educational 

11 organizations to allow the spread of best prac12 tices in the use, practice, and development of 

13 Native American languages in Native American 

14 communities, including use in educational insti15 tutions; 

16 ‘‘(L) provide a resource base for the use of 

17 technology in intensive community-, land-, and 

18 archive-based programs, as well as hybrid and 

19 collaborative programs in supporting the reten20 tion, use, development, and teaching of Native 

21 American languages by government and private 

22 entities; 

23 ‘‘(M) support the acquisition of distance 

24 learning technologies and training for parents, 

25 students, teachers, and learning support staff, 


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1 including the compilation and curation of dig2 ital libraries and other online resources in tar3 get Native American languages, the develop4 ment of distance learning curricula appropriate 

5 for preschool, elementary school, secondary 

6 school, adult education, and postsecondary edu7 cation, the pedagogical training for teachers, 

8 and other efforts necessary to continue Native 

9 American language acquisition through distance 

10 learning; 

11 ‘‘(N) provide a developmental base from 

12 which interested Tribal colleges and universities 

13 and other Native American entities might de14 velop fully functioning Native American lan15 guage medium education systems that include 

16 associated preschool, elementary school, sec17 ondary school, and adult education programs 

18 conducted through the medium of Native Amer19 ican languages; 

20 ‘‘(O) provide a means to further collabora21 tion among formal government, institutional, 

22 and community-based Native American lan23 guage programs, resources, and research efforts 

24 with additional access to international best 

25 practices in indigenous language revitalization; 


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1 ‘‘(P) develop a support center system for 

2 Native American language participants to gath3 er and share helpful information and experi4 ences; and 

5 ‘‘(Q) address any of the purposes of for6 eign language centers included under this sec7 tion if, in doing so, the Native American lan8 guage resource center— 

9 ‘‘(i) does so as a subsidiary activity; 

10 ‘‘(ii) focuses benefits on Native Amer11 icans living in Native American commu12 nities, or closely tied to such communities; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(iii) ensures that one of the out15 comes being strengthened through this 

16 subparagraph is the use of one or more 

17 Native American languages in a Native 

18 American community. 

19 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

20 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi21 ble entity’ means— 

22 ‘‘(i) an institution of higher education; 

23 ‘‘(ii) an entity within an institution of 

24 higher education with dedicated responsiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Dec 03, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S989.RS S989

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1 bility for Native American language and 

2 culture education; 

3 ‘‘(iii) a consortium of such institu4 tions; or 

5 ‘‘(iv) a consortium of such institutions 

6 and other entities with unique responsibil7 ities for Native American languages. 

8 ‘‘(B) NATIVE AMERICAN; NATIVE AMER9 ICAN LANGUAGE.—The terms ‘Native Amer10 ican’ and ‘Native American language’ have the 

11 meanings given those terms in section 103 of 

12 the Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 

13 2902). 

14 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

16 this subsection, $3,000,000 for each fiscal year.’’; 

17 and 

18 (3) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) of 

19 subsection (c), as redesignated by paragraph (1), by 

20 striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘this sec21 tion’’. 

22 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

23 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native American Lan24 guage Resource Center Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE RESOURCE CENTERS. 

2 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to further 

3 align the resources provided by the Department of Edu4 cation with the policies set forth in the Native American 

5 Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.) through establish6 ment of a program within the Department of Education 

7 to support 1 or more Native American language resource 

8 centers. 

9 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education is au10 thorized to make a grant to, or enter into a contract with, 

11 an eligible entity for the purpose of— 

12 (1) establishing, strengthening, and operating a 

13 Native American language resource center; and 

14 (2) staffing the center with individuals with rel15 evant expertise and experience, including staff who 

16 speak American Indian and Alaska Native languages 

17 and the Native Hawaiian language and have worked 

18 in language education in the American Indian and 

19 Alaska Native languages and the Native Hawaiian 

20 language in a preschool, elementary school, secondary 

21 school, adult education, or higher education program. 

22 (c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Native American 

23 language resource center established under subsection (b) 

24 shall carry out activities to— 

25 (1) improve the capacity to teach and learn Na26 tive American languages; 


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1 (2) further Native American language use and 

2 acquisition; 

3 (3) preserve, protect, and promote the rights and 

4 freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and de5 velop Native American languages in furtherance of— 

6 (A) the policies set forth in the Native 

7 American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et 

8 seq.); and 

9 (B) the United States trust responsibility to 

10 Native American communities; 

11 (4) address the effects of past discrimination and 

12 ongoing inequities experienced by Native American 

13 language speakers; 

14 (5) support the revitalization and reclamation of 

15 Native American languages; and 

16 (6) support the use of Native American lan17 guages as a medium of instruction for a wide variety 

18 of age levels, academic content areas, and types of 

19 schools, including Native American language medium 

20 education. 

21 (d) ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Na22 tive American language resource center established under 

23 subsection (b) may also carry out activities— 

24 (1) to encourage and support the use of Native 

25 American languages within educational systems in 


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1 the same manner as other world languages, including 

2 by encouraging State educational agencies, local edu3 cational agencies, and institutions of higher education 

4 to offer Native American language courses the same 

5 full academic credit as courses in other world lan6 guages; 

7 (2) to support the development, adoption, and 

8 use of educational outcome metrics aligned with the 

9 Native American language of instruction, including 

10 assessments, qualifications, and processes based on 

11 promising practices in Native American language 

12 medium education; 

13 (3) to provide assistance to Native American 

14 language programs seeking Federal resources; 

15 (4) to encourage and support teacher prepara16 tion programs that prepare teachers to teach Native 

17 American languages and to use Native American lan18 guages as a medium of instruction, including by dis19 seminating promising practices and developing peda20 gogical programming and through appropriate alter21 native pathways to teacher certification; 

22 (5) to provide information and resources— 

23 (A) on promising practices in the use and 

24 revitalization of Native American languages in 


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1 Native American communities, including use in 

2 educational institutions; and 

3 (B) for the use of technology in school and 

4 community-based Native American language 

5 programs to support the retention, use, and 

6 teaching of Native American languages; 

7 (6) to support the use of distance learning tech8 nologies and training for parents, students, teachers, 

9 and learning support staff associated with Native 

10 American language programs, including— 

11 (A) the compilation and curation of digital 

12 libraries and other online resources for Native 

13 American languages, except that any materials 

14 collected by the center shall only be materials 

15 provided by a Native American language pro16 gram or Native American community; 

17 (B) the development of distance learning 

18 curricula appropriate for preschool, elementary 

19 school, secondary school, adult education, and 

20 postsecondary education; 

21 (C) pedagogical training for Native Amer22 ican language teachers; and 

23 (D) other efforts necessary to continue Na24 tive American language acquisition through dis25 tance learning; 


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1 (7) to provide technical assistance for Native 

2 American communities and school systems to develop 

3 Native American language medium education pro4 grams in preschool, elementary school, secondary 

5 school, or adult education programs conducted 

6 through the medium of Native American languages; 

7 (8) to support Native American language pro8 grams and Native American communities in— 

9 (A) accessing international best practices, 

10 resources, and research in indigenous language 

11 revitalization; and 

12 (B) gathering and sharing technical assist13 ance, promising practices, and experiences; 

14 (9) for the operation of intensive programs, in15 cluding summer institutes, to train Native American 

16 language speakers, to provide professional develop17 ment, and to improve Native American language in18 struction through preservice and in-service language 

19 training for teachers; and 

20 (10) that otherwise support the Native American 

21 language resource center established under subsection 

22 (b) to carry out the activities required in subsection 

23 (c). 

24 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

2 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary 

3 school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the 

4 meanings given the terms in section 8101 of the Ele5 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

6 U.S.C. 7801). 

7 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti8 ty’’ means— 

9 (A) an institution of higher education; 

10 (B) an entity within an institution of high11 er education with dedicated expertise in Native 

12 American language and culture education; or 

13 (C) a consortium that includes 1 or more 

14 institutions of higher education or 1 or more en15 tities described in subparagraph (B). 

16 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

17 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the mean18 ing given the term in section 101 of the Higher Edu19 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

20 (4) NATIVE AMERICAN; NATIVE AMERICAN LAN21 GUAGE.—The terms ‘‘Native American’’ and ‘‘Native 

22 American language’’ have the meanings given those 

23 terms in section 103 of the Native American Lan24 guages Act (25 U.S.C. 2902). 


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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

3 $3,000,000 for each fiscal year. 


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Calendar No. 176 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 989 

[Report No. 117–46] 

A BILL 

To establish a Native American language resource 

the Native American Languages Act. center in furtherance of the policy set forth in 

DECEMBER 2, 2021 

Reported with an amendment 


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