117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 989 

AN ACT 

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, 
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†S 989 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native American Lan3 guage Resource Center Act of 2022’’. 

4 SEC. 2. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE RESOURCE CEN5 TERS. 

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

7 align the resources provided by the Department of Edu8 cation with the policies set forth in the Native American 

9 Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.) through estab10 lishment of a program within the Department of Edu11 cation to support 1 or more Native American language 

12 resource centers. 

13 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education is au14 thorized to make a grant to, or enter into a contract with, 

15 an eligible entity for the purpose of— 

16 (1) establishing, strengthening, and operating a 

17 Native American language resource center; and 

18 (2) staffing the center with individuals with rel19 evant expertise and experience, including staff who 

20 speak American Indian and Alaska Native languages 

21 and the Native Hawaiian language and have worked 

22 in language education in the American Indian and 

23 Alaska Native languages and the Native Hawaiian 

24 language in a preschool, elementary school, sec25 ondary school, adult education, or higher education 

26 program. 
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†S 989 ES

1 (c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Native American 

2 language resource center established under subsection (b) 

3 shall carry out activities to— 

4 (1) improve the capacity to teach and learn Na5 tive American languages; 

6 (2) further Native American language use and 

7 acquisition; 

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

9 and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, 

10 and develop Native American languages in further11 ance of— 

12 (A) the policies set forth in the Native 

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

14 seq.); and 

15 (B) the United States trust responsibility 

16 to Native American communities; 

17 (4) address the effects of past discrimination 

18 and ongoing inequities experienced by Native Amer19 ican language speakers; 

20 (5) support the revitalization and reclamation 

21 of Native American languages; and 

22 (6) support the use of Native American lan23 guages as a medium of instruction for a wide variety 

24 of age levels, academic content areas, and types of 
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1 schools, including Native American language me2 dium education. 

3 (d) ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The 

4 Native American language resource center established 

5 under subsection (b) may also carry out activities— 

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

7 American languages within educational systems in 

8 the same manner as other world languages, includ9 ing by encouraging State educational agencies, local 

10 educational agencies, and institutions of higher edu11 cation to offer Native American language courses 

12 the same full academic credit as courses in other 

13 world languages; 

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

15 use of educational outcome metrics aligned with the 

16 Native American language of instruction, including 

17 assessments, qualifications, and processes based on 

18 promising practices in Native American language 

19 medium education; 

20 (3) to provide assistance to Native American 

21 language programs seeking Federal resources; 

22 (4) to encourage and support teacher prepara23 tion programs that prepare teachers to teach Native 

24 American languages and to use Native American 

25 languages as a medium of instruction, including by 
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1 disseminating promising practices and developing 

2 pedagogical programming and through appropriate 

3 alternative pathways to teacher certification; 

4 (5) to provide information and resources— 

5 (A) on promising practices in the use and 

6 revitalization of Native American languages in 

7 Native American communities, including use in 

8 educational institutions; and 

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

10 community-based Native American language 

11 programs to support the retention, use, and 

12 teaching of Native American languages; 

13 (6) to support the use of distance learning tech14 nologies and training for parents, students, teachers, 

15 and learning support staff associated with Native 

16 American language programs, including— 

17 (A) the compilation and curation of digital 

18 libraries and other online resources for Native 

19 American languages, except that any materials 

20 collected by the center shall only be materials 

21 provided by a Native American language pro22 gram or Native American community; 

23 (B) the development of optional distance 

24 learning curricula appropriate for preschool, el-
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1 ementary school, secondary school, adult edu2 cation, and postsecondary education; 

3 (C) pedagogical training for Native Amer4 ican language teachers; and 

5 (D) other efforts necessary to continue Na6 tive American language acquisition through dis7 tance learning; 

8 (7) to provide technical assistance for Native 

9 American communities and school systems to de10 velop Native American language medium education 

11 programs in preschool, elementary school, secondary 

12 school, or adult education programs conducted 

13 through the medium of Native American languages; 

14 (8) to support Native American language pro15 grams and Native American communities in— 

16 (A) accessing international best practices, 

17 resources, and research in indigenous language 

18 revitalization; and 

19 (B) gathering and sharing technical assist20 ance, promising practices, and experiences; 

21 (9) for the operation of intensive programs, in22 cluding summer institutes, to train Native American 

23 language speakers, to provide professional develop24 ment, and to improve Native American language in-
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1 struction through preservice and in-service language 

2 training for teachers; and 

3 (10) that otherwise support the Native Amer4 ican language resource center established under sub5 section (b) to carry out the activities required in 

6 subsection (c). 

7 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘elemen9 tary school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary 

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

11 meanings given the terms in section 8101 of the Ele12 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

13 U.S.C. 7801). 

14 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti15 ty’’ means— 

16 (A) an institution of higher education; 

17 (B) an entity within an institution of high18 er education with dedicated expertise in Native 

19 American language and culture education; or 

20 (C) a consortium that includes 1 or more 

21 institutions of higher education or 1 or more 

22 entities described in subparagraph (B). 

23 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

24 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
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1 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

2 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

3 (4) NATIVE AMERICAN; NATIVE AMERICAN LAN4 GUAGE.—The terms ‘‘Native American’’ and ‘‘Native 

5 American language’’ have the meanings given those 

6 terms in section 103 of the Native American Lan7 guages Act (25 U.S.C. 2902). 

8 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

10 $3,000,000 for each fiscal year. 

Passed the Senate December 19, 2022. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 989 

AN ACT 

To establish a Native American language resource 

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