Title: Native American Language Vitalization Act
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Native American Language Vitalization Act
This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to establish the Native American Language Vitalization and Training Program, under which ED shall award grants to eligible institutions to promote the preservation, revitalization, relevancy, and use of Native American languages.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4188 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4188

   To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish the Native 
          American Language Vitalization and Training Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 16, 2019

   Mr. Sablan (for himself, Ms. Schrier, Ms. Gabbard, and Mr. Case) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish the Native 
          American Language Vitalization and Training Program.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Native American Language 
Vitalization Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE VITALIZATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM.

    Part A of title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1057 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 316 (20 U.S.C. 
1059c) the following:

``SEC. 316A. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE VITALIZATION AND TRAINING 
              PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Establishment.--
            ``(1) In general.--From the amount appropriated under 
        subsection (d), the Secretary shall establish the Native 
        American Language Vitalization and Training Program under which 
        the Secretary shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to 
        eligible institutions to promote the preservation, 
        revitalization, relevancy, and use of Native American 
        languages.
            ``(2) Term.--The term of a grant under this section shall 
        be not more than 5 years.
            ``(3) Application.--
                    ``(A) Streamlined process.--In carrying out the 
                program under this section, the Secretary shall 
                establish application requirements in such a manner as 
                to simplify and streamline the process for the grant 
                application under this section.
                    ``(B) In general.--To be eligible to receive a 
                grant under this subsection, an eligible institution 
                shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 
                time, in such manner, and in accordance with any other 
                application requirements described in subparagraph (A), 
                that the Secretary may prescribe, and including the 
                following:
                            ``(i) A description of the 5-year program 
                        of the eligible institution for meeting the 
                        needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives, 
                        Native Hawaiians, or Native American Pacific 
                        Islanders as appropriate, in the area served by 
                        the institution, and how such plan is 
                        consistent with the purposes described in 
                        paragraph (1).
                            ``(ii)(I) An identification of the 
                        population to be served by the eligible 
                        institution; and
                            ``(II) an identification of the status of 
                        Native American language understanding and use 
                        within that population and a description of the 
                        manner in which the program will help preserve 
                        and revitalize the relevant Native American 
                        language.
                            ``(iii) A description of the services to be 
                        provided under the program, including the 
                        manner in which the services will be integrated 
                        with other appropriate activities.
                            ``(iv) A description, to be prepared in 
                        consultation with the Secretary, of the 
                        performance measures to be used to assess the 
                        performance of the eligible institution in 
                        carrying out the program.
    ``(b) Use of Funds.--An eligible institution may use a grant under 
this section to carry out activities consistent with the purposes 
described in subsection (a)(1), including--
            ``(1) curriculum development and academic instruction, 
        including educational activities, programs, and partnerships 
        relating to students in early childhood education programs 
        through grade 12;
            ``(2) professional development for faculty at the eligible 
        institution and in-service training programs for early 
        childhood education programs through grade 12 instructors and 
        administrators; and
            ``(3) innovative Native American language programs for 
        students in early childhood education programs through grade 
        12, including language immersion programs.
    ``(c) Applicability of Other Provisions.--
            ``(1) Concurrent funding.--
                    ``(A) Tribal college or university.--An eligible 
                institution that is a Tribal College or University may 
                receive a grant under this section and funds under 
                section 316 concurrently.
                    ``(B) Alaska native-serving institution or native 
                hawaiian-serving institution.--An eligible institution 
                that is an Alaska Native-serving institution or Native 
                Hawaiian-serving institution may receive a grant under 
                this section and funds under section 317 concurrently.
                    ``(C) Asian american and native american pacific 
                islander-serving institution.--An eligible institution 
                that is an Asian American and Native American Pacific 
                Islander-serving institution may receive a grant under 
                this section and funds under section 320 concurrently.
            ``(2) Exemption.--Sections 312(b) and 313(d) shall not 
        apply to an eligible institution that receives a grant under 
        this section.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 
and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.
    ``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Eligible institution.--The term `eligible 
        institution' means--
                    ``(A) a Tribal College or University, as defined in 
                section 316;
                    ``(B) an Alaska Native-serving institution, as 
                defined in section 317;
                    ``(C) a Native Hawaiian-serving institution, as 
                defined in section 317; or
                    ``(D) an Asian American and Native American Pacific 
                Islander-serving institution, as defined in section 
                320, which is located in the Commonwealth of the 
                Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, or Guam.
            ``(2) Native american.--The term `Native American' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 371(c)(6).''.
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