[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 989 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.989
One Hundred Seventeenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two
An Act
To establish a Native American language resource center in furtherance
of the policy set forth in the Native American Languages Act.
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 Resource
Center Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE RESOURCE CENTERS.
(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to further align the
resources provided by the Department of Education with the policies set
forth in the Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.)
through establishment of a program within the Department of Education
to support 1 or more Native American language resource centers.
(b) In General.--The Secretary of Education is authorized to make a
grant to, or enter into a contract with, an eligible entity for the
purpose of--
(1) establishing, strengthening, and operating a Native
American language resource center; and
(2) staffing the center with individuals with relevant
expertise and experience, including staff who speak American Indian
and Alaska Native languages and the Native Hawaiian language and
have worked in language education in the American Indian and Alaska
Native languages and the Native Hawaiian language in a preschool,
elementary school, secondary school, adult education, or higher
education program.
(c) Authorized Activities.--The Native American language resource
center established under subsection (b) shall carry out activities to--
(1) improve the capacity to teach and learn Native American
languages;
(2) further Native American language use and acquisition;
(3) preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of
Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native American
languages in furtherance of--
(A) the policies set forth in the Native American Languages
Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.); and
(B) the United States trust responsibility to Native
American communities;
(4) address the effects of past discrimination and ongoing
inequities experienced by Native American language speakers;
(5) support the revitalization and reclamation of Native
American languages; and
(6) support the use of Native American languages as a medium of
instruction for a wide variety of age levels, academic content
areas, and types of schools, including Native American language
medium education.
(d) Additional Authorized Activities.--The Native American language
resource center established under subsection (b) may also carry out
activities--
(1) to encourage and support the use of Native American
languages within educational systems in the same manner as other
world languages, including by encouraging State educational
agencies, local educational agencies, and institutions of higher
education to offer Native American language courses the same full
academic credit as courses in other world languages;
(2) to support the development, adoption, and use of
educational outcome metrics aligned with the Native American
language of instruction, including assessments, qualifications, and
processes based on promising practices in Native American language
medium education;
(3) to provide assistance to Native American language programs
seeking Federal resources;
(4) to encourage and support teacher preparation programs that
prepare teachers to teach Native American languages and to use
Native American languages as a medium of instruction, including by
disseminating promising practices and developing pedagogical
programming and through appropriate alternative pathways to teacher
certification;
(5) to provide information and resources--
(A) on promising practices in the use and revitalization of
Native American languages in Native American communities,
including use in educational institutions; and
(B) for the use of technology in school and community-based
Native American language programs to support the retention,
use, and teaching of Native American languages;
(6) to support the use of distance learning technologies and
training for parents, students, teachers, and learning support
staff associated with Native American language programs,
including--
(A) the compilation and curation of digital libraries and
other online resources for Native American languages, except
that any materials collected by the center shall only be
materials provided by a Native American language program or
Native American community;
(B) the development of optional distance learning curricula
appropriate for preschool, elementary school, secondary school,
adult education, and postsecondary education;
(C) pedagogical training for Native American language
teachers; and
(D) other efforts necessary to continue Native American
language acquisition through distance learning;
(7) to provide technical assistance for Native American
communities and school systems to develop Native American language
medium education programs in preschool, elementary school,
secondary school, or adult education programs conducted through the
medium of Native American languages;
(8) to support Native American language programs and Native
American communities in--
(A) accessing international best practices, resources, and
research in indigenous language revitalization; and
(B) gathering and sharing technical assistance, promising
practices, and experiences;
(9) for the operation of intensive programs, including summer
institutes, to train Native American language speakers, to provide
professional development, and to improve Native American language
instruction through preservice and in-service language training for
teachers; and
(10) that otherwise support the Native American language
resource center established under subsection (b) to carry out the
activities required in subsection (c).
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) ESEA definitions.--The terms ``elementary school'', ``local
educational agency'', ``secondary school'', and ``State educational
agency'' have the meanings given the terms in section 8101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) an institution of higher education;
(B) an entity within an institution of higher education
with dedicated expertise in Native American language and
culture education; or
(C) a consortium that includes 1 or more institutions of
higher education or 1 or more entities described in
subparagraph (B).
(3) Institution of higher education.--The term ``institution of
higher education'' has the meaning given the term in section 101 of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
(4) Native american; native american language.--The terms
``Native American'' and ``Native American language'' have the
meanings given those terms in section 103 of the Native American
Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2902).
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section, $3,000,000 for each fiscal
year.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.