Durbin Feeling Native American Languages Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4886 To amend the Native American Languages Act to ensure the survival and continuing vitality of Native American languages, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 10, 2020 Mr. UDALL (for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs A BILL To amend the Native American Languages Act to ensure the survival and continuing vitality of Native American languages, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Durbin Feeling Native 4 American Languages Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. ENSURING THE SURVIVAL AND CONTINUING VITAL- 6 ITY OF NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106 of the Native Amer- 8 ican Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2905) is amended by add- 9 ing at the end the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4886 IS ‘‘(c) EVALUATION; REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 1 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Presi- 2 dent shall— 3 ‘‘(1) require the heads of the various Federal 4 departments, agencies, and instrumentalities to 5 carry out an evaluation described in subsection 6 (a)(1); and 7 ‘‘(2) submit to Congress a report that de- 8 scribes— 9 ‘‘(A) the results of the evaluations; and 10 ‘‘(B) the recommendations of the Secretary 11 of the Interior, the Secretary of Health and 12 Human Services, and the Secretary of Edu- 13 cation, after consultation with Indian tribes, 14 traditional leaders, and representatives of Na- 15 tive American language communities, for 16 amendments to Federal laws that are needed— 17 ‘‘(i) to bring the Federal laws into 18 compliance with this Act; 19 ‘‘(ii) to improve interagency coordina- 20 tion for purposes of supporting revitaliza- 21 tion, maintenance, and use of Native 22 American languages; and 23 ‘‘(iii) to reduce duplication, inefficien- 24 cies, and barriers Native American lan- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4886 IS guage communities face in accessing Fed- 1 eral programs to support efforts to revi- 2 talize, maintain, or increase the use of Na- 3 tive American languages.’’. 4 (b) SURVEY ON NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES.— 5 The Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et 6 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 108. SURVEY ON NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 9 date of enactment of this section, and every 5 years there- 10 after, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 11 through the Commissioner of the Administration for Na- 12 tive Americans (referred to in this section as the ‘Sec- 13 retary’), shall undertake a survey of the use of Native 14 American languages in the United States. 15 ‘‘(b) UPDATES.—Prior to conducting each subse- 16 quent survey after the initial survey under subsection (a), 17 the Secretary shall update the survey in accordance with 18 this section. 19 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—The Secretary 20 shall design the initial survey under subsection (a) and 21 each updated survey under subsection (b)— 22 ‘‘(1) in consultation with Indian tribes; and 23 ‘‘(2) after considering feedback received from 24 Native American language speakers and experts. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4886 IS ‘‘(d) CONTENTS.—Each survey under subsection (a) 1 shall solicit— 2 ‘‘(1) information on which Native American 3 languages are currently spoken; 4 ‘‘(2) estimates of the number of speakers of 5 each Native American language; 6 ‘‘(3) any language usage statistics or informa- 7 tion that the Secretary, in consultation with Indian 8 tribes and Native American language speakers and 9 experts, determines to be relevant and appropriate; 10 ‘‘(4) information on Native American language 11 maintenance and revitalization projects and prac- 12 tices that are currently being carried out; 13 ‘‘(5) information on any unmet Native Amer- 14 ican language resource needs of Indian tribes and 15 Native American language communities; and 16 ‘‘(6) any other information that the Secretary, 17 in consultation with Indian tribes and Native Amer- 18 ican language speakers and experts, determines to 19 be necessary. 20 ‘‘(e) OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 22 out outreach and engagement activities to provide 23 Indian tribes, Native language communities, and the 24 public information about— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4886 IS ‘‘(A) opportunities to provide input on the 1 development and design of each survey under 2 subsection (a), including information on the 3 consultations required under subsection (c); 4 ‘‘(B) the goals and purpose of the surveys 5 conducted under subsection (a); and 6 ‘‘(C) the benefits and importance of par- 7 ticipation in surveys under subsection (a). 8 ‘‘(2) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE 9 AGREEMENTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 10 carry out the outreach and engagement activities re- 11 quired under paragraph (1)— 12 ‘‘(A) directly; or 13 ‘‘(B) through grants to, or contracts or co- 14 operative agreements with— 15 ‘‘(i) Indian tribes; 16 ‘‘(ii) tribal organizations; and 17 ‘‘(iii) nonprofit organizations that 18 work with Indian tribes, Native American 19 language programs, and Native American 20 language communities. 21 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section requires 22 an Indian tribe, Native American language community, or 23 Native American language speaker— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4886 IS ‘‘(1) to participate in a survey under subsection 1 (a); or 2 ‘‘(2) to provide specific or culturally sensitive 3 information in completing such a survey. 4 ‘‘(g) AVAILABILITY OF SURVEY MATERIALS AND 5 FINDINGS.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 7 after the date of enactment of this section, and prior 8 to conducting each survey under subsection (a), the 9 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Indian 10 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 11 Resources of the House of Representatives, and 12 make publicly available, a description of— 13 ‘‘(A) the feedback received under sub- 14 section (c) on the design of the survey; 15 ‘‘(B) the form and content of the survey; 16 ‘‘(C) the plan for deploying the survey to 17 ensure a robust response; and 18 ‘‘(D) how the Secretary will ensure any 19 survey enumeration efforts are culturally in- 20 formed and appropriate. 21 ‘‘(2) RESULTS.—Not later than 90 days after 22 the date on which each survey under subsection (a) 23 is completed, the Secretary shall submit to the Com- 24 mittee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4886 IS mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep- 1 resentatives, and make publicly available, the results 2 of the survey. 3 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 4 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 5 $1,500,000 for each fiscal year— 6 ‘‘(1) preceding a fiscal year during which a sur- 7 vey under subsection (a) is conducted; and 8 ‘‘(2) during which a survey under that sub- 9 section is conducted.’’. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4886.IS S4886 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS