National Geologic Mapping Reauthorization Act of 2005

Mr. Speaker, I am most pleased to introduce the Native American Languages Amendments Act of 2006. This is a reintroduction in revised form of my bill, H.R. 2362, from the 108th Congress.

This vital legislation will authorize the Secretary of Education to provide grants to or enter into contracts with Native American language educational organizations, Native American language colleges, Indian tribal governments, organizations that demonstrate the potential to become Native American language educational organizations, or consortia of such entities, to establish Native American language nests for students under the age of 7 and their families. It will also authorize grants to operate, expand, and increase the number of Native American language survival schools throughout the country for Native American children and Native American language-speaking children.

The bill also authorizes the establishment of four demonstration projects that will provide assistance to Native American language survival schools and Native American language nests. The programs selected are well known nationally: all have over ten years of highly successful operation, and are all Native American controlled.

The demonstration sites range from a statewide system to a small localized program for under fifty students, and from programs restricted to elementary students to programs that go through high school and beyond. They include programs on reservations, programs in highly remote areas, and programs in urban areas. Students enrolled in them include children who are first language speakers and students from families where the language has not been spoken for three generations. They include programs with special strengths in teacher training and in resource materials development.

The four sites selected are the four research sites in an ongoing national study of academic effectiveness by prominent Native American and non-Native American educational researchers and major research entities with extensive experience in the field. The demonstration programs are authorized to use technology in cooperating and coordinating their work with each other and with other participating Native American language programs. They will provide direction to the Secretary of Education in developing site visit evaluations of programs and may conduct follow-up data collection that will be valuable in providing direction to schools.

Lastly, the bill provides direction relative to addressing barriers that have prevented Native Americans from accessing education in Native American languages. It also directs the Secretary of Education to provide for the inclusion of Native American language nests and Native American language survival schools in federal support for private schools and charter schools.

The Native American Languages Amendments Act of 2006 is consistent with longstanding federal self-determination policies toward native peoples, which support the promotion of economic and social self- sufficiency, as well as the preservation and revitalization of native culture, languages, art, history, religion, and values. Since language is a significant factor in the perpetuation of native cultures, the federal government enacted the Native American Languages Act of 1990 urging federal support for Native American languages, and the Native American Languages Act Amendments of 1992 establishing a grant program at the Administration for Native Americans to fund the preservation of Native American languages. My bill continues this commitment by our federal government to ensure the survival of these unique cultures and languages.

In my home state, I am proud that the people of Hawaii and the State of Hawaii have strongly supported the revitalization of Hawaiian culture, art, and language. In 1978, for example, the State of Hawaii wrote into its constitution a specific declaration that Hawaiian is one of our two official languages, along with English. This was a remarkable reversal from decades in which the very survival of the Native Hawaiian language was at risk due to benign neglect and to conscious efforts to discourage its use.

There is also support for Hawaiian language programs in both our public and private schools. At the forefront of these efforts have been supporters of Aha Punana Leo, a Hawaiian language immersion program which has endeavored to include both students and parents in an exciting and innovative way to revitalize Hawaiian language and culture. Ms. Namaka Rawlins, Director of Aha Punana Leo, and her husband, Dr. William (Pila) Wilson, have been pivotal in these efforts. The lessons of family and community involvement in the preservation of the Hawaiian language that they and others have proven are and can be used by other native communities and cultures across the country.

While the Aha Punana Leo program initially started with pre-school students, Hawaiian language survival schools were also established to allow for students to graduate from high school. Over 2,000 students are currently enrolled in Hawaiian language nests and survival schools. A Hawaiian language center--Hale Kuamoo--was eventually established at the University of Hawaii at Hilo with the collaboration of Aha Punana Leo as well as a Native College--Ka Haka Ula O Keelikolani College. Both programs have been crucial in providing training to teachers in Hawaiian language, college courses in Hawaiian, and graduate education in Hawaiian language and culture.

The revitalization of the Hawaiian language in my state has been instrumental in the preservation of Hawaiian culture, which is important to all of us who call Hawaii home. Today's legislation will take this lesson nationwide in continuing the commitment made by the federal government in 1990 and the progress that has been made since that time to preserve Native American languages, including the Hawaiian language. Mahalo, and aloha.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Wednesday, September 28, 2005, at 10 a.m., on S. 1114--Professional Athletes Drug Testing bill and S. 1334--Professional Sports Integrity and Accountability Act, in Hart 216.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 28, at 11:30 a.m. to consider pending calendar business.

Agenda

Agenda Item 3: S. 166--To amend the Oregon Resource Conservation Act of 1996 to reauthorize the participation of the Bureau of Reclamation in the Deschutes River Conservancy, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 4: S. 206--To designate the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 5: S. 213--To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Federal land to Rio Arriba County, NM.

Agenda Item 6: S. 242--To establish four memorials to the Space Shuttle Columbia in the State of Texas.

Agenda Item 7: S. 251--To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to conduct a water resource feasibility study for the Little Butte/Bear Creek Sub-basins in Oregon.

Agenda Item 8: S. 592--To extend the contract for the Glendo Unit of the Missouri River Basin Project in the State of Wyoming.

Agenda Item 9: S. 652--To provide financial assistance for the rehabilitation of the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial in Philadelphia, PA, and the development of an exhibit to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin.

Agenda Item 11: S. 761--To rename the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in the State of Idaho as the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in honor of the late Morley Nelson, an international authority on birds of prey, who was instrumental in the establishment of this National Conservation Area, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 12: S. 777--To designate Catoctin Mountain Park in the State of Maryland as the ``Catoctin Mountain National Recreation Area,'' and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 13: S. 819--To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to reallocate costs of the Pactola Dam and Reservoir, SD, to reflect increased demands for municipal, industrial, and fish and wildlife purposes.

Agenda Item 14: S. 891--To extend the water service contract for the Ainsworth Unit, Sandhills Division, Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program,

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet Wednesday, September 28, 2005, at 9:30 a.m. to conduct a hearing to discuss the role of science in environmental policy making.

Mr. President I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Wednesday, September 28, 2005, at 10 a.m., to hear testimony on ``Hurricane Katrina: Community Rebuilding Needs and Effectiveness of Past Proposals.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on

Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 28, 2005, at 9:30 a.m. to hold a hearing on Darfur Revisited: The International Response.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, September 28, 2005, at 9:30 a.m. for a hearing titled, ``Recovering from Hurricane Katrina: Responding to the Immediate Needs of Its Victims.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, September 28, 2005, at 2:30 p.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct an oversight hearing on Indian Housing.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on ``Protecting Copyright and Innovation in a Post-Grokster World'' on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 at 9:30 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226.

Witness List

Panel I: The Honorable Mary Beth Peters, U.S. Register of Copyrights, Copyright Office, Washington, DC; and the Honorable Debra Wong Yang, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California and Chair of the Attorney General's Advisory Committee on Cyber/Intellectual Property Subcommittee, Los Angeles, CA.

Panel II: Marty Roe, Lead Singer, Diamond Rio, Nashville, TN; Cary Sherman, President, Recording Industry Association of America, Washington, DC; Gary Shapiro, President and Chief Executive Officer, Consumer Electronics Association, Arlington, VA; Mark Lemley, William H. Neukom, Professor of Law, Stanford University Law School and Director Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology Stanford, CA; Ali Aydar, Chief Operating Officer, SNOCAP, San Francisco, CA; and Sam Yagan, President, MetaMachine, Inc. (developer of eDonkey and Overnet) New York, NY.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 28, at 2:30 p.m.

The purpose of the hearings is to review the Grazing programs of the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, including proposed changes to grazing regulations, and the status of grazing regulations, and the status of grazing permit renewals, monitoring programs and allotment restocking plans.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) and also the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall), for allowing me time to speak on this very important bill which I introduced along with my very good friend and colleague the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Cubin).

H.R. 2362 demonstrates a commitment, a commitment by not only this body, but by our country, to provide timely geologic information in a digital format to a variety of users, including our county health departments, State environmental agencies, Federal agencies, and even the private sector, Mr. Speaker. To date, no modern digital geologic map exists for approximately 75 percent of this country.

Geologic mapping has a variety of important uses as we have already heard. And understanding the subsurface soil, geology soil profiles through the use of geologic mapping can facilitate better planning, better planning for a variety of community projects including housing developments, schools and hospitals, septic systems for rural and urban communities and water treatment facilities and the construction of even highways and roadways as well.

Now, siting these types of facilities in appropriate geologic settings is important to avoid or mitigate for geologic hazards such as landslides, earthquakes, subsiding soils or swelling soils, sinkholes, volcanic eruptions and even floodplains.

H.R. 2362 authorizes the cooperative matching grant program between the State geologic surveys and the United States Geologic Survey through the fiscal year 2010.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I would urge all of my colleagues, understanding the

value of this important piece of legislation, to vote in the affirmative for its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2362) to reauthorize and amend the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2362, the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 2362, a bill to reauthorize and amend the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992, introduced by the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) and the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Cubin).

Geologic maps are important in identifying the Nation's water, energy, and mineral resources. Knowing where our resources are located is important in developing a sound national energy and minerals program that will allow us to become more energy independent, providing for a stronger, more secure economy and homeland.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation that gets real results by producing new geologic maps on an annual basis.

I urge adoption of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons).

(Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. UDALL of New Mexico asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, as my friend and colleague the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) has stated, H.R. 2362 would reauthorize the Geologic Mapping Act of 1992.

The U.S. Geological Survey and the State geological authorities carry out the geologic mapping program jointly. Under this program, Federal and State geologists develop comprehensive geological maps of the United States and a related database of environmental and scientific information.

The mapping program contributes significantly to our understanding of geologic information such as the distribution of mineral energy and groundwater resources.

Mr. Speaker, we should support H.R. 2362 and I urge its passage.

I would also at this time like to thank the entire Resources staff, including especially Debra Lanzone.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.