Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4766) to amend the Native American Languages Act to provide for the support of Native American language survival schools, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4766, the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006. Within the confines of existing programs under the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Native Americans, this measure will empower Native American tribes, organizations, colleges and governing bodies as they seek to preserve Native languages and cultures.

I would like to commend my colleague, Congresswoman Heather Wilson, for leading the charge on this issue. Native American tribes nationwide are struggling with the loss of their languages, and, indeed, to lose even one Native language is to lose a piece of our Nation's history.

Mrs. Wilson, along with her colleague Mr. Tom Udall, has really done a great service to us, as she invited me to her district last month. I will mention a little bit more about that later, but I want to thank her for doing that. I also want to commend Ranking Member Kildee, who has been a strong supporter of Native American programs forever since I came here, and I am sure much longer than that.

H.R. 4766 is being considered in the same spirit as a previous version of the legislation which was examined by our Education and Workforce Committee last month in a field hearing held in Representative Wilson's district in Albuquerque. That hearing provided us an opportunity to learn firsthand about the extent and impact of Native American language loss in New Mexico, throughout the Southwest, and across the Nation. We heard from Native American advocates, academics and students about the need to preserve their languages in the face of a dramatic decline, and today I am proud we are responding.

In that hearing we began with an invocation by a Native American Governor in his language and ended with a benediction in his language by the same Native American Governor. There was a great feeling in the room, and some people commented that they hoped this wasn't just a shot and they would never see us again and never hear from us. We are back, and we are passing the bill.

In many Native American communities, Native languages are disappearing at an alarming rate. As a matter of fact, it is estimated that only 20 indigenous languages will remain viable by the year 2050.

The link between education, language, and culture is considered by many as paramount to preserving the very identity of Native Americans. By encouraging a greater focus on Native language programs, we are not only striving to preserve that identity, but we are encouraging greater academic performance among Native American students as well. The fact that this bill does so within the confines of existing programs makes it worthy of even stronger support from this body.

Mr. Speaker, when we discuss Native American language preservation, we are not just simply talking about a method of communication within tribes. This issue is far deeper than that. It represents the preservation of an important part of our Nation's history, culture, and legacy.

By providing grants to Native American language programs consisting of language nests, survival schools and restoration programs, we are bolstering that preservation effort. This measure will empower Native Americans to take the steps they deem necessary to preserve their indigenous languages and thus their cultures.

After visiting with them last month in New Mexico, I am convinced that we not only are doing right by giving them the opportunity to preserve their languages in this way, but we are also right for working in a creative, fiscally responsible manner to preserve critical elements of our national heritage.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this worthwhile legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would state that I would be happy to join with the gentleman on that letter.

I am happy now to yield whatever time she may consume to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Mrs. Wilson), the author of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say, seeing Mr. Pomeroy from North Dakota get up and speak about this, and we have talked about this before, I had a younger brother that served a mission for our church in the Dakotas with the Indian people. He would have loved what we are doing here tonight.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4766, the Esther Martinez Native American Language Preservation Act of 2006; and I would like to thank my colleague from New Mexico (Mrs. Wilson) for introducing this important piece of legislation. It is an honor to be a cosponsor of it. I would also like to thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee) for his hard work on this issue, as well as many other Members who have taken an interest in this very important issue, and also thank Chairman McKeon who brought the committee to New Mexico.

I remember, Mr. Chairman, we were in that room and it was standing room only. I think we could have gotten a much bigger room and even a bigger crowd. But it was an enormous crowd, and I think we were all impressed, and you could see and feel the real interest in this issue in terms of native communities caring about preserving their language. So it was wonderful to have you in New Mexico and have the committee out there and Tom Petri, the gentleman from Wisconsin, who was also there.

Mr. Speaker, we pass this legislation today with the great hope for the future, but with great sorrow for the recent past. As has been mentioned, Ms. Esther Martinez, a master storyteller from Ohkay Owingeh, a pueblo located in my district, was tragically killed on September 17, 2006. Esther was returning home from the airport on the heels of a trip to Washington, D.C. to be honored as a 2006 National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts. Esther was 94 years old.

She had dedicated her life to maintaining and preserving the various forms of the Tewa language. Among her Pueblo people, Esther, or Aunt Esther, as many called her, is best known for her storytelling, but also recognized for her linguistic and educational

contributions. Esther taught Tewa at the San Juan Day School and for more than 20 years served as the school's director of bilingual education. She also published her stories and used them as learning tools in the classroom.

As a master of the Tewa language, she compiled Tewa dictionaries in various dialects for the Northern New Mexico Pueblos, and also translated the New Testament into Tewa.

Considering Esther's dedication to preserving her native language, it is a fitting tribute that this legislation be named after her. The importance of language and its ability to enhance the rich dynamics of our Nation's history is often overlooked. From learning the ancestry of those who came before us to passing stories down through the generations to maintaining religious, cultural, and social ties, language is fundamental. Passing this legislation today is an indication that the importance of cultivating and passing languages down to younger generations is now being recognized.

I have had the great honor of visiting the Pueblos, the Navajos and the Apaches, and others, in my district during my four terms in the Congress and learning the traditions and characteristics unique to each individual tribe. One similarity, however, is that native languages are being lost. Tribal elders are often the only ones fluent in the language as an increasing number of children are growing up in homes that speak only English.

The urgent need to protect and preserve Native American languages is clear. We must invest in their preservation by implementing immersion programs. Passage of this legislation today is an important step toward reversing that trend. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4766, the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006, introduced by my colleague from New Mexico, Mrs. Heather Wilson.

Language scholars estimate that there were approximately 300 languages spoken in North America prior to the arrival of Columbus. Some project that without intervention, only 20 indigenous languages will remain viable by the year 2050. This bill will help save Native languages, whose very survival depends upon our intervention.

Native languages are one of the treasures of this country's heritage, history, and diversity. The names of many States, cities, towns, streets, rivers and other geographical names in our country are derived from Native words. It would be a dishonor to continue to lose the languages to which we owe their origin.

Native languages have played a vital role in protecting our country in times of war, Mr. Speaker. In World War I and World War II, many brave Native Americans performed the role of ``code talkers'' to help protect this great country.

We owe much of this language preservation assistance to the legacy of our heroic code talkers. The key to stemming the loss of our Native American languages is by significantly increasing support for Native American language immersion programs. In addition to developing fluent speakers, language immersion programs have other remarkable benefits. Studies are showing that native language immersion programs decrease native dropout rates and increase educational attainment compared to their counterparts without such opportunities.

Mr. Speaker, these programs are valuable in fostering self-awareness, self-esteem, social growth, and problem-solving skills which are crucial in developing confident individuals who can tackle life's challenges in developing the next generation of Native American leaders.

H.R. 4766 allows the commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to support and strengthen Native American language immersion programs, including language and language restoration programs. H.R. 4766 takes an important step forward in recognizing that vital importance of the Federal Government proactively working to save an important part of our heritage.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that the allowance for this grant program is just a promise, and this promise cannot be realized without a real increase in funding from the Administration for Native Americans which has been level funded at $44 million for the last 3 years. I pledge today that if this bill should become law, I shall send a letter to the Appropriations Committee supporting the increased funding necessary to support this program. I invite Chairman McKeon to join me in this effort. And I know that Mrs. Wilson is also concerned with this.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4766. And if this bill should become law, I invite all Members to join me in supporting appropriations necessary to fulfill our promise made today.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall).

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy).

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006 (H.R. 4766). I would like to congratulate my colleague from New Mexico, Mrs. Wilson, for bringing this issue forward.

This is important legislation to preserve the culture and increase fluency in Native American society. Sadly, all across America, Native American languages are in rapid decline; estimates are that there may be only 20 Native American languages remaining by the year 2050. These languages are unique to our country and unique to our history. If we do not preserve them, they will disappear forever.

This bill will establish a series of grants to help preserve the language and culture of our Native American people. This will help create programs that will teach our young people of the importance of learning the language of their ancestors and continuing to preserve the history and culture of their people.

Finally, the language programs created in this bill are locally based educational programs that will help both children learn and preserve languages in households all across America.

My constituent Dr. Christine Sims, a professor of language at the University of New Mexico, and Pueblo of Acoma tribal member says, ``The future of America's first languages, those that are indigenous to this country hang in the balance of what we do as a Nation to help tribal communities preserve them. Much has been given up by countless generations of Native people in the wake of this country's expansion and growth into the great nation that it is today. It is only right and just that Congress consider the tremendous price that America's first people paid in terms of losing so much throughout the course of this nation's history, including the loss of native languages. Among America's Native language communities remaining today, the hopes and the dreams that Native elders, parents and tribes hold for their children are those which include the maintenance and revitalization of tribal heritage languages. We can do no less in this country, therefore, than to ensure that tribal communities have the opportunity and the funding resources that will help make these hopes and dreams for their children a reality.

``Today's education for the American Indian student must open the doors for youngsters to have more opportunities to learn their own languages as provided in the provisions of H.R. 4766. This bill, so aptly named for one of New Mexico's tribal elders, Mrs. Esther Martinez from San Juan Pueblo ( who tragically died in a car accident this past week), would not only honor the memory of this renowned Native language advocate and leader, but as well, demonstrate the commitment that Congress is willing to make in support of the intent and purpose of the Native Languages Preservation Act.''.

Again, I want to thank my New Mexico colleague, Mrs. Wilson, for bringing this bill forward, her hard work and dedication are a credit to her and she is a credit to our State.

At a government-run boarding school for American Indians in the 1920s, Esther Martinez was not allowed to speak Tewa, her native language. Nor could she listen to the kinds of stories that her grandfather would tell her at her native San Juan Pueblo, now known as Owingeh. The goal of the school was to assimilate American Indians, and that meant leaving the past, the stories, and the language behind. But Mrs. Martinez never did.

After graduating from high school, Mrs. Martinez raised 10 children on an income earned from working as a janitor and in other service industry jobs, and she taught her children Tewa.

Esther took linguistics classes, and in her 50s she became a teacher. She taught Tewa in the local public schools. In 1983, her dictionary of San Juan Tewa was published, and just a little more than 2 weeks ago on September 14, Esther Martinez was honored as one of 12 2006 National Heritage fellows by the National Endowment of the Arts, the highest recognition in the folk and traditional arts in America.

Two days later, as she returned to San Juan Pueblo, Esther Martinez was killed in a car accident in Espanola, New Mexico, caused by a suspected drunken driver. She was 94 years young. With the permission of her family and particularly of her grandson, Matthew, and the support of Governor Joe Garcia, I would like to honor Esther's efforts to preserve native languages by naming this bill for her.

Our native languages are dying. Only about 20 of over 300 precolonial indigenous languages will be left by the year 2050. And I wanted to thank my colleagues Tom Udall, Rick Renzi from Arizona, and particularly Chairman McKeon and Mr. Petri, for taking a personal interest in this, and of course Ranking Member Kildee for his longtime leadership on Native American education.

This bill will increase the support for Native American language so that we can create and recreate fluent speakers of native languages. It doesn't create a new program, but rather incorporates Native American needs for language nests and survivor schools and restoration programs into current authorized funds.

Mr. Speaker, not too far from this House down at the foot of Capitol Hill, we have the newest building in the Smithsonian Institution. It is a beautiful building. It is the Museum of the American Indian, and inside it we are preserving Navajo rugs and bead work and beautiful pieces of art and kachinas and fetishes. We spend millions of dollars to preserve objects from the past. This bill I ask my colleagues to support tonight preserves a living culture through the preservation of language.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon) for his support. I ask my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill.