A bill to amend the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act to authorize grants to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, this summer marks an important milestone in the great American experiment. On July 4, 2026, our country will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding--a nation founded on the universal principle that all people have inherent God-given rights. To protect those rights, our forefathers established a democratic republic.

Throughout the year, communities from sea to shining sea will hold events celebrating our rights and freedoms.

This is also a fitting time to reflect on our Nation's history. The story of America is filled with acts of courage and righteous struggles. America has

not always lived up to its high ideals; however, the principles laid out in its founding document have proved enduring.

The Declaration of Independence states:

All men are created equal . . . endowed with certain

unalienable Rights . . . life, liberty, and the pursuit of

happiness.

This has been successfully wielded to secure freedom for those overlooked at our Nation's founding.

One of those overlooked things that we are not very proud of--not proud of at all--is slavery. In a speech delivered in 1852, the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass quoted these words to land a damning blow against slavery. His Fourth of July speech made it patently clear that the practice of slavery was an affront to the universal principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration of Independence was also influential to the women's suffrage movement. It was used as a model for the movement's Declaration of Sentiments, which was signed at the first women's rights convention, organized by women in 1848.

The history of the suffrage movement has a special place in my heart, so I am going to show you a front-page story of the Des Moines Register of August 30, 1920. You can see the same picture in the Waterloo Courier.

This woman is Mrs. Louis Grassley--Ruth Grassley, my mother. August 30 is 1 or 2 days after the Secretary of State of the U.S. Government informed the secretary of state of Iowa that women could vote. And there was an election in Black Hawk and Grundy Counties that my mother participated in 1 day after the Secretary of State said that women could vote. I think this goes back a couple of weeks before that because Tennessee, by a 1-vote margin, was the 36th State out of the 48 States at that particular time--the last State--to ratify the 19th Amendment. Then, I presume, it took a couple of weeks to get it out to the States that they could vote. So I presume that on August 29 or maybe even as late as August 30, through a telephone call to this meeting that women could vote, my mother was voting.

My mother was Ruth Corwin Grassley. She was, as I just told you, one of the very first women--for sure in Iowa but maybe in the entire United States--to cast a vote after the ratification of the 19th Amendment. As I just showed you in the Des Moines Register and also the exact same picture in the Waterloo Courier--it verifies what I just told you.

The Waterloo Times Tribune reported this quote:

Black Hawk and Grundy County women gained fame Friday by

being the first in the state and probably the first in the

nation to take advantage of the privilege of equal suffrage.

Growing up, I was unaware that my mother took part in this history. In fact, this picture came to my attention probably 20 years after my mother's death. She never bragged about anything, so it is not surprising that we did not hear about this part of her life in history.

She took great pride in being a dedicated schoolteacher. She instilled in her students and in her own children lifelong lessons of civic responsibility. I imagine she saw herself as simply exercising her freedom to vote to make sure her voice was counted.

To honor my mother and all suffragettes, I proudly cosponsored the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin Act. It was enacted at the end of 2019. The bill authorized the U.S. Mint to issue special- edition silver-dollar coins commemorating the adoption of the 19th Amendment in 1920. This program resulted in the sale of over 56,000 coins, with a portion of the proceeds being directed toward the Smithsonian Institute's American Women's History Initiative.

The U.S. Mint is now set to commemorate like coins for the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. This includes five quarter designs emblematic of this historic anniversary and commemorative dollar coins. My understanding is the original five quarter designs will depict historic American events, such as women's suffrage and abolition.

I am obviously here because I am very much interested in the fact that it doesn't look like they are going to have a women's suffrage coin. The current Treasury Department abandoned the designs that were first suggested, and the women's suffrage coin was one of those. In my view, this is a very big mistake. The forthcoming anniversary is a perfect time to honor historical events that have made America what it is today. The historic victory won by suffragettes after more than 140 years of fighting for the right to vote is as worthy as any.

While the Treasury has since finalized five different quarter designs, it has yet to announce the final designs for other commemorative coins. To correct the mistake that was recently made, Treasury officials should consider honoring the suffrage movement and other worthy events as part of the 250th anniversary commemorative dollar coin program.

You can see that I am kind of shocked that the executive branch of government would change what was studied for a while and suggested. It didn't meet the ideology of this administration. I don't think that what they want to substitute is not worthy of consideration, but I think we have to remember that in the preamble of the Constitution, it didn't say that we were going to create a perfect Union; it was that we were going to work toward a more perfect Union. And when we forget the work of women for 140 years who tried to get the right to vote and one of them--the suffragettes--is from the county next to the county I spent 92 years in, living in Iowa, we take great pride in what it took to get the 19th Amendment adopted.

So I hope I can get some reconsideration on the part of the administration about honoring the suffragettes with a coin at this particular time.

I yield the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience (NATIVE) Act Amendments.

This bill is the House companion to S. 612, introduced by Senators Lisa Murkowski, Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and Brian Schatz, Vice Chairman of the Committee. The bill makes important technical corrections to the NATIVE Act to authorize grants to Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, Native Alaskans and Native Hawaiian organizations for recreational travel and tourism activities.

In 2016, Congress enacted the NATIVE Act to provide grants, loans and technical assistance to Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, Native Alaskans and Native Hawaiian organizations to assist in developing tourism in indigenous peoples' communities and enhancing opportunities for visitors to learn about indigenous peoples' history, cultures, traditional foods, languages and arts. Unfortunately, the act did not clearly authorize the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations (ONHR) to issue the grants, which led to implementation challenges.

Our bill corrects this issue by clearly authorizing the BIA and ONHR, along with several other federal agencies, to issue these grants and authorize appropriations for the program. The bill will enable improved access to federal resources, helping these communities build sustainable tourism infrastructure and expand cultural tourism. In turn, it will create jobs and boost economic development in rural and underserved areas.

This bill is especially important for my home state of Hawaii, where the link between tourism and our indigenous people, Native Hawaiians, is essential. Native Hawaiian culture is at the heart of our islands' uniqueness and one of the major draws for those who visit our state.

The past generations have witnessed a great renaissance of the Hawaiian language and culture, and in turn over the ensuing years Native Hawaiian practitioners and culture have become an increasingly visible and central part of our visitor industry. We in Hawaii are committed to fostering this sector of our economy in a way that encourages long-term cultural preservation efforts.

Through improving the implementation of the NATIVE Act, which has helped both Native Hawaiian Organizations and local Native Hawaiian businesses, our federal government will do a better job preserving and promoting Native Hawaiian culture. We can help connect tourists with the rich indigenous heritage of Hawaii though community-based visitor experiences that protect cultural sites, promote education and create jobs.

By enacting the NATIVE Act Amendments, what we have achieved in Hawaii can grow and be replicated nationwide. I urge my colleagues to join with us to support this critical initiative to empower native communities, enhance the tourism sector and create lasting economic opportunities.

Mahalo.

Mr. President, S. 612 is a bipartisan bill that amends the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act, which authorizes grants to Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations and Native Hawaiian organizations to support recreational travel and tourism activities.

This bill just makes it easier and less bureaucratic for both the administration and the recipients of this grant program. I am glad it is passing today as the 15th bill from the Indian Affairs Committee to pass out of the Senate this year.

I am proud of the work we have done on the committee, on a bipartisan basis, with Chair Murkowski and others. There is a lot more work to do to support Native communities across the country in the new year.

Mr. President, notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 72, S. 612.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.