Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 989, the Native American Language Resource Center Act of 2022. This legislation will support Native American language centers toward fulfilling the mission of the Native American Language Act, a bipartisan bill passed in 1990, with the intent of revitalizing Native American languages. This legislation has been helping Native American Tribes preserve their cultural heritage for 32 years. S. 989 will help advance this mission. Specifically, S. 989 ensures taxpayer funds are targeted toward the intended purpose preserving Native languages. Promoting and preserving Native American languages is a challenging mission, but a worthy one. Sadly, some languages have already been lost. In 2008, Chief Marie Smith Jones passed away. She was the last speaker of the Eyak language of an Alaskan indigenous Tribe. When she died, so would have the Eyak language if she had not worked to create a dictionary and recordings of the language. According to the National Geographic, one language dies every 14 days. S. 989 will help prevent that from happening. Simply put, this legislation works to provide Native American language centers with the resources they need to keep our country's cultures, traditions, and heritage alive. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of S. 989, and I reserve the balance of my time.”