TESTER’S NATIVE LANGUAGE BILL PASSES COMMITTEE

(U.S. Senate) – Bipartisan support for Chairman Jon Tester’s Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act led to the bill’s approval this week in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Tester’s bill will now be considered before the full Senate.

Chairman Tester, along with eight co-sponsors, introduced the bill earlier this year. The measure establishes a grant program to fund Native language educational programs throughout Indian Country in order to improve high school graduation rates, increase college enrollment and better prepare students for jobs.

“Native Languages are vanishing at an alarming rate, and with them the culture, tradition and knowledge that are so important to the future of Indian Country,” Tester said. “This bill will not only revitalize Native languages, it will also keep kids in school and lead to greater pride, academic achievement and economic growth in Indian Country.”

A copy of the Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act (S. 1948), which would authorize $5 million in 2015, is available online HERE.