We’re sharing this appeal from the Linguistic Society of America and CELP, the Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation. It’s a simple way to keep up on Congress’ consideration of two important pieces of legislation supporting preservation and education in endangered Native American languages.
CELP and LSA say:
This is just a reminder to please contact your congresspeople to request their support and possible co-sponsorship of these important bills that will potentially impact the future of Native American languages:
H.R.726/S.2299 Native American Languages Reauthorization Act of 2014
H.R.4214/S.1948 Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act
The bills are moving onto the floor for debate and looking (cautiously) positive for passage in the Senate. The House may be another matter, but there’s always room for hope.
The LSA’s webpage for tracking this legislation is available HERE.
HERE is a template you can use to contact members of Congress.
You can, of course, make changes to the template provided before sending it. There’s also a SHORTLINK for the call-to-action form—-if that’s helpful for social or print media.
Finally, if you’re interested, here are the webpages which track Congressional co-sponsors (the Senators and Representatives supporting the measures) for the two Senate bills and their House counterparts.
Feel free to pass this information along to colleagues and friends, and thank you all for any effort you can make on behalf of this legislation.
