H.R.5854

            I 

116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION H. R. 5854 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to eligible schools 
to assist such schools to discontinue use of a derogatory or discriminatory 
name or depiction as a team name, mascot, or nickname, and for other 
purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2020 
Mr. PALLONE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants 

to eligible schools to assist such schools to discontinue 
use of a derogatory or discriminatory name or depiction 
as a team name, mascot, or nickname, and for other 
purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1

tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native Act to Trans-4

form Imagery in Various Environments’’. 5

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6

The Congress finds the following: 7

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2 

•HR 5854 IH

(1) Based on article I, section 8 of the United 1

States Constitution, treaties, Federal statutes, and 2

court decisions, the United States has a unique his-3

torical and legal relationship with American Indian 4

and Alaska Native people, which serves as the basis 5

for the Federal Government’s trust responsibility 6

and obligations. 7

(2) There are 573 federally recognized Indian 8

tribes in the United States, with some 40 percent of 9

Indian tribes located in the State of Alaska. 10

(3) Indian tribes have principal responsibility 11

for lands and people within their jurisdiction. 12

(4) This responsibility extends to educating 13

their students and providing adequate educational 14

facilities in which their students can learn. 15

(5) Because of this responsibility, Indian 16

schools should be eligible for the funding available 17

under this Act. 18

(6) Elementary and secondary schools all over 19

the Nation use words and symbols representing their 20

schools that are offensive to Native Americans. 21

(7) Nationally, more than 1,200 schools inap-22

propriately use such offensive names or nicknames. 23

Often, these names or symbols become mascots and 24

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3 

•HR 5854 IH

are used at athletic games for mascot characters, 1

chants, and other antics. 2

(8) Although these school communities do not 3

intend disrespect toward Native Americans, that is 4

the end result of allowing these offensive terms to 5

continue in these educational institutions. Therefore, 6

Federal funding should be available to schools to as-7

sist them to discontinue use of offensive names and 8

symbols on equipment and apparel, including team 9

jerseys, signs, stationery, walls, fields, and gym-10

nasium floors. 11

SEC. 3. GRANTS. 12

(a) GRANTS TO DISCONTINUE USE OF A DEROGA-13

TORY OR DISCRIMINATORY NAME OR DEPICTION.— 14

(1) IN GENERAL.—During the 1-year period be-15

ginning at the end of the period described in section 16

4(b)(2), the Secretary of Education, acting through 17

the Committee on Indian Relations, may make 18

grants to eligible schools to assist such schools to 19

discontinue use of a name or depiction that is derog-20

atory or discriminatory (as provided under section 5) 21

as a team name, mascot, or nickname of the school 22

or any entity sponsored by the school. 23

(2) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may not 24

make a grant to an applicant under this subsection 25

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4 

•HR 5854 IH

unless the applicant agrees to use the grant for the 1

following: 2

(A) Replacement of uniforms or other ma-3

terials that bear a discontinued derogatory or 4

discriminatory name or depiction. 5

(B) Alteration of facilities, including walls, 6

floors, and signs, to the extent necessary to re-7

move a discontinued derogatory or discrimina-8

tory name or depiction. 9

(3) ELIGIBLE SCHOOLS.—For purposes of this 10

subsection, the term ‘‘eligible school’’ means a school 11

that has made a formal decision to discontinue use 12

of a name or depiction that is derogatory or dis-13

criminatory. 14

(b) CONSTRUCTION GRANTS.—Not sooner than the 15

end of the 1-year period during which grants may be made 16

under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary may make grants 17

to Indian schools and to schools that received grants under 18

subsection (a)(1) for school construction or renovation. 19

(c) CONSULTATION.—Before making any grant under 20

this section, the Secretary shall consult with Indian tribes 21

concerning the grant. 22

(d) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec-23

tion, an applicant shall submit an application at such time, 24

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5 

•HR 5854 IH

in such manner, and containing such information as the 1

Secretary reasonably requires. 2

SEC. 4. COMMITTEE ON INDIAN RELATIONS. 3

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months after 4

the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 5

establish within the Department of Education a committee 6

to be known as the Committee on Indian Relations. 7

(b) DUTIES.—The Committee shall— 8

(1) in accordance with section 5(c), determine 9

names and depictions that are derogatory or dis-10

criminatory; 11

(2) not later than 1 year after the date of the 12

enactment of this Act— 13

(A) identify schools that use a name or de-14

piction that is derogatory or discriminatory as 15

a team name, mascot, or nickname of the school 16

or any entity sponsored by the school; and 17

(B) inform any school so identified of the 18

assistance available under this Act to dis-19

continue use of such name or depiction; 20

(3) assist the Secretary to make grants under 21

section 3; and 22

(4) provide cultural proficiency training at 23

schools receiving assistance under section 3 to effect 24

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6 

•HR 5854 IH

positive and long-term change regarding any deroga-1

tory or discriminatory name or depiction. 2

(c) DIRECTOR.—The Committee shall have a Direc-3

tor, who shall be appointed by the Secretary in consulta-4

tion with tribal governments involved in Indian education 5

program activities. The Director shall be paid at the rate 6

of basic pay for level V of the Executive Schedule. 7

(d) STAFF.—The Director may appoint such per-8

sonnel as the Director considers appropriate to carry out 9

the purposes of the Committee. 10

(e) TERMINATION.—The Committee shall terminate 11

at the end of fiscal year 2024. 12

SEC. 5. DEROGATORY OR DISCRIMINATORY NAMES AND 13

DEPICTIONS. 14

(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this Act, a name 15

or depiction is derogatory or discriminatory if listed in 16

subsection (b) or designated under subsection (c). 17

(b) LISTED NAMES.—The names listed in this sub-18

section are the following: 19

(1) Indians. 20

(2) Redskins. 21

(3) Braves. 22

(4) Chiefs. 23

(c) DESIGNATED NAMES AND DEPICTIONS.—A name 24

or depiction is designated under this subsection if the 25

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7 

•HR 5854 IH

Committee determines, after notice and comment, that the 1

name or depiction is derogatory or discriminatory on the 2

basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or Indian or Native 3

Alaskan tribal affiliation. 4

SEC. 6. REPORTS. 5

(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 6

date of the enactment of this Act, and annually for each 7

of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, the Secretary, in consulta-8

tion with the Committee, shall submit a report to the Com-9

mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives and 10

the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate. 11

(b) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under this 12

section shall include the following: 13

(1) A summary of the activities conducted by 14

the Secretary, including those conducted by the 15

Committee, to carry out this Act. 16

(2) Any recommendations for legislation that 17

the Secretary, in consultation with the Committee, 18

determines to be necessary to carry out this Act. 19

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 20

For purposes of this Act: 21

(1) The term ‘‘Committee’’ means the Com-22

mittee on Indian Relations established under section 23

4. 24

(2) The term ‘‘school’’ means— 25

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8 

•HR 5854 IH

(A) an elementary school or a secondary 1

school (as such terms are defined in section 2

9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-3

cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); or 4

(B) an institution of higher education (as 5

such term is defined in section 101(a) of the 6

Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7

1001(a))). 8

(3) The term ‘‘Indian school’’ means a school 9

that is operated by— 10

(A) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; or 11

(B) an Indian tribe, or an organization 12

controlled or sanctioned by an Indian tribal 13

government, for the children of that tribe under 14

a contract with, or grant from, the Department 15

of the Interior under the Indian Self-Deter-16

mination Act or the Tribally Controlled Schools 17

Act of 1988. 18

(4) The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has the meaning 19

given to that term in section 4(e) of the Indian Self- 20

Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 21

U.S.C. 450b(e)). 22

(5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 23

of Education. 24

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9 

•HR 5854 IH

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 2

as may be necessary to carry out this Act, to remain avail-3

able until expended, for each of fiscal years 2020 through 4

2024. Such authorization of appropriations shall be in ad-5

dition to any other authorization of appropriations for In-6

dian education. 7

Æ 

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