Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SR142 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	III
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. RES. 142
5	5	Recognizing the heritage, culture, and contributions of American Indian,
6	6	Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women in the United States.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	MARCH26, 2025
9	9	Ms. M
10	10	URKOWSKI(for herself, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr.
11	11	B
12	12	LUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. CORTEZ
13	13	M
14	14	ASTO, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. DAINES, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr.
15	15	H
16	16	EINRICH, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. KING,
17	17	Ms. K
18	18	LOBUCHAR, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr.
19	19	P
20	20	ADILLA, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms.
21	21	S
22	22	MITH, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. VANHOLLEN, Mr. WARNER, Ms. WARREN,
23	23	Mr. W
24	24	YDEN, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) submitted the following resolution;
25	25	which was considered and agreed to
26	26	RESOLUTION
27	27	Recognizing the heritage, culture, and contributions of Amer-
28	28	ican Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women
29	29	in the United States.
30	30	Whereas the United States celebrates National Women’s His-
31	31	tory Month every March to recognize and honor the
32	32	achievements of women throughout the history of the
33	33	United States;
34	34	Whereas approximately 5,300,000 American Indian, Alaska
35	35	Native, and Native Hawaiian women, alone or in com-
36	36	bination, live in the United States;
37	37	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR142.ATS SR142
38	38	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
39	39	•SRES 142 ATS
40	40	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
41	41	ian women—
42	42	(1) have helped shape the history of their commu-
43	43	nities, Tribes, and the United States;
44	44	(2) have fought to defend and protect the sovereign
45	45	rights of Native Nations; and
46	46	(3) have demonstrated resilience and courage in the
47	47	face of a history of threatened existence, constant remov-
48	48	als, and relocations;
49	49	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
50	50	ian women contribute to their communities, Tribes, and
51	51	the United States through military service, public service,
52	52	and work in many industries, including business, edu-
53	53	cation, science, medicine, literature, and fine arts, includ-
54	54	ing Pablita ‘‘Tse Tsan’’ Velarde, a Santa Clara Pueblo
55	55	artist and painter whose art work depicted traditional
56	56	Pueblo life and preserved Pueblo stories and knowledge,
57	57	and whose paintings were commissioned for display at
58	58	Bandelier National Monument;
59	59	Whereas, as of 2025, more than 4,400 American Indian,
60	60	Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women are bravely
61	61	serving as members of the Armed Forces of the United
62	62	States;
63	63	Whereas, as of 2025, more than 43,000 American Indian,
64	64	Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women, alone or in
65	65	combination, are veterans who made lasting contributions
66	66	to the Armed Forces of the United States;
67	67	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
68	68	ian women broke down historical gender barriers to en-
69	69	listment in the military, including—
70	70	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR142.ATS SR142
71	71	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
72	72	•SRES 142 ATS
73	73	(1) Laura Beltz Wright, an Inupiat Eskimo sharp-
74	74	shooter of the Alaska Territorial Guard during World
75	75	War II;
76	76	(2) Minnie Spotted Wolf of the Blackfeet Tribe, the
77	77	first Native American woman to enlist in the United
78	78	States Marine Corps in 1943; and
79	79	(3) Marcella LeBeau of the Cheyenne River Sioux
80	80	Tribe, a decorated veteran who served as an Army com-
81	81	bat nurse during World War II and received the French
82	82	Legion of Honour for her bravery and service;
83	83	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
84	84	ian women have made the ultimate sacrifice for the
85	85	United States, including Lori Ann Piestewa, a member of
86	86	the Hopi Tribe who was the first Native American
87	87	woman to be killed in action while serving on foreign soil
88	88	and the first woman serving in the Armed Forces of the
89	89	United States to be killed in the Iraq War in 2003;
90	90	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
91	91	ian women have contributed to the economic development
92	92	of Native Nations and the United States as a whole, in-
93	93	cluding Elouise Cobell of the Blackfeet Tribe, a recipient
94	94	of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, who—
95	95	(1) served as the treasurer of the Blackfeet Tribe;
96	96	(2) founded the first Tribal-owned national bank;
97	97	and
98	98	(3) led the fight against Federal mismanagement of
99	99	funds held in trust for more than 500,000 Native Ameri-
100	100	cans;
101	101	Whereas, as of 2024, more than 11,600 American Indian,
102	102	Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women owned an
103	103	employing business;
104	104	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR142.ATS SR142
105	105	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
106	106	•SRES 142 ATS
107	107	Whereas, as of 2024, Native women-owned businesses em-
108	108	ployed more than 72,000 workers and generated more
109	109	than $11,200,000,000 in revenue;
110	110	Whereas, as of 2019, American Indian and Alaska Native
111	111	women have opened a net average of 30 new employing
112	112	businesses per day;
113	113	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
114	114	ian women have made significant contributions to the
115	115	fields of medicine and health, including—
116	116	(1) Susan La Flesche Picotte of the Omaha Tribe,
117	117	who is widely acknowledged as the first Native American
118	118	to earn a medical degree; and
119	119	(2) Annie Dodge Wauneka of the Navajo Nation,
120	120	who—
121	121	(A) advocated for better public health, edu-
122	122	cation, and living conditions on the Navajo Nation
123	123	leading to her becoming 1 of the first female council
124	124	members for the Navajo Nation in 1951; and
125	125	(B) was the first Native American to receive a
126	126	Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963;
127	127	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
128	128	ian women have contributed to important scientific ad-
129	129	vancements, including—
130	130	(1) Floy Agnes Lee of the Santa Clara Pueblo,
131	131	who—
132	132	(A) worked on the Manhattan Project during
133	133	World War II; and
134	134	(B) pioneered research on radiation biology and
135	135	cancer;
136	136	(2) Native Hawaiian Isabella Kauakea Yau Yung
137	137	Aiona Abbott, who—
138	138	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR142.ATS SR142
139	139	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
140	140	•SRES 142 ATS
141	141	(A) was the first woman on the biological
142	142	sciences faculty at Stanford University; and
143	143	(B) in 1997, was awarded the Gilbert Morgan
144	144	Smith medal, the highest award in marine botany
145	145	from the National Academy of Sciences; and
146	146	(3) Mary Golda Ross of the Cherokee Nation, who—
147	147	(A) is considered the first Native American en-
148	148	gineer of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
149	149	ministration;
150	150	(B) helped develop spacecrafts for the Gemini
151	151	and Apollo space programs; and
152	152	(C) was recognized by the Federal Government
153	153	on the 2019 1 dollar coin honoring Native Ameri-
154	154	cans and their contributions;
155	155	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
156	156	ian women have achieved distinctive honors in the art of
157	157	dance, including Maria Tallchief or Wa-Xthe-Thon-ba of
158	158	the Osage Nation, who—
159	159	(1) was the first major prima ballerina of the United
160	160	States and was a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement
161	161	Award from the Kennedy Center; and
162	162	(2) was recognized by the Federal Government on
163	163	the 2023 1 dollar coin with her sister Marjorie Tallchief
164	164	of the Osage Nation, Yvonne Chouteau of the Shawnee
165	165	Tribe, Rosella Hightower of the Choctaw Nation, and
166	166	Moscelyne Larkin of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Okla-
167	167	homa and the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, col-
168	168	lectively known as the ‘‘Five Moons’’, for the legacy they
169	169	left on ballet;
170	170	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
171	171	ian women have accomplished notable literary achieve-
172	172	ments, including Northern Paiute author Sarah
173	173	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR142.ATS SR142
174	174	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6
175	175	•SRES 142 ATS
176	176	Winnemucca Hopkins, who wrote and published 1 of the
177	177	first Native American autobiographies in United States
178	178	history in 1883;
179	179	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
180	180	ian women have regularly led efforts to protect their tra-
181	181	ditional ways of life and to revitalize and maintain Native
182	182	cultures and languages, including—
183	183	(1) Esther Martinez, a Tewa linguist and teacher
184	184	who developed a Tewa dictionary and was credited with
185	185	revitalizing the Tewa language;
186	186	(2) Mary Kawena Pukui, a Native Hawaiian scholar
187	187	who published more than 50 academic works and was
188	188	considered the most noted Hawaiian translator of the
189	189	20th century;
190	190	(3) Katie John, an Ahtna Athabascan of Mentasta
191	191	Lake, who was the lead plaintiff in lawsuits that
192	192	strengthened Native subsistence fishing rights in Alaska
193	193	and who helped create the alphabet for the Ahtna lan-
194	194	guage;
195	195	(4) Edith Kenao Kanaka‘ole, a Native Hawaiian lan-
196	196	guage and cultural practitioner who—
197	197	(A) founded her own hula school, Ha¯lau o
198	198	Kekuhi;
199	199	(B) helped develop some of the first courses in
200	200	Hawaiian language and culture for public schools
201	201	and colleges; and
202	202	(C) was recognized by the Federal Government
203	203	on the 2023 quarter honoring her significant con-
204	204	tributions and accomplishments perpetuating Native
205	205	Hawaiian culture and arts; and
206	206	(5) Dr. Gladys Iola Tantaquidgeon, a Mohegan med-
207	207	icine woman and anthropologist, who worked for 50 years
208	208	at the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum in Connecticut, the
209	209	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR142.ATS SR142
210	210	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7
211	211	•SRES 142 ATS
212	212	oldest Native American owned and operated museum in
213	213	the United States, which she founded with her father and
214	214	brother to preserve the culture and history of their Tribe,
215	215	and which contributed to the Tribe’s Federal recognition
216	216	in 1994;
217	217	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
218	218	ian women have excelled in athletic competition and cre-
219	219	ated opportunities for other female athletes within their
220	220	sport, including Rell Kapoliokaehukai Sunn, who—
221	221	(1) was ranked as longboard surfing champion of
222	222	the world; and
223	223	(2) co-founded the Women’s Professional Surfing
224	224	Association in 1975, the first professional surfing tour
225	225	for women;
226	226	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
227	227	ian women have played a vital role in advancing civil
228	228	rights, protecting human rights, advocating for land
229	229	rights, and safeguarding the environment, including—
230	230	(1) Elizabeth Wanamaker Peratrovich, Tlingit, a
231	231	member of the Lukaa.a´di clan in the Raven moiety with
232	232	the Tlingit name of aagal.aat, who—
233	233	(A) helped secure the passage of House Bill 14,
234	234	commonly known as the Anti-Discrimination Act of
235	235	1945 (H.B. 14, Laws of Alaska. 17th Regular Ses-
236	236	sion, Territorial Legislature. Feb. 16, 1945), in the
237	237	Alaska Territorial Legislature, the first anti-dis-
238	238	crimination law in the United States; and
239	239	(B) was recognized by the Federal Government
240	240	on the 2020 1 dollar coin honoring Native Ameri-
241	241	cans and their contributions;
242	242	(2) Zitkala-Sa, a Yankton Dakota writer and advo-
243	243	cate, whose work during the early 20th century helped
244	244	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR142.ATS SR142
245	245	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8
246	246	•SRES 142 ATS
247	247	advance the citizenship, voting, and land rights of Native
248	248	Americans; and
249	249	(3) Mary Jane Fate, of the Koyukon Athabascan vil-
250	250	lage of Rampart, who—
251	251	(A) was the first woman to chair the Alaska
252	252	Federation of Natives;
253	253	(B) was a founding member of the North Amer-
254	254	ican Indian Women’s Association; and
255	255	(C) was an advocate for settlement of Indige-
256	256	nous land claims in Alaska;
257	257	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
258	258	ian women have succeeded as judges, attorneys, and legal
259	259	advocates, including—
260	260	(1) Eliza ‘‘Lyda’’ Conley, a Wyandot-American law-
261	261	yer and the first Native woman admitted to argue a case
262	262	before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1909;
263	263	and
264	264	(2) Emma Kailikapiolono Metcalf Beckley Nakuina,
265	265	a Native Hawaiian who served as the first female judge
266	266	in Hawaii;
267	267	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
268	268	ian women are dedicated public servants, holding impor-
269	269	tant positions in the Federal judicial branch, the Federal
270	270	executive branch, State governments, and local govern-
271	271	ments;
272	272	Whereas American Indian and Alaska Native women have
273	273	served as remarkable Tribal councilwomen, Tribal court
274	274	judges, and Tribal leaders, including Wilma Mankiller,
275	275	who—
276	276	(1) was the first woman elected to serve as Principal
277	277	Chief of the Cherokee Nation;
278	278	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR142.ATS SR142
279	279	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9
280	280	•SRES 142 ATS
281	281	(2) fought for Tribal self-determination and the im-
282	282	provement of the community infrastructure of her Tribe;
283	283	and
284	284	(3) was recognized by the Federal Government on
285	285	the 2022 quarter honoring her legacy of leadership for
286	286	Native people and women;
287	287	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
288	288	ian women have also led Native peoples through notable
289	289	acts of public service, including—
290	290	(1) Kaahumanu, who was the first Native Hawaiian
291	291	woman to serve as regent of the Kingdom of Hawaii; and
292	292	(2) Polly Cooper, of the Oneida Indian Nation,
293	293	who—
294	294	(A) walked from central New York to Valley
295	295	Forge as part of a relief mission to provide food for
296	296	the Army led by General George Washington during
297	297	the American Revolutionary War; and
298	298	(B) was recognized for her courage and gen-
299	299	erosity by Martha Washington;
300	300	Whereas the United States should continue to invest in the
301	301	future of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native
302	302	Hawaiian women to address the barriers those women
303	303	face, including—
304	304	(1) access to justice;
305	305	(2) access to health care; and
306	306	(3) opportunities for educational and economic ad-
307	307	vancement; and
308	308	Whereas American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-
309	309	ian women are the life givers, the culture bearers, and
310	310	the caretakers of Native peoples who have made precious
311	311	contributions, enriching the lives of all people of the
312	312	United States: Now, therefore, be it
313	313	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR142.ATS SR142
314	314	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10
315	315	•SRES 142 ATS
316	316	Resolved, That the Senate— 1
317	317	(1) celebrates and honors the successes of 2
318	318	American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai-3
319	319	ian women and the contributions those women have 4
320	320	made and continue to make to the United States; 5
321	321	and 6
322	322	(2) recognizes the importance of providing for 7
323	323	the safety and upholding the interests of American 8
324	324	Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women. 9
325	325	Æ
326	326	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR142.ATS SR142
327	327	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB