III
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. RES. 83
Designating February 2025 as ‘‘Hawaiian Language Month’’ or ‘‘ ‘O¯lelo
Hawai‘i Month’’.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY19, 2025
Mr. S
CHATZ(for himself and Ms. HIRONO) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
RESOLUTION
Designating February 2025 as ‘‘Hawaiian Language Month’’
or ‘‘‘O¯lelo Hawai‘i Month’’.
Whereas the Hawaiian language, or ‘O¯lelo Hawai‘i—
(1) is the Native language of Native Hawaiians, the
aboriginal, Indigenous people who—
(A) settled the Hawaiian archipelago as early as
300 A.D., over which they exercised sovereignty; and
(B) over time, founded the Kingdom of Hawai‘i;
and
(2) was once widely spoken by Native Hawaiians
and non-Native Hawaiians throughout the Kingdom of
Hawai‘i, which held one of the highest literacy rates in
the world prior to the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom
of Hawai‘i in 1893 and the establishment of the Republic
of Hawai‘i;
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•SRES 83 IS
Whereas the Republic of Hawai‘i enacted a law in 1896 effec-
tively banning school instruction in ‘O¯lelo Hawai‘i, which
led to the near extinction of the language by the 1980s
when fewer than 50 fluent speakers under 18 years old
remained;
Whereas, since the 1960s, Native Hawaiians have led a
grassroots revitalization of their Native language, launch-
ing a number of historic initiatives, including—
(1) ‘Aha Pu¯nana Leo’s Hawaiian language immer-
sion preschools;
(2) the Hawaiian language immersion program of
the Hawai‘i State Department of Education; and
(3) the Hawaiian language programs of the Univer-
sity of Hawai‘i system;
Whereas the Hawaiian language revitalization movement in-
spired systemic Native language policy reform, includ-
ing—
(1) the State of Hawai‘i recognizing ‘O¯lelo Hawai‘i
as an official language in the Constitution of the State
of Hawai‘i in 1978;
(2) the State of Hawai‘i removing the 90-year ban
on teaching ‘O¯lelo Hawai‘i in public and private schools
in 1986;
(3) the enactment of the Native American Lan-
guages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.) in 1990, which es-
tablished the policy of the United States to preserve, pro-
tect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native
Americans to use, practice, and develop Native American
languages; and
(4) the State of Hawai‘i designating the month of
February as ‘‘‘O¯lelo Hawai‘i Month’’ to celebrate and en-
courage the use of the Hawaiian language; and
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•SRES 83 IS
Whereas the enactment of the Native American Language
Resource Center Act of 2022 (20 U.S.C. 7457) in
2023—
(1) reconfirmed a Federal commitment to revital-
izing Indigenous languages, including the Hawaiian lan-
guage; and
(2) resulted in the Department of Education award-
ing the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo a 5-year grant to
establish the first National Native American Language
Resource Center: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate— 1
(1) designates February 2025 as ‘‘Hawaiian 2
Language Month’’ or ‘‘‘O¯lelo Hawai‘i Month’’; 3
(2) commits to preserving, protecting, and pro-4
moting the use, practice, and development of ‘O¯lelo 5
Hawai‘i in alignment with the Native American Lan-6
guages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.); and 7
(3) urges the people of the United States and 8
interested groups to celebrate ‘O¯lelo Hawai‘i Month 9
with appropriate activities and programs to dem-10
onstrate support for ‘O¯lelo Hawai‘i. 11
Æ
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