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Native American Seeds Act of 2025
To assist Indian Tribes in protecting Native American seeds, and for other purposes.
Summary
This Act directs the Secretary of the Interior to work with Indian Tribes to identify and protect Native American seeds—seeds of traditional or cultural significance to tribes—within one year of enactment. The Secretary is authorized to support tribal efforts to protect Native American seeds, including supporting Native American seed banks and related facilities, and supporting traditional agriculture systems used by tribes to nurture and harvest these seeds. The Act requires the Secretary to maintain confidentiality of any information provided by Indian Tribes that is identified as culturally sensitive, proprietary, or confidential. No additional federal funding is authorized for these activities; implementation depends on existing appropriations.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM)
6 cosponsors
- Sen. Armstrong, Alan [R-OK] (R-OK)
- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (R-ID)
- Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ] (D-AZ)
- Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM)
- Sen. Mullin, Markwayne [R-OK] (R-OK)
- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID)
Actions (2)
- Dec 4, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. · senate
- Dec 4, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 4, 2025
Mr. Heinrich (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Lujan, and Mr. Risch) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs
A BILL
To assist Indian Tribes in protecting Native American seeds, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Native American Seeds Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Indian tribe.—The term “Indian Tribe” has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self- Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
(2) Native american seed.—The term “Native American seed” means a seed of traditional or cultural significance to an Indian Tribe.
(3) Secretary.—The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior.
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF NATIVE AMERICAN SEEDS.
(a) In General.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall work with Indian Tribes—
(1) to determine which seeds are Native American seeds; and
(2) to support—
(A) efforts of Indian Tribes to protect Native American seeds;
(B) Native American seed banks and related facilities; and
(C) traditional agriculture systems of Indian Tribes that provide for the nurturing and harvesting of Native American seeds.
(b) Protection of Information.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall not disclose or cause to be disclosed any information that is—
(1) provided to the Secretary by an Indian Tribe for the purposes of this Act; and
(2) identified by the Indian Tribe as culturally sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise confidential.
(c) No Additional Funds Authorized.—No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section and the activities authorized by this section are subject to the availability of appropriations made in advance for such purposes.
SEC. 4. JUDICIAL REVIEW.
Notwithstanding section 706 of title 5, United States Code, a court shall defer to the reasonable interpretation of the Secretary with respect to any ambiguous provision of this Act. <all>
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