Angie Craig: “I bring to the Senate this afternoon what in Idaho has been a phenomenally serious and frustrating matter in relation to…”

“I bring to the Senate this afternoon what in Idaho has been a phenomenally serious and frustrating matter in relation to a young adopted child and his adoptive parents. I say that because 6 years ago the Swenson family of Nampa, ID, adopted a 2-month- old child. They went through all of the legal and appropriate channels to do so. They found out several months into the adoption of that child, when the legal processes were underway, that the native American tribe from which this child had come--and the child was half white, half native American--wanted the child returned even though the natural parents did not. As a result of that, a legal fight began. And Legal Aid Services of Idaho became involved in defending, supposedly, the child--even though the child was then less than 2 years old, and the child thought he was a member of the Swenson family--a loving, caring family. I and my staff visited with the Legal Services Corporation, suggesting they not become involved--that it was not the intent of Congress for Legal Services to use their money for these purposes, that there were truly poor and needy people who needed Legal Services to defend them, and that they ought to go elsewhere to find their clients.”