Political Quotes

“I offer my support to the Young amendment to H.R. 3286 which would strike title III, a provision which makes significant changes to the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act. ICWA was designed to prevent the wholesale separation of Indian children from their families, and was only passed into law after 10 years of careful study and close cooperation between Indian tribes and Congress. Unfortunately, title III will add a new subjective determination of who is, and who is not, an Indian by allowing courts to decide what constitutes being culturally, politically, and socially affiliated with a tribe. It will also ignore the important role of the extended family in Indian culture. In addition, these provisions were written without input from Indian tribes and without hearings held in the Resources Committee under whose jurisdiction ICWA falls. I urge my colleagues to support the Young amendment and allow us time to carefully consider any changes to the Indian Child Welfare Act.”