[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 764 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 764

     To amend the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 to require that 
 determinations concerning the status of a child as an Indian child be 
prospective from the child's date of birth, and that determinations of 
membership status in an Indian tribe be based on the minority status of 
 a member or the written consent of an initial member over the age of 
                      18, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                  May 8 (legislative day, May 1), 1995

   Mr. Glenn introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
              referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 to require that 
 determinations concerning the status of a child as an Indian child be 
prospective from the child's date of birth, and that determinations of 
membership status in an Indian tribe be based on the minority status of 
 a member or the written consent of an initial member over the age of 
                      18, 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 ``Indian Child Welfare Improvement Act 
of 1995''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Indian Child.--Paragraph (4) of section 4 of the Indian Child 
Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1903(4)) is amended by inserting before 
the semicolon at the end the following: ``at the time of the child's 
birth''.
    (b) Member of an Indian Tribe.--Section 4 of the Indian Child 
Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1903) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (11), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(13) `member of an Indian tribe' means an individual 
        who--
                    ``(A) is on the membership roll of an Indian tribe 
                (or is otherwise considered a member of an Indian tribe 
                under consistently applied policies and practices of 
                the Indian tribe); and
                    ``(B) initially has such membership status--
                            ``(i) before attaining the age of 19; or
                            ``(ii) after attaining the age of 19, upon 
                        providing written consent to such 
                        membership.''.

SEC. 3. RETROACTIVE EFFECT OF TRIBAL MEMBERSHIP NOT PERMITTED.

    Section 101 of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 
1911) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) For the purposes of any child custody proceeding involving an 
Indian child, membership in an Indian tribe--
            ``(1) shall be effective beginning on the date on which the 
        Indian child is admitted as a member of an Indian tribe; and
            ``(2) may not be given a retroactive effect.''.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply to a child custody 
proceeding (as defined in section 1903(1) of the Indian Child Welfare 
Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1903(1)) with respect to which, as of the date 
of enactment of this Act, a final decree has not been entered.
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