[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 55 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H3827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             MISAPPLICATION OF THE INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT

  (Ms. PRYCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PRYCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with just one illustration of 
the absolute tragedy and heartbreak being experienced right now by 
countless children and their families due to the misapplication of the 
Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA.
  A couple from my district in Columbus, OH, adopted twin girls. Both 
biological parents consented and even chose this family that they 
wanted the girls to be placed with. After 6 months, as they went on to 
finalize the adoption, they found out that it was being contested under 
ICWA, which gives the tribe the final say in custody proceedings 
involving Indian children.
  Although only one of the twins great-great-great-grandparents was 
native American, a judge in California ruled that that was enough to 
trigger ICWA.
  These stories are commonplace and have to end. As a result of this 
misapplication of the law, two little girls almost 3 years old now 
still await the permanence and stability of the only family they have 
ever known, and they fear what fate might await them at the hands of 
the court.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Adoption Stability 
Act of 1996.

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