[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 86 (Monday, June 1, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H3587-H3588]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN'S SAFETY ACT

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 1168) to amend the Indian Child Protection and Family 
Violence Prevention Act to require background checks before foster care 
placements are ordered in tribal court proceedings, and for other 
purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1168

       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 Children's 
     Safety Act''.

     SEC. 2. CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECKS.

       Section 408 of the Indian Child Protection and Family 
     Violence Prevention Act (25 U.S.C. 3207) is amended by adding 
     at the end the following:
       ``(d) By Tribal Social Services Agency for Foster Care 
     Placements in Tribal Court Proceedings.--
       ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
       ``(A) Covered individual.--The term `covered individual' 
     includes--
       ``(i) any individual 18 years of age or older; and
       ``(ii) any individual who the tribal social services agency 
     determines is subject to a criminal records check under 
     paragraph (2)(A).
       ``(B) Foster care placement.--The term `foster care 
     placement' means any action removing an Indian child from a 
     parent or Indian custodian for temporary placement in a 
     foster home or institution or the home of a guardian or 
     conservator if--
       ``(i) the parent or Indian custodian cannot have the child 
     returned on demand; and
       ``(ii)(I) parental rights have not been terminated; or
       ``(II) parental rights have been terminated but the child 
     has not been permanently placed.
       ``(C) Indian custodian.--The term `Indian custodian' means 
     any Indian--
       ``(i) who has legal custody of an Indian child under tribal 
     law or custom or under State law; or
       ``(ii) to whom temporary physical care, custody, and 
     control has been transferred by the parent of the child.
       ``(D) Parent.--The term `parent' means--
       ``(i) any biological parent of an Indian child; or
       ``(ii) any Indian who has lawfully adopted an Indian child, 
     including adoptions under tribal law or custom.
       ``(E) Tribal court.--The term `tribal court' means a 
     court--
       ``(i) with jurisdiction over foster care placements; and
       ``(ii) that is--

       ``(I) a Court of Indian Offenses;
       ``(II) a court established and operated under the code or 
     custom of an Indian tribe; or
       ``(III) any other administrative body of an Indian tribe 
     that is vested with authority over foster care placements.

       ``(F) Tribal social services agency.--The term `tribal 
     social services agency' means the agency of an Indian tribe 
     that has the primary responsibility for carrying out foster 
     care licensing or approval (as of the date on which the 
     proceeding described in paragraph (2)(A) commences) for the 
     Indian tribe.
       ``(2) Criminal records check before foster care 
     placement.--
       ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), no 
     foster care placement shall be finally approved and no foster 
     care license shall be issued until the tribal social services 
     agency--
       ``(i) completes a criminal records check of each covered 
     individual who resides in the household or is employed at the 
     institution in which the foster care placement will be made; 
     and
       ``(ii) concludes that each covered individual described in 
     clause (i) meets such standards as the Indian tribe shall 
     establish in accordance with subparagraph (B).
       ``(B) Standards of placement.--The standards described in 
     subparagraph (A)(ii) shall include--
       ``(i) requirements that each tribal social services agency 
     described in subparagraph (A)--

       ``(I) perform criminal records checks, including 
     fingerprint-based checks of national crime information 
     databases (as defined in section 534(f)(3) of title 28, 
     United States Code);
       ``(II) check any abuse registries maintained by the Indian 
     tribe; and
       ``(III) check any child abuse and neglect registry 
     maintained by the State in which the covered individual 
     resides for information on the covered individual, and 
     request any other State in which the covered individual 
     resided in the preceding 5 years, to enable the tribal social 
     services agency to check any child abuse and neglect registry 
     maintained by that State for such information; and

       ``(ii) any other additional requirement that the Indian 
     tribe determines is necessary and permissible within the 
     existing authority of the Indian tribe, such as the creation 
     of voluntary agreements with State entities in order to 
     facilitate the sharing of information related to the 
     performance of criminal records checks.
       ``(C) Results.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), no 
     foster care placement shall be ordered in any proceeding 
     described in subparagraph (A) if an investigation described 
     in clause (i) of that subparagraph reveals that a covered 
     individual described in that clause has been found by a 
     Federal, State, or tribal court to have committed any crime 
     listed in clause (i) or (ii) of section 471(a)(20)(A) of the 
     Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(A)).
       ``(3) Emergency placement.--Paragraph (2) shall not apply 
     to an emergency foster care placement, as determined by a 
     tribal social services agency.
       ``(4) Recertification of foster homes or institutions.--
       ``(A) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
     enactment of this subsection, each Indian tribe shall 
     establish procedures to recertify homes or institutions in 
     which foster care placements are made.
       ``(B) Contents.--The procedures described in subparagraph 
     (A) shall include, at a minimum, periodic intervals at which 
     the home or institution shall be subject to recertification 
     to ensure--
       ``(i) the safety of the home or institution for the Indian 
     child; and
       ``(ii) that each covered individual who resides in the home 
     or is employed at the institution is subject to a criminal 
     records check in accordance with this subsection, including 
     any covered individual who--

       ``(I) resides in the home or is employed at the institution 
     on the date on which the procedures established under 
     subparagraph (A) commences; and
       ``(II) did not reside in the home or was not employed at 
     the institution on the date on which the investigation 
     described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) was completed.

       ``(C) Guidance issued by the secretary.--The procedures 
     established under subparagraph (A) shall be subject to any 
     regulation or guidance issued by the Secretary that is in 
     accordance with the purpose of this subsection.
       ``(5) Guidance .--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
     enactment of this subsection and after consultation with 
     Indian tribes, the Secretary shall issue guidance regarding--
       ``(A) procedures for a criminal records check of any 
     covered individual who--
       ``(i) resides in the home or is employed at the institution 
     in which the foster care placement is made after the date on 
     which the investigation described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) is 
     completed; and
       ``(ii) was not the subject of an investigation described in 
     paragraph (2)(A)(i) before the foster care placement was 
     made;
       ``(B) self-reporting requirements for foster care homes or 
     institutions in which any covered individual described in 
     subparagraph (A) resides if the head of the household or the 
     operator of the institution has knowledge that the covered 
     individual--
       ``(i) has been found by a Federal, State, or tribal court 
     to have committed any crime listed in clause (i) or (ii) of 
     section 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
     671(a)(20)(A)); or
       ``(ii) is listed on a registry described in clause (II) or 
     (III) of paragraph (2)(B)(i);
       ``(C) promising practices used by Indian tribes to address 
     emergency foster care placement procedures under paragraph 
     (3); and
       ``(D) procedures for certifying compliance with this 
     Act.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Bishop) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Beyer) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Utah?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the sponsor of this 
excellent piece of legislation, to explain his bill.
  Mr. CRAMER. I thank the chairman for yielding and for his good work 
on this important legislation.

[[Page H3588]]

  Mr. Speaker, during the last Congress, while I served on the Natural 
Resources Committee, we held an oversight hearing regarding the child 
protection crisis on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation in North Dakota 
in response to the numerous child deaths, as well as whistleblower 
reports that were detailing unsafe tribal placement of almost 40 foster 
children in abusive homes, many of which were headed by known convicted 
child sex offenders.
  In an effort to protect these children and children around the 
country, I introduced the Native American Children's Safety Act, a bill 
that Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota has also introduced in the 
United States Senate.
  This bill implements across-the-board minimum protections for 
children placed in foster care at the direction of a tribal court. 
These standards, Mr. Speaker, mirror existing national requirements for 
nontribal foster care placements, ensuring that tribal children receive 
at least the same, if not higher, standards of foster care as nontribal 
children placed in foster care.
  This bill is bipartisan. I believe it is noncontroversial. It was 
reported out of the Natural Resources Committee in both this Congress 
and the last Congress with unanimous consent.
  I also want to take the time to thank several members of the 
administration, particularly the BIA, as well as Health and Human 
Services, for their assistance in refining the bill. I also want to 
thank the National Indian Child Welfare Association, which assisted in 
refining the bill, as well as the National Congress of American 
Indians.
  All of these refinements to the bill help make the bill better. More 
importantly, it provides flexibility to the tribes in fulfilling the 
obligations of the bill, and I think it makes it a much better bill.
  I thank everybody who was involved, as well as my colleagues, and 
hope that we can pass it without objection today.
  Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Currently, Native America tribes and their tribal courts use 
procedures and guidelines that vary significantly from tribe to tribe 
when placing a Native American child in a foster home.
  Current law does not require that the Federal Government or Indian 
tribe perform vigorous background checks on foster parents or foster 
homes in order to ensure the safety, health, and protection of Native 
children.
  Consequently, there have been appalling cases of Native American 
children ending up in dangerous and unsafe living conditions because 
they were placed in an overburdened foster care system that failed to 
ensure sufficient background checks of placement homes. We critically 
need background checks of individuals and institutions selected to 
foster Native youth.
  H.R. 1168 strengthens background checks on prospective foster care 
parents prior to placement of Native children into foster homes and 
sets forth a uniform manner in which Federal and tribal agencies 
serving tribes may conduct such checks.
  I ask my colleagues to stand with me in support of Native American 
children by supporting passage of Mr. Cramer's bill, H.R. 1168, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this has been fully explained. To protect Indian foster 
children and provide these background checks is a wonderful thing. It 
is well overdue. I appreciate and commend the gentleman from North 
Dakota, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 1168.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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