Indian Child Welfare Act
Amendments Update
S.1962, the ICWA amendments bill now pending in Congress, was developed and supported with the help of over 100 tribes at the National Congress of American Indians conference in June 1996. Senator McCain urged tribal leaders to come together to develop this solution to a very bitter fight that has been going on over ICWA in the Congress for the last year. Every provision in S.1962 was carefully examined and discussed by tribal leaders in attendance at the NCAI conference. While the bill is admittedly not perfect it provides the best possible opportunity to improve the current flaws within the ICWA and silence the critics of ICWA in Congress.

The introduction of S.1962 has been successful in doing two things:

  1. slowing down the threat of the House passed ICWA amendments being enacted which would have been devastating to Indian children, families, and tribes,

  2. providing reasonable solutions to the flaws that currently exist in ICWA regarding voluntary adoptions. To get even a reasonable chance of getting this legislation moving it was necesssary to develop alliances with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and key members of the House of Representatives. Without these alliances we would almost surely be faced with the an ICWA amendments bill that had no tribal input and would have allowed state courts to decide who is Indian in a child custody proceeding.

Indian advocates and tribal leaders who were working on this legislation had wanted to address the problems with the Existing Indian Family Doctrine now being invoked in many state courts, but knew that insisting on a solution in S.1962 would have broken the important political alliances that were formed. Furthermore, Indian Countrys supporters in Congress made it clear that if there were no alliances developed with groups outside of Indian Country then it would be very difficult to stop the House passed ICWA amendments. Most certainly the Existing Indian Family Doctrine will need to be addressed in the near future, but trying to do it in S.1962 would be a very risky strategy.

The good news in all of this is that with Congress going out of session very soon, it looks as if Indian Country can claim a victory in defeating the Housed passed ICWA amendments. This is certainly something to cheer about! All those who helped spread the word and fight the good fight deserve a round of congratulations. While the elections will be an important factor in determining what happens with ICWA next year, advocates for Indian children should not let their guard down. Congresswoman Pryce, the sponsor of the House passed ICWA amendments, and Bill Pierce, Director of the National Council for Adoption, have vowed to revisit ICWA for some more amendments in the near future - very possibly next year. They will most likely be looking to put into law the Existing Indian Family Doctrine and other restrictions on who ICWA can apply to. So in the meantime, rest up, educate your congressional delegation on the positive merits of ICWA, and get ready for another battle over ICWA.

David Simmons
National Indian Child Welfare Association
3611 SW Hood Street, Suite 201
Portland, OR 97201
Phone: (503) 222-4044
tcross820@aol.com

Return to: The People's Paths

The People's Paths home page!