Finally received a return call from Rep. Molinari's office. I was told
that Representative Don Young of Alaska was prepared to offer an amendment
to H.R. 3286 which would "strike Title 3 of the Bill" (remove the section
that amends the ICWA) I called his office and was connected to Cynthia
Ahwinona who is part of the "Resources Committee" staff. Here's the
situation as I understand it regarding H.R.3286 which includes the
amendment to the I.C.W.A.
The first hurdle for opponents is the Rules committee, which meets
tomorrow. The rules committee decides whether to bring the bill to the
floor under "open rules" - amendments to the bill permitted, or "closed
rules" - amendments to the bill prohibited. So, the first course of acti
on should be to write to the Speaker and urge that the bill be brought
under "open rules" (email address: <georgia6@hr.house.gov> without the
brackets, of course.)
If the bill is brought up under open rules, you should write to your
representatives and urge them to vote for the Young amendment. (assuming
you support the other provisions of the bill, of course.) If the bill is
brought up under closed rules, the only hope for opponents is to defeat
the whole bill (or get Pres. Clinton to veto it if it is passed.)
Cynthia requested that copies of any email sent be forwarded to her as
well, for evidence against "closed rules" and in support of Rep. Young's
amendment. Her email address is: <resource@hr.house.gov> I suppose you'll
have to find some way to indicate that the copy is for Cynthia Ahwinona,
I'm not sure you can put it in the email address. (I plan to start my
message "To: Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, cc: Cynthia Ahwinona,
Resource Committee Staff").
Hope you all can participate in this as far as your conscience allows.
In Lak'ech Yelir,
Marie Fouche - fouche@rmii.com
http://rainbow.rmii.com/~fouche. If that doesn't work, please try
http://www.rmii.com/~fouche - The Lost Bird Page discusses the contentious
issue of American Indian adoptions.