> Bad news everyone. HR 3286, the Adoption bill passed in the House this
> morning, with the ICWA amendments INTACT. That means Title 3, which was
> added to the adoption bill, which used to be HR3725 passed in the house...
To All,
This is from a lady who is a lobbyist and a friend and is her account
of the vote on this matter. Anyone who would like to contact her I will send
your email address to her if you send a request to me at gchando@connecti.com.
She seems to be truthful and honest and pays a great deal of attention to
details of this type of activity which is something I just do not have the
time to do. Her account of this has helped me understand what happened and
so I thought I would send it on to be posted here....G.Chando
Date: Fri, 10 May 1996 11:01:47 -0600
To: gchando@connecti.com
Subject: Native American Adoptions
Great floor debate on striking Title 3 today. Sorry you lost the vote.
Unbelievable. Not a total party line vote, but the colors show.
Bill Richardson and Don Young have been awesome, as was Patrick
Kennedy, who noted that the bill had indeed changed from the resources
committee, because they believed in committee that the tribes OUGHT to be
consulted and obviously Pryce did not. There were even a couple of GOPS,
like Gilchrest from MD, and one from NEB who spoke out against Pryce.
Pryce claimed that she tried for over a year to consult with the committee
and tribes, and that the tribes would never attend the meetings to which
she invited them. Several members clearly wanted to vote with Pryce, but
just couldn't justify it on process grounds, which means the grassroots
calls and letters and faxes helped a LOT.
The final vote was on Don Young's motion to strike Title III -- the Pryce
amendment to the Act:
YEA NAY
GOP 46 177
DEM 148 35
IND 1
TOTAL 195 212
NV 29
[ I assume "NV" means non-voting. --Gary ]