
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 25USC1901]

 
                            TITLE 25--INDIANS
 
                    CHAPTER 21--INDIAN CHILD WELFARE
 
Sec. 1901. Congressional findings

    Recognizing the special relationship between the United States and 
the Indian tribes and their members and the Federal responsibility to 
Indian people, the Congress finds--
        (1) that clause 3, section 8, article I of the United States 
    Constitution provides that ``The Congress shall have Power * * * To 
    regulate Commerce * * * with Indian tribes \1\'' and, through this 
    and other constitutional authority, Congress has plenary power over 
    Indian affairs;
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    \1\ So in original. Probably should be capitalized.
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        (2) that Congress, through statutes, treaties, and the general 
    course of dealing with Indian tribes, has assumed the responsibility 
    for the protection and preservation of Indian tribes and their 
    resources;
        (3) that there is no resource that is more vital to the 
    continued existence and integrity of Indian tribes than their 
    children and that the United States has a direct interest, as 
    trustee, in protecting Indian children who are members of or are 
    eligible for membership in an Indian tribe;
        (4) that an alarmingly high percentage of Indian families are 
    broken up by the removal, often unwarranted, of their children from 
    them by nontribal public and private agencies and that an alarmingly 
    high percentage of such children are placed in non-Indian foster and 
    adoptive homes and institutions; and
        (5) that the States, exercising their recognized jurisdiction 
    over Indian child custody proceedings through administrative and 
    judicial bodies, have often failed to recognize the essential tribal 
    relations of Indian people and the cultural and social standards 
    prevailing in Indian communities and families.

(Pub. L. 95-608, Sec. 2, Nov. 8, 1978, 92 Stat. 3069.)


                               Short Title

    Section 1 of Pub. L. 95-608 provided: ``That this Act [enacting this 
chapter] may be cited as the `Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978'.''
