Whereas the United States and Indian Tribes have a unique government-to-government relationship set out in the Constitution, treaties, and statutes and affirmed through centuries of court precedent; Whereas it is the duty of the Federal Government— (1) to uphold that unique relationship; and (2) to protect American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) children, to whom the United States owes a trust responsibility; Whereas research shows that family, culture, and community provide all children, including Native youth, with the tools needed to grow into healthy, resilient adults; Whereas research conducted in the 1970s showed that— (1) 1 out of every 3 AIAN children was removed from their families and placed in foster care or adoptive homes; (2) 85 percent of these foster care placements and 90 percent of these adoptions resulted in AIAN children being placed in non-Indian homes; and (3) most of these removals were not related to the threat of abuse or neglect, but rather to— (A) a lack of understanding of Tribal child-rearing and cultural practices; and (B) the bias of those involved in making key decisions in the child welfare process; Whereas, to address this unwarranted, disproportionate removal of AIAN children from their homes, Congress wrote the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 ( 25 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) to carefully balance— (1) the unique Federal responsibility for the welfare of AIANs, including AIAN children; (2) the historical role of the States in formulating and executing child welfare policy; and (3) the inherent and continuing sovereign authority of Indian Tribes to be involved in important child welfare decisions; Whereas Congress unanimously passed the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 ( 25 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) on October 14, 1978, and President Carter signed the Act into law on November 8, 1978; Whereas the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978— (1) adheres to the principles of Tribal sovereignty; (2) promotes the best interests of AIAN children