A bill to repeal the sunset of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 with respect to the expansion of the adoption credit and adoption assistance programs.

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Enhancing Federal Obscenity Reporting and Copyright Enforcement Act of 2003, the EnFORCE Act. This bill makes three sets of narrow, but important, changes that will build greater flexibility and accountability into our system of intellectual property laws.

First the EnFORCE Act will expand an existing antitrust exemption to conform the law to market realities. Today, an antitrust exemption in the Copyright Act gives record companies and music publishers the flexibility they need to negotiate mechanical royalty rates in the rapidly evolving market for legal music downloading. These parties now need the same flexibility to ensure that they can negotiate royalties associated with innovative forms of physical phonorecords, like enhanced compact disks and DVD audio disks.

The music industry has sometimes been criticized for being too slow to

adopt its business models to new technologies. The industry is now responding to such concerns by developing new products and new distribution channels. The EnFORCE Act will ensure that Federal law allows the music industry to provide consumers with these innovative products and services.

Second, the EnFORCE Act will also resolve two narrow issues relating to statutory damages in copyright infringement litigation. Some accused infringers have tried to avoid liability for statutory damages by challenging the accuracy of the information in copyright registrations; this bill clarifies that courts should resolve such challenges by applying the existing judicial doctrine of fraud-on-the-Copyright- Office. In other cases, disputes have arisen about how many ``works'' have been infringed for purposes of computing statutory damages. These disputes are important for the music industry, which has received inconsistent adjudications about whether an album consisting of ten songs counts as one or ten works for statutory-damages computation. The bill gives courts discretion to conform the law of statutory damages to changing market realities.

Third, and finally, the EnFORCE Act will also enhance both the enforcement and oversight of federal intellectual property law. The bill authorizes appropriations to ensure that all Department of Justice units that investigate intellectual property crimes have the support of at least one agent specifically trained in the investigation of such crimes. The bill also requires the Department of Justice to report to Congress detailed information about the scope of its efforts to investigate and prosecute crimes involving the sexual exploitation of minors or intellectual property.

For the above reasons, I urge my colleagues to support the Enhancing Federal Obscenity Reporting and Copyright Enforcement Act of 2003. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate and the affected public to ensure that this bill achieves its important objectives.

Mr. President, I rise today in celebration of National Adoption Day by introducing legislation to repeal the sunset on two current-law tax provisions that make adoption more affordable for American families.

In 2001, this Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. This act contains many much needed tax relief provisions for the American people. However, because of procedural rules in the Senate, this law sunsets and expires after December 31, 2010.

The legislation I introduce today makes permanent two tax provisions contained in that law, the adoption tax credit and the exclusion for employer-provided adoption assistance benefits. If we do not pass this bill and therefore allow these provisions to sunset, then this tax credit will be cut overnight from a maximum of $10,000 to $5,000. Families who adopt special needs children will no longer receive a flat $10,000 credit, and instead, they will be limited to a maximum of $6,000. As well, families claiming the credit may be pushed into the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Today, National Adoption Day, we celebrate the adoption of over 3,000 children from foster care. There are over 542,000 kids in foster care. Of these, more than 125,000 children are waiting to be adopted permanently. We here in Congress need to continue to help these children to find loving homes. We need to make it easier for families to adopt, not throw up barriers. If the adoption tax credit is cut to the prior law level of $5,000, many families will not be able to afford adoptions. And therefore less children will be welcomed into what they want the most, a permanent family.

Last year, the House of Representative passed this permanent extension of the adoption tax credit by a vote of 391 yeas to 1 nay. We in this Chamber failed to act. I am hopeful that my colleagues in the Senate recognize the importance of moving on this legislation to permanently extend this tax credit. The children and parents deserve to see this adoption tax credit set into law for good. This is not a partisan issue, but something all Americans can agree on. We owe it to them all.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today in celebration of National Adoption Day by introducing legislation to repeal the sunset on two current-law tax provisions that make adoption more affordable for American families.

In 2001, this Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. This act contains many much needed tax relief provisions for the American people. However, because of procedural rules in the Senate, this law sunsets and expires after December 31, 2010.

The legislation I introduce today makes permanent two tax provisions contained in that law, the adoption tax credit and the exclusion for employer-provided adoption assistance benefits. If we do not pass this bill and therefore allow these provisions to sunset, then this tax credit will be cut overnight from a maximum of $10,000 to $5,000. Families who adopt special needs children will no longer receive a flat $10,000 credit, and instead, they will be limited to a maximum of $6,000. As well, families claiming the credit may be pushed into the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Today, National Adoption Day, we celebrate the adoption of over 3,000 children from foster care. There are over 542,000 kids in foster care. Of these, more than 125,000 children are waiting to be adopted permanently. We here in Congress need to continue to help these children to find loving homes. We need to make it easier for families to adopt, not throw up barriers. If the adoption tax credit is cut to the prior law level of $5,000, many families will not be able to afford adoptions. And therefore less children will be welcomed into what they want the most, a permanent family.

Last year, the House of Representative passed this permanent extension of the adoption tax credit by a vote of 391 yeas to 1 nay. We in this Chamber failed to act. I am hopeful that my colleagues in the Senate recognize the importance of moving on this legislation to permanently extend this tax credit. The children and parents deserve to see this adoption tax credit set into law for good. This is not a partisan issue, but something all Americans can agree on. We owe it to them all.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues in introducing this bill to repeal the provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2001 that sunset the adoption tax credit and adoption assistance programs.

Under the current legislation, families with adopted children are given a tax credit of up to $10,000 to cover their adoption expenses and families who adopt children with special needs are credited the full $10,000. Providing this type of assistance is important in easing the costs of the adoption process and helping families cover expenses incurred by adopting children with special needs.

Currently, there are around 550,000 children in foster care. Of this number, 126,000 are up for adoption. In order to facilitate and expedite the adoption process, I have worked as a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption to encourage and support families who are willing to provide a loving, stable, and permanent home for these children. The Coalition has been active in promoting adoption around the country through a number of programs, including the National Adoption Day, a day set aside to draw attention to expediting and finalizing adoptions. In fact, Oklahoma held 20 adoptions this week in celebration of the day.

I strongly believe that it is critical to repeal the sunset provision of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act and continue to support those families who are making it possible for children to grow up in a loving and caring environment. As the grandfather of an adopted granddaughter, I can say through personal experience that providing a home where a child can be nurtured and given opportunities to become a contributing member of society is one of the greatest and most rewarding gifts we can ever give.

Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues in introducing this bill to repeal the provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2001 that sunset the adoption tax credit and adoption assistance programs.

Under the current legislation, families with adopted children are given a tax credit of up to $10,000 to cover their adoption expenses and families who adopt children with special needs are credited the full $10,000. Providing this type of assistance is important in easing the costs of the adoption process and helping families cover expenses incurred by adopting children with special needs.

Currently, there are around 550,000 children in foster care. Of this number, 126,000 are up for adoption. In order to facilitate and expedite the adoption process, I have worked as a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption to encourage and support families who are willing to provide a loving, stable, and permanent home for these children. The Coalition has been active in promoting adoption around the country through a number of programs, including the National Adoption Day, a day set aside to draw attention to expediting and finalizing adoptions. In fact, Oklahoma held 20 adoptions this week in celebration of the day.

I strongly believe that it is critical to repeal the sunset provision of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act and continue to support those families who are making it possible for children to grow up in a loving and caring environment. As the grandfather of an adopted granddaughter, I can say through personal experience that providing a home where a child can be nurtured and given opportunities to become a contributing member of society is one of the greatest and most rewarding gifts we can ever give.