International Adoption Simplification Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1376) to restore immunization and sibling age exemptions for children adopted by United States citizens under the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption to allow their admission to the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and add extraneous material.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, this measure, the International Adoption Simplification Act, corrects two problems and inconsistencies with respect to adoptions of foreign children by United States citizen parents.

The bill would harmonize age requirements for children subject to inter-country adoptions, irrespective of whether the child's home country is a signatory to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions.

Currently, the law contains two age requirements related to the adoption of foreign children. The general rule is that an adoption must be finalized before the child turns 16 in order for the child to qualify for legal status in the United States. The law also provides an exception to this age requirement for the siblings of such an adopted child. This exception, meant to keep siblings together where possible, provides that the sibling of an adopted child may also get legal status in the United States as long as the sibling's adoption takes place before his or her 18th birthday.

Now, strangely enough, this exception is available only if the sibling comes from a country that has not signed the Hague Convention. The exception is not available to siblings from signatory countries. Please do not ask me why this exists in the law. But Senate 1376 remedies this problem by expanding the sibling age exception to signatory countries. This will harmonize the law and allow adopted siblings to remain together, irrespective of whether the sending country is a signatory to the Hague Convention.

S. 1376 also harmonizes immunization requirements with respect to international adoptions. Currently the law requires adopted children to have certain vaccinations prior to arrival, but there is an exemption for children under 10 years of age if the adoptive parents certify that necessary vaccinations will be obtained within 30 days of entry. This exemption was enacted in 1997 by Congress to prevent parents from having to subject their children to numerous and sometimes unsafe immunizations in foreign nations, allowing them to safely immunize their children in the United States instead.

As with the age cut-off requirement, this exemption applies only to children adopted from countries that are not signatories to The Hague Convention. It doesn't apply to children from signatory countries. And so, once again, the Senate bill fixes what could be called a nonsensical discrepancy by expanding the exemption to apply to all children, regardless of whether their own country is a signatory to The Hague Convention or not.

I want to thank Lamar Smith, our ranking member on Judiciary, and our subcommittee chair, Zoe Lofgren of California, for their bipartisan support of this measure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 1376, ``International Adoption Simplification Act.'' The aim of this bill is to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to simplify the process of international adoptions, especially in situations where time is of the essence to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of the child.

First, I would like to thank my colleague Senator Amy Klobuchar and her fellow Senate co-sponsors for introducing this important legislation that openly embraces children. There are ample reasons American citizens opt to adopt children from abroad and now we have legislation that will help expedite the process and decrease the burdensome bureaucracy.

The International Adoption Simplification Act will allow children in need of immediate adoption to become exempt from required admissions vaccination documentation. Children who have been adopted in a foreign country that is a signatory to the Hague Convention, or who are emigrating from such a country for U.S. adoption will be subjected to simplified adoption procedures.

This bill comes at a point in history where simplification of international adoption is necessary to save lives. Haiti is experiencing record outbreaks of cholera and other infectious diseases resulting from the earthquake, incidents of genocide are taking place in Darfur, and terrorist activity is at its peak. The ability to remove innocent children from harms way, into the safe homes of loving parents allows America to further its notion that children are indeed the future.

From this bill we can expect to see a surge in American adoptions globally, and a decrease in global child homelessness and poverty. By implementing this bill we are able to create jobs for government workers processing individual cases, child care providers, school teachers and many others who provide direct services aimed at youth.

I stand today with Senator Amy Klobuchar and other members of Congress re-affirming my support of S. 1376. By enacting this legislation, we are able to boost the morale of frustrated parents who may have spent years in the adoptive process and provide children with stable homes, all the while, creating jobs in communities at a time when they are needed the most.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in support of S. 1376.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill which makes corrections to the implementation legislation for The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions. Under current law, U.S. citizens can generally adopt foreign children and have those children considered immediate relatives for immigration purposes if the children are adopted while under the age of 16. However, adoptions are also allowed up to the age of 18 in instances in which the U.S. citizens are seeking to adopt an alien child after having already adopted a sibling of the child.

Unfortunately, the implementing legislation to The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions did not include the latter provision. Therefore, the Immigration and Nationality Act's provision allowing adoptions of siblings under the age of 18 does not apply to children adopted from countries that are signatories to The Hague Convention. This bill simply extends the provision to these sibling adoptions. The bill also contains one other provision to The Hague Convention. Under current law, prospective immigrants have to be vaccinated against certain diseases before they can come to the United States. There is an exemption for adopted children if the children are 10 years of age or younger and the adoptive parents certify the children will receive the necessary vaccinations within 30 days of coming to the United States. This exemption was enacted in 1997 to ensure that parents don't have to subject children to often unsafe immunizations in foreign countries. However, the exemption does not apply to children adopted from countries that are signatories to The Hague Convention. The bill simply expands the exemption to cover children adopted from The Hague countries as well.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I ask unanimous consent that we proceed to Calendar No. 330.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute be considered; that a Klobuchar amendment which is at the desk be agreed to; the substitute amendment, as amended, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; and any statements relating to this matter be printed in the Record.