Intercountry Adoption Information Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5626) to amend the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 to require the Secretary of State to report on intercountry adoptions from countries which have significantly reduced adoption rates involving immigration to the United States, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material in the Record.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this measure. It is the Intercountry Adoption Information Act, H.R. 5626.

Here in Congress, I have been honored, as has my friend here, Doug Collins, the author of this measure, to help bring families together through overseas adoptions.

These children are deeply loved by American parents from all different backgrounds who give them incredible care and give them opportunity. Sadly, international adoptions do not always go as planned.

Over the years, I have met with countless families who were matched with a child, bonded with that child, financially supported that child, only to have their child's adoption stalled or, worse, stopped completely due to policy changes in the child's birth country. Obviously, this is devastating, devastating to the child, devastating to the families involved.

In September of 2013, President Joseph Kabila of Congo suspended exit permits for more than 1,000 children already adopted by international couples, mainly from the United States and France. These adoptions had already been approved by the Congolese courts. The children had been issued passports from their new countries. Parents had come to spend time with those children, but without the exit visas from the Congolese Government, they could not leave. The children could not leave.

Families were forced to spend thousands of dollars, travel across oceans, and navigate foreign courts to fight to bring those adopted children home. Making matters worse, many children had serious medical issues. Tragically, I have to report to you that 25 died while stuck in this bureaucratic chokehold. They were living in horrid conditions, lacking the most basic care.

Thankfully, through a coordinated push by the previous administration and Congress, hundreds of children in the DRC were freed to come home to the United States. It took multiple trips to get the job done. I personally traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to raise these issues at the highest levels of the Congolese Government. Within 60 days afterward, more than 400 children were released to their adoptive American families.

But still, many children remain at risk worldwide. We do not know exactly how many children are waiting to be united with their families in the U.S. and elsewhere. The Intercountry Adoption Information Act introduced by our colleague from Georgia, Doug Collins, seeks to lessen this problem by enhancing the information available to families who are adopting.

Those families wish to adopt overseas, and they need to know. They need to know the situation. This bill requires the State Department to include in its existing annual report information on countries that have enacted new laws or policies that would impact intercountry adoptions.

This information would have been helpful, for example, when the Congo and Ethiopia imposed sweeping new policies that put a hold on adoptions for American families.

With the passage of this legislation, families could see not only how many children are being adopted by American families from certain countries and how long these adoption proceedings are taking, but if the country has recently changed its laws or if policies have been changed by a head of state that could make adoption more difficult or shut it down completely.

Just as importantly, this legislation would also require that the annual report include what positive steps the U.S. Government is taking to reduce the burdens or barriers on stalled adoptions to unite children with their families.

I urge my colleagues to support the passage of the Intercountry Adoption Information Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins), who is the author of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, in closing, let me just thank my colleagues; the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Eliot Engel; as well as Congressman Collins, the author of this bill; and two other Members who worked hard on it, Congressman Kinzinger and Congressman Schneider. They made improvements to the legislation during markup.

In closing, I urge my colleagues to support the Intercountry Adoption Information Act. I think it is very important.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and the ranking member so much for their support in this and bringing this forward.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5626, the Intercountry Adoption Information Act. I introduced this legislation to make it easier for American families to get crucial information as they pursue adoptions from foreign countries.

American families hoping to adopt from a foreign country can face many obstacles on the road to being united with their adoptive children. Too often, these challenges require parents to navigate confusing and complicated foreign adoption policies.

The chairman did a great job explaining why this is opening up, why we are providing transparency, and also providing a great basis for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, many times we come to this floor and we talk about the mechanics of a bill, but I want to talk about what I call the faces behind the bill.

For this, for me, I have watched northeast Georgians from my district, like the Romano family, struggle under shifting adoption policies and changing international standards.

In 2012, Pam and Mark Romano traveled to Russia to adopt a young boy named Bogdon, a decision they reached after much prayer and family discussion. While there, the Romanos discovered that Bogdon had a brother, Yura, although the boys were living separately. The family immediately felt a calling to welcome both boys into their home and began the process of adopting Yura as well.

Sadly, Russia then instituted a ban on adoptions to the United States, halting these adoption proceedings. This left the Romanos devastated. They worked to be reunited with their sons, but they needed concrete information about how to do that and what was happening in Russia, as well as diplomatically.

Since that time, Pam Romano has refused to give up on welcoming their 2 boys into her family. She is fighting to bring her sons home, and the boys' room is furnished and ready for their arrival. Pam and her family have been tireless advocates for not only Bogdon and Yura, but also for families across the country who are facing similar trials.

I hope that this will be a wonderful time to bring this up, in light of the meeting this week with the President and Mr. Putin. To bring this issue up would be a great time to remind that we can work together on some things.

Today, American families like the Romanos still need more accurate, up-to-date information as they labor to bring their adoptive children into loving homes. Changing foreign practices can leave adoptive parents mystified and desperately seeking answers as they pursue intercountry adoptions in different countries.

The Intercountry Adoption Information Act takes steps to shrink this information gap. It ensures families in the intercountry adoption process are equipped with a more thorough outlook on the status of intercountry adoptions in specific countries and on the State Department's actions to resume these adoptions currently stalled.

Again, I would like to thank Chairman Royce and the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee for their support in moving this bill forward, and also my partners in this, Representatives Lawrence, Fitzpatrick, Lamborn, Cicilline, Langevin, Wilson, and Yoho, for being cosponsors of this bill and to highlight their advocacy on behalf of these loving families and innocent children.

The Romanos brought this to my attention, but it is not left there. I would also like to thank my staff, Erica Barker, who has not let this issue go and has brought it to my attention constantly in moving this bill forward.

I urge my colleagues to join me in working for American families so that we can benefit and see the benefits of our Intercountry Adoption Information Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume as I rise in support of this measure.

First of all, let me thank Congressman Doug Collins and Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence for their work in bringing this bill forward.

This bill before us, the Intercountry Adoption Information Act of 2018, will create more transparency in the adoption process.

Mr. Speaker, the adoption process can be long, emotional, and expensive

for Americans who seek to expand their families and give children a forever home. The reason families put themselves through this is because they love these children and want to give them a chance to be part of a loving family. But foreign governments sometimes abruptly change their policies on adoptions, leaving families in the dark as they anxiously wait to be united with their adoptive children. This measure would help make sure adoptive parents get the information they need when this happens.

H.R. 5626 requires the Secretary of State to report whether countries have enacted new laws or policies that would affect intercountry adoptions for American families. This will help create a more transparent adoption process that benefits everyone, the parents and the child as well.

Mr. Speaker, we owe to these families and children to illuminate the dark corners of the adoption process. With 140 million children orphaned worldwide, we need to make it easier for families to come together, regardless of the child's birth country. These children need loving and supportive homes, and this bill gives them a better chance at being adopted into one.

Mr. Speaker, I support this measure strongly, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence), the coauthor of the measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time, and I will close.

I want to say again that I am pleased to support the Intercountry Adoption Information Act. Let me add that too often we hear these heart-wrenching stories of American families whose adoption processes were halted by a foreign government's change in policy. To make matters worse, these families often have no idea why the process grinds to a halt.

This bill presents a straightforward fix, requiring the State Department to provide information that affects prospective adoptive American families. So I support this bill and agree with what the chairman has said as well and encourage all my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Intercountry Adoption Information Act. As co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption and an original cosponsor with Congressman Collins, I am pleased to see the House take up this bill on suspension.

There are an estimated 140 million orphaned children worldwide and many families waiting to provide a permanent, loving home.

However, in recent years, countries have carried out policy changes that have reduced our intercountry adoptions altogether. Many of these changes are suddenly implemented, leading to confusion for families in the middle of the adoption process.

H.R. 5626 adds reporting requirements to the act of 2000 to track foreign countries that have made changes to their adoption policies.

This bill is a simple fix that allows families to access accurate, updated information. It gives clarity to prospective families and the millions of children who are in need of a permanent, loving home.

Again, I want to say thank you to my ranking member and to Representative Collins, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.