Political Quotes

“I thank Ranking Member Davis for yielding me the time. H.R. 2866, the Reducing Unnecessary Barriers for Relative Foster Parents Act, is a commonsense piece of legislation that has strong bipartisan support right here in the House. I want to especially thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker) who is joining me in introducing this bill. I want to thank him for his leadership on foster care and foster youth and again say thank you for looking for what is in the best interests of the most vulnerable children in our society. H.R. 2866 has been supported by not only bipartisan support here in the House but has the support of many foster care advocacy groups, including Generations United, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Mr. Speaker, we need to do everything in our power to make the foster care system family friendly, and H.R. 2866 takes an important step in that direction. By motivating States to update the foster care licensing regulations, we can reduce red tape and make it easier for family members to become foster parents. Research conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services, academics, and advocacy groups all show that children experience better outcomes when they are in the care of family members compared to children in nonrelative care.…”