Barbara Kennelly: “I am delighted, as so many have said before me, to support this $5,000 tax credit for families adopting children.…”

“I am delighted, as so many have said before me, to support this $5,000 tax credit for families adopting children. Adoption costs can be really a great burden to a family who wants so much to have that baby or that child, and this legislation before us tonight makes that burden lighter. As has been said, this is a very good bill, one we are all very, very happy to support. I would like to take this opportunity to read some excerpts from the letter from our President of the United States, Bill Clinton. The President says about this bill that we are debating tonight: I strongly support the adoption tax credit in this bill. It will alleviate the significant barrier to adoptions and allow middle class families for whom adoption may be prohibitively expensive to adopt children to love and nurture. It will encourage adoption for children with special needs. It will put parents seeking to build a family through adoption on a more equal footing with other families. I believe that the bill is consistent with the administration's policy and my longstanding goal to end the historical bias against interracial adoptions which too often has meant interminable waits for children to be matched with parents of the same race.”