Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of S. 3331, the Intercountry Adoption Universal Accreditation Act of 2012. This bipartisan bill, which recently received unanimous consideration in the Senate, is the Senate-side companion to H.R. 6027, which is the bipartisan House bill introduced by my good friend from New Jersey (Mr. Sires). This bill requires that all intercountry adoption providers in the U.S. meet the same accreditation standards regardless of whether the adoption is from a Hague Convention signatory country. {time} 1810 Mr. Speaker, before I close, I would like to direct attention to yet another outrage perpetrated by Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, one that he has knowingly directed at innocent Russian children awaiting adoption. His action was a shameful response to legislation overwhelmingly adopted by the Congress that targets Russian officials engaged in human rights abuses, specifically those regarding Sergei Magnitsky. Magnitsky was a Russian lawyer killed in prison after having uncovered massive government corruption, including senior officials in Putin's regime. Instead of prosecuting those criminals, Putin has instead cruelly chosen to target Russian orphans by banning adoptions by Americans. Tens of thousands of Russian children have been adopted by families in this country, who have given these innocents the love and protection they otherwise likely would have never known.…”