Political Quotes

“I rise in strong support of not only the rule but the bill, as well. I think it is gratifying to know that finally we are doing something to make adoption easier and more affordable. A child who does not go home with his or her birth parent, they are very lucky to be given a home with a loving mother and father, people that want to be parents, who want to give that child a happy and a healthy environment to grow up in. I know how lucky such children are because I am one of them. I had the good fortune to be given a home with two people who have been very wonderful, loving parents; in their eighties, they are retired today on the farm and I hope enjoying it. But as we have heard tonight, there are about half a million kids out there that are waiting for the chance right now. We know that only about 10 percent, 50,000 of them, are going to get that chance, and one of the biggest reasons they are not getting that chance is because of the high cost of adoption, up to $20,000 or more. It seems to me when there are so many children that are waiting and there are so many parents who want these children, why should we not remove the roadblocks and let it happen? We as a society pay a far greater human cost in allowing those children to languish and those parents to agonize than anything that we could ever put in a checkbook.”