Dave Camp: “Mr. Speaker, it does give me great joy to stand here today to celebrate the thousands of moms, dads, and children who…”

“Mr. Speaker, it does give me great joy to stand here today to celebrate the thousands of moms, dads, and children who become bigger and stronger families through adoption. The Hope for Children Act that we will pass in the House today will help build more loving, stable families in America, and send a strong signal across our land that every child is a wanted child. Like many Americans, I grew up in a family without my father in the home. While my mother and eventually my stepfather did all they could to compensate for this missing piece in my life, nothing could dispel the haunting in my heart that regularly whispered that I was not wanted. Too many Americans grow up with this sense of not being wanted. But every year in America, thousands of children have an infinitely more positive experience. When a married couple decides to adopt a child, they not only fill a void in their own lives, they send a clear signal to their child that he or she is loved and wanted. The Hope for Children Act sends a strong signal that America wants her children, all of her children. By helping new parents with the high financial cost of adoption, we as a nation encourage the building of strong, happy families.”