Angie Craig: “I am going to use some time this afternoon and depart from this immediate debate to talk about an event that occurred…”

“I am going to use some time this afternoon and depart from this immediate debate to talk about an event that occurred last night which I and my colleague from Louisiana had the opportunity to cohost, along with the Freddie Mac Foundation. My colleague, Senator Mary Landrieu, and I are cochairs of the Congressional Caucus on Adoption. Both she and I are adoptive parents and very proud of that fact. For the last good number of years, we have worked to organize our colleagues into a caucus to become sensitive to the issues of adoption. We became very active in the transformation of the foster care laws of our country which this Senate passed 5 years ago that have certainly made many children safer and available to individuals, couples who want to form families through adoption to provide permanent loving homes for those children. More importantly, the Senator and I have been active with our colleagues on the House side to literally debate and move nationally the whole issue of adoption, both at the State and the Federal level. Why? For a very simple reason. We know, and many of my colleagues know, that there are literally hundreds of thousands of children who are in search of loving adults and parents who will provide them with a home-- not a foster home, not a temporary home, but a permanent home. Why? Because their natural parents either are no longer alive or are dysfunctional in a way that they cannot provide for and love these children.”