Roy Blunt: “I think this is a problem, and there are lots of families in the United States who would love to have kids from wherever…”

“I think this is a problem, and there are lots of families in the United States who would love to have kids from wherever in the world kids are who need families. The two examples you have just given are some of the frustrations of international adoption in just the last few years, where thousands of kids were coming to the United States from other countries such as China, Ethiopia, Guatemala, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and certainly from Russia. The tragedy of so many of these stories is that the child has suddenly seen that opportunity, they have bonded with families, and they have gone through the whole process. Many people, when Russia stopped Russian adoptions, were ready to go to court, had been to Russia multiple times and had exchanged visits and photos. Not only is it that the family is ready for the adoption to occur, but, more importantly, the person who is to be adopted is ready for the adoption to occur. Just to show what can happen, in the case of Russia, the kids who were closest to being adopted by American families, the Russian Government suddenly created incentives to put them at the top of a list that doesn't get much attention, which gave special incentives to Russian families to adopt these kids before the American families who were ready to welcome them could adopt them. We are having a meeting today with the Ambassador from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and I am grateful the Ambassador would come.…”