Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize November as National Adoption Awareness Month. According to the Adoption Network, one out of every 25 families in the United States has an adopted child. That means adoption has directly touched the lives of one-third of the U.S. population. Yet, despite the widespread impact of adoption, many more children still need a loving home. The average child waits for an adoptive family for more than 3 years, and nearly 115,000 children are waiting to find their forever home. We can do better. Many barriers prevent these children from being placed in loving homes. They include the high and often unpredictable cost of adoption, and families and birth mothers simply not having enough information about the option of adoption. To reduce these barriers and help support increased adoption placement, I recently introduced the Improving Adoption Outcomes and Affordability Act. My legislation provides assistance to State or local governments, public and private adoption agencies, faith-based organizations, and eligible nonprofits for the purpose of improving adoption education, providing prebirth counseling assistance to birth mothers choosing adoption, and helping to cover mental health or substance abuse treatments to mothers struggling with addiction and other personal challenges during pregnancy.…”