Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1952, the Intercountry Adoption Information Act, and thank my colleague from Georgia, Representative Collins, for his partnership on this bipartisan effort. I would also like to thank Chairman Engel and Ranking Member McCaul for working together to ensure its expeditious consideration by their committee and by the full House. Whether adopting at home or abroad, every family should have the information they need to navigate the process successfully. Yet, families hoping to adopt from foreign countries can be unaware of political and legal obstacles that may prevent them from doing so. Russia's adoption ban in 2012 and the Democratic Republic of Congo's intercountry adoption ban in 2013 are just two examples of policies that left families in limbo while they were already in the process of adopting. More recently, more than 200 American families and Ethiopian children with pending adoptions were stuck in heartbreaking uncertainty--unable to unite their families--when the Ethiopian government halted all foreign adoption processing. As countries like Russia and Ethiopia change intercountry adoption processes, or ban adoptions to the United States altogether, families must have up-to-date information regarding policies that could make the adoption process difficult, or even impossible. No family members should be left in the dark, oceans away from each other, wondering if they'll ever be united.…”