Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I support this bill which makes corrections to the implementation legislation for The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions. Under current law, U.S. citizens can generally adopt foreign children and have those children considered immediate relatives for immigration purposes if the children are adopted while under the age of 16. However, adoptions are also allowed up to the age of 18 in instances in which the U.S. citizens are seeking to adopt an alien child after having already adopted a sibling of the child. Unfortunately, the implementing legislation to The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions did not include the latter provision. Therefore, the Immigration and Nationality Act's provision allowing adoptions of siblings under the age of 18 does not apply to children adopted from countries that are signatories to The Hague Convention. This bill simply extends the provision to these sibling adoptions. The bill also contains one other provision to The Hague Convention. Under current law, prospective immigrants have to be vaccinated against certain diseases before they can come to the United States. There is an exemption for adopted children if the children are 10 years of age or younger and the adoptive parents certify the children will receive the necessary vaccinations within 30 days of coming to the United States.…”