[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 637 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 637

 To remove barriers to interracial and interethnic adoptions, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               March 28 (legislative day, March 27), 1995

  Mr. McCain introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To remove barriers to interracial and interethnic adoptions, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Adoption Antidiscrimination Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) nearly 500,000 children are in foster care in the 
        United States;
            (2) tens of thousands of children in foster care are 
        waiting for adoption;
            (3) 2 years and 8 months is the median length of time that 
        children wait to be adopted, and minority children often wait 
        twice as long as other children to be adopted; and
            (4) child welfare agencies should work to eliminate racial, 
        ethnic, and national origin discrimination and bias in adoption 
        and foster care recruitment, selection, and placement 
        procedures.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to promote the best 
interests of children by--
            (1) decreasing the length of time that children wait to be 
        adopted; and
            (2) preventing discrimination in the placement of children 
        on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO INTERRACIAL AND INTERETHNIC ADOPTIONS.

    (a) Prohibition.--A State or other entity that receives funds from 
the Federal Government and is involved in adoption or foster care 
placements may not--
            (1) deny to any person the opportunity to become an 
        adoptive or a foster parent, on the basis of the race, color, 
        or national origin of the person, or of the child, involved; or
            (2) delay or deny the placement of a child for adoption or 
        into foster care, or otherwise discriminate in making a 
        placement decision, on the basis of the race, color, or 
        national origin of the adoptive or foster parent, or the child, 
        involved.
    (b) Penalties.--
            (1) State violators.--A State that violates subsection (a) 
        shall remit to the Secretary of Health and Human Services all 
        funds that were paid to the State under part E of title IV of 
        the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.) (relating to 
        foster care and adoption assistance) during the period of the 
        violation.
            (2) Private violators.--Any other entity that violates 
        subsection (a) shall remit to the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services all funds that were paid to the entity during the 
        period of the violation by a State from funds provided under 
        part E of title IV of the Social Security Act.
    (c) Private Cause of Action.--
            (1) In general.--Any individual or class of individuals 
        aggrieved by a violation of subsection (a) by a State or other 
        entity may bring an action seeking relief in any United States 
        district court or State court of appropriate jurisdiction.
            (2) Statute of limitations.--An action under this 
        subsection may not be brought more than 2 years after the date 
        the alleged violation occurred.
    (d) Attorney's Fees.--In any action or proceeding under this Act, 
the court, in the discretion of the court, may allow the prevailing 
party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney's fee, 
including litigation expenses and costs, and the States and the United 
States shall be liable for the fee to the same extent as a private 
individual.
    (e) State Immunity.--A State shall not be immune under the 11th 
amendment to the Constitution from an action in Federal or State court 
of appropriate jurisdiction for a violation of this Act.
    (f) No Effect on Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978.--Nothing in this 
Act shall be construed to affect the application of the Indian Child 
Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.).

SEC. 4. REPEAL.

    Subpart 1 of part E of title V of the Improving America's Schools 
Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 5115a) is amended--
            (1) by repealing sections 551 through 553; and
            (2) by redesignating section 554 as section 551.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take effect 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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