Whereas United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates
that there are 740,000 children in Russia living without parental care;
Whereas the Ministry of Science and Education of Russia
estimates that 110,000 children live in state institutions in Russia;
Whereas the number of adoptions by Russian families is
modest, with only 7,400 domestic adoptions in 2011 compared with 3,400
adoptions of Russian children by families abroad;
Whereas on December 28, 2012, Russian Federation President
Vladimir Putin signed into law legislation entitled “On Measures Concerning the
Implementation of Government Policy on Orphaned Children and those without
Parental Care”, which includes language that permanently bans adoptions of
Russian children by United States citizens;
Whereas a spokesman for President Putin, Dmitry Peskov,
announced that the law is to take effect on January 1, 2013, thereby abrogating
the bilateral agreement between Russia and the United States that entered into
force on November 1, 2012, and requires both countries to provide one year
notice of intent to terminate the agreement;
Whereas 46, and possibly more, inter-country adoptions of
Russian children by United States families have already received a final
adoption decree from the Russia judicial system, and hundreds of other United
States families are in the process of adopting Russian children;
Whereas United Nations Children's Fund released a
statement urging the Russia Government to ensure that “the current plight of
the many Russian children in institutions receives priority attention” and that
the Russia Government consider alternatives to institutionalization including
“domestic adoption and inter-country adoption”;
Whereas the United Nations, the Hague Conference on
Private International Law, and other international organizations have
recognized a child’s right to a family as a basic human right worthy of
protection;
Whereas the Christian Alliance for Orphans reports that
United States families have opened their homes to more than 179,000 orphans
from overseas in the last 20 years;
Whereas after China and Ethiopia, Russia is the third most
popular country for United States citizens who adopt internationally;
Whereas adoption, both domestic and international, is an
important child protection tool and an integral part of child welfare best
practices around the world, along with prevention of abandonment and family
reunification: and
Whereas more than 60,000 Russia-born children have found
safe, permanent, and loving homes with United States families over the last two
decades: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
(1)affirms that all
children deserve a permanent, protective family;
(2)values the long
tradition of the United States and Russia Governments working together to find
permanent homes for unparented children;
(3)disapproves of
the Russia law ending inter-country adoptions of Russian children by United
States citizens because it primarily harms vulnerable and voiceless children;
and
(4)strongly urges
the Russia Government to reconsider the law on humanitarian grounds, in
consideration of the well-being of parentless Russian children awaiting a
loving and permanent family, and prioritize the processing of inter-country
adoptions of Russian children by United States citizens that were initiated
before the enactment of the law.