[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 17, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5808-S5809]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN:
  S. 920. A bill to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to issue an annual report card on the performance of the States in 
protecting children placed for adoption in foster care, or with a 
guardian, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Labor and Human 
Resources.


                  THE ADOPTION REPORT CARD ACT OF 1997

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Adoption 
Report Card Act of 1997 to redress the poor quality of national data on 
adoption and foster care.
  According to the American Public Welfare Association, the population 
of children in foster care is growing 33 times faster than the United 
States child population in general. During the past 10 years, more 
children have entered the foster care system than have exited. Every 
year, 15,000 children graduate from foster care by turning 18 with no 
permanent family. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 40 
percent of all foster children leaving the system end up on welfare.
  In addition to the 50,000 children who today are legally free to be 
adopted, there are hundreds of thousands more who drift for days, 
months, or years within the state-run system--a system that too often 
lets down some of society's most vulnerable--our children.
  I have already introduced legislation to promote kinship care as one 
solution to this problem. However, more still needs to be done. Part of 
the problem is we simply don't have any data on where children are in 
the system. No one knows how long our children are languishing in the 
foster care system, or how long it takes a State to find adoptive 
placements for children. Finding comprehensive data for each State is a 
challenge and, until recently, the Department of Health and Human 
Services [HHS] did not collect comprehensive national data on adoption 
from every State.
  The legislation I offer in the Senate today will require HHS to issue 
an annual report card on the performance of each State in protecting 
children placed for adoption, in foster care or with a guardian.
  My bill will require HHS to develop outcome measures, a rating system 
for each State and make recommendations on how States can improve their 
efforts to move children from foster care to loving families.
  It is high time we started holding those responsible for children in 
foster care accountable for the treatment of these children. I believe 
an annual report card will give us the information we need to improve 
the care and quality of life for these children.
  I ask unanimous consent that my statement and a copy of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 920

       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 Report Card Act of 
     1997''.

     SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT CARD ON STATE PERFORMANCE IN PROTECTING 
                   CHILDREN.

       (a) In General.--Part E of title IV of the Social Security 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
     the following:

     ``SEC. 479A. ANNUAL REPORT CARD.

       ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall issue an annual 
     report card containing ratings of the performance of each 
     State in protecting children who are placed for adoption, in 
     foster care, or with a guardian, in the State. The report 
     card shall include ratings on outcome measures for categories 
     related to the family conditions of the children.
       ``(b) Outcome Measures.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall develop, after 
     consulting with child advocacy organizations, a set of 
     outcome measures to be used in preparing the report card.
       ``(2) Categories.--In developing the outcome measures, the 
     Secretary shall develop measures for categories relating to--
       ``(A) the number of placements for adoption, in foster 
     care, or with a guardian;
       ``(B) the number of children who leave foster care at the 
     age of majority without having been adopted or placed with a 
     guardian;
       ``(C) the median and mean length of stay in foster care;
       ``(D) the median and mean length of time between the 
     availability of a child for adoption and the adoption of the 
     child;
       ``(E) the median and mean length of time between the 
     beginning of foster care for a child and the finalization of 
     a placement plan for the child by the agency involved;
       ``(F) the number of children in foster care, specifying, in 
     the case of a child in foster care who is a child with 
     special needs, each factor or condition that makes the child 
     a child with special needs (including the age and ethnicity 
     of the child), as determined by the State in accordance with 
     section 473(c);
       ``(G) the average annual costs for a child in foster care, 
     and costs for any alternative living arrangements for a child 
     who would otherwise be in foster care and how there costs are 
     allocated;
       ``(H) the median and average length of time required to 
     terminate parental rights for a child after the child enters 
     foster care;
       ``(I) the number of parents whose parental rights have been 
     terminated;
       ``(J) the number of children that are affected due to the 
     termination of parental rights;
       ``(K) the median and average length of time required to 
     place a child for adoption once parental rights are 
     terminated for the child;
       ``(L) the average number of times a child is placed in 
     foster care before the child is permanently adopted and the 
     number of placements the child experiences; and
       ``(M) the number of deaths of children in foster care, and 
     substantiated cases of abuse or neglect among children in 
     foster care.
       ``(3) Measures.--In developing the outcome measures, the 
     Secretary shall use measures from the Adoption and Foster 
     Care Analysis and Reporting System established under section 
     479 to the maximum extent possible.
       ``(c) Rating System.--The Secretary shall develop a system 
     (including using State census data and poverty rates) to rate 
     the performance of each State based on the outcome measures.
       ``(d) Information.--In order to receive funds under this 
     part, a State shall annually provide to the Secretary such 
     adoption, foster care, and guardianship information as the 
     Secretary may determine to be necessary to issue the report 
     card for the State.
       ``(e) Preparation and Issuance.--On October 1, 1998, and 
     annually thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare, submit to 
     Congress, and issue to the States the report card described 
     in subsection (a). Each report card shall rate the 
     performance of a State on each outcome measure developed 
     under subsection (b), include an explanation of the rating 
     system developed under subsection (c) and the way in which 
     scores are determined under the rating system, analyze high 
     and low performances for the State, and make recommendations 
     to the State for improvement.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 471(a) of the Social 
     Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (17);
       (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (18) (as 
     added by section 1808(a) of the Small Business Job Protection 
     Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-188; 110 Stat. 1903)) and 
     inserting ``; and'';
       (3) by redesignating paragraph (18) (as added by section 
     505(3) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
     Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193; 110 Stat. 
     2278)) as paragraph (19); and
       (4) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(20) provides that the State shall annually provide to 
     the Secretary the information required under section 479A.''.
       By Mr. COVERDELL (for himself, Mr. Dodd and Mr. DeWine):
  S. 921. A bill to immunize donations made in the form of charitable 
gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts from the anti-trust laws 
and State laws similar to the antitrust laws; to the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

[[Page S5809]]

             the charitable donation antitrust immunity act

  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce legislation 
that is critical to our Nation's charities, the Charitable Donation 
Antitrust Immunity Act of 1997. This legislation is designed to make 
minor modifications to a bill that was passed by Congress in 1995 with 
unprecedented bipartisan support. The House passed the bill on a 
rollcall vote of 427 to 0, and the Senate immediately passed the 
measure by unanimous consent. I am hopeful that we can move this bill 
as quickly.
  The Charitable Gift Annuity Antitrust Relief Act of 1995 was enacted 
in response to a lawsuit that threatened, and still threatens, the 
financial well being of thousands of charities. The 1995 act exempts 
charities from the antitrust laws which use the same annuity rate for 
the purpose of issuing charitable gift annuities. For more than 100 
years, the issuance of gift annuities by thousands of charities across 
the country has played a major role in raising billions of dollars for 
our nation's charities. The 1995 act ensures that the billions of 
dollars donated to charities is spent serving their constituencies, not 
on defending lawsuits.
  The legislation I am introducing today amends the Charitable Gift 
Annuity Antitrust Relief Act of 1995 to address technical issues raised 
by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The court recently ruled that 
charities are not protected by the act if lawyers or other for-profit 
entities administer or assist with the charities' gift annuities. This 
legislation clarifies the 1995 act by replacing the current antitrust 
exemption for charities issuing gift annuities with antitrust immunity 
for charitable gift annuities. Charities have spent more than $20 
million defending themselves from a single lawsuit. This clarification 
is critical in order to protect our Nation's charities from spending 
millions of dollars more on litigation instead of charitable purposes.
  Mr. President, the antitrust laws are intended to protect investors, 
not to frustrate gifts to charities. Faced with a continuing expensive 
lawsuit against Americans charities, and the threat of many more 
lawsuits to follow, Congress must make this technical change in the 
1995 law to fulfill its original intent. Without this legislation, 
charitable organizations will lose a much needed and useful tool for 
raising funds precisely at a time when we must encourage this type of 
gift giving.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise to join with Senator Coverdell in 
introducing the Charitable Donation Antitrust Immunity Act. The bill 
would strengthen the Charitable Gift Annuity Antitrust Relief Act, 
which enjoyed broad bipartisan support when it passed the Congress in 
1995.
  Every day across this country, charitable organizations help build 
better lives for millions of Americans. They are on the front lines in 
the effort to provide food, clothing, shelter, medicine, and 
educational support to less fortunate individuals. Their efforts help 
prevent our social fabric from fraying.
  Over the years, charities have used gift annuities as a means of 
making it easier for people to donate money. Generally, these 
transactions work as follows: a person donates money or some other 
asset to a charity and receives a tax deduction. The charity then 
invests the money and makes fixed, periodic payments to the donor. When 
the donor dies, the remainder of the gift goes to the charity. These 
arrangements help both donors and charities, and it was never the 
intent of Congress to unduly restrict their use.
  Regrettably, the benevolent endeavors of charities have been 
jeopardized by a lawsuit, Ozee and Richie versus The American Council 
on Gift Annuities. The lawsuit alleges that the use of annuity rates 
published by the Council constitutes price fixing, and thus a violation 
of the antitrust laws. The suit also alleges violations of securities 
and insurance laws. The plaintiffs ask that money donated to charities 
through charitable gift annuities be returned, along with additional 
damages. I have heard from a broad spectrum of charitable organizations 
in Connecticut and across the country who say that this lawsuit is 
undermining their ability to raise funds and continue their work.
  In order to save our Nation's charities millions of dollars in legal 
fees, and to preserve a critically important fundraising tool for 
charities, I joined with Senator Hutchison and introduced the 
Charitable Gift Annuity Antitrust Relief Act of 1995. With the help of 
many of my colleagues in both the House and Senate, we passed that 
measure quickly. The intent of the legislation was to exempt the use of 
charitable gift annuities from antitrust laws. Regrettably, the U.S. 
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit did not interpret the 
legislation in this manner and the lawsuit continues.
  Consequently, we now need to make a few technical changes to clarify 
the intent of the law. Although these changes would put an end to the 
litigation and ensure that charities can continue to do their good 
work, they will not make it easier for charities to commit fraud. The 
legislation would not change the antifraud provisions in Federal 
securities law or affect Federal tax laws relating to fraud. People 
could still bring appropriate lawsuits against cheats or swindlers 
attempting to disguise themselves as charities, or charities acting 
fraudulently.
  Mr. President, charitable organizations work hard every day to help 
fill some of the gaps in the American safety net. We must support their 
efforts. The Charitable Donation Antitrust Immunity Act will help. I 
applaud Senator Coverdell's work on this legislation, and I urge all of 
my Senate colleagues to help move it forward expeditiously.
                                 ______