[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 107 (Friday, July 25, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S8157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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       SUPPORT OF THE McCAIN/KYL INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION AMENDMENT

 Mr. KYL. Mr. President, last year, the Senate Judiciary 
Committee unanimously passed an amendment I sponsored to the Illegal 
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act that requires 
incoming immigrants to be immunized before they enter the United 
States.
  The amendment makes public health sense. Between 800,000 and 1 
million individuals emigrate from their home country to the United 
States every year. And, the Department of Health and Human Services has 
made immunization of the U.S. population against vaccine-preventable 
diseases one of its top health priorities. But before the passage of 
last year's Immigration Act, there was no Federal policy with regard to 
the immunization of foreign nationals seeking permanent residency in 
the United States. With passage of the Immigration Reform Act, we can 
be assured that incoming immigrants will be immunized against vaccine-
preventable diseases.
  There are special circumstances, however, when requiring an immigrant 
to be immunized in his or her home country before traveling to the 
United States doesn't make sense. The law allows the Attorney General 
the authority to waive the immunization requirement whenever the 
requirement ``would not be medically appropriate'' or when such 
immunizations ``would be contrary to the alien's religious or moral 
convictions.''
  So, the Attorney General has complete authority to waive the 
immunization requirement. Some House and Senate offices, however, 
including mine, have heard from representatives of the international 
adoption community about the difficulties this requirement has caused 
for such parents and their children.
  To address this issue, Senator McCain and I offer this amendment to 
instruct the Attorney General ``to exercise the waiver authority 
provided for in subsection (g)(2)(B) for any alien applying for an IR3 
or IR4 category visa.'' That is, for any orphan in another country who 
is to be adopted by a U.S. citizen.
  I have heard from adoptive parents and agencies in Arizona about the 
unique difficulties the immunization requirement is creating for some 
adoptive parents and their babies and young children. Their unique 
concerns focus on a number of issues, including:
  Unavailable background Records: Children from orphanages, which 
comprise over 50 percent of international adoptions, often do not have 
health records on which to base recommendations for vaccinations.
  Immunocompromised children: According to medical professionals, many 
children who have lived in orphanages exhibit significant immune 
defects. These immunocompromised children should not receive certain 
immunizations. Requiring such immunizations could cause the child to 
acquire the very disease the immunization is supposed to prevent.
  The exact age of the child is unknown and, therefore, some children 
could be forced to receive age-inappropriate immunizations.
  The adoptive parents often have limited time and resources to travel 
to the adoptee's home country. Forcing the child to undergo as many as 
five immunizations at one time, in order to reduce the amount of time 
and money a parent must spend in the child's home country, will drive 
up the cost of the adoption.
  There is a danger that unsterile or reconstituted needles, or 
substandard immunizations, may be used to vaccinate children in some 
orphanages in some countries.
  It is also important to ensure that any immigrant who has received a 
waiver be immunized once he or she has arrived in the United States. 
The McCain/Kyl amendment requires the Attorney General and Secretaries 
of HHS and State to report back in 6 months on how to establish an 
enforcement program to ensure that immigrants who receive waivers be 
immunized once they arrive in the United States. The enforcement 
program would not apply to immunizations that would not be medically 
appropriate in the foreign country or the United States or would be 
contrary to the alien's religious or moral convictions.
  On July 22, 23 of my colleagues, including Senators Abraham, Kennedy, 
Allard, Ashcroft, Coats, Conrad, Craig, D'Amato, DeWine, Dodd, Dorgan, 
Durbin, Frist, Grassley, Hutchinson, Inouye, Kohl, Landrieu, McCain, 
Moynihan, Robb, Gordon Smith, and Snowe joined me in sending a letter 
to Attorney General Reno urging her to generously use her authority to 
provide waivers from the immunization requirement for these babies and 
children awaiting adoption. I am pleased that the Senate has adopted 
this timely amendment.

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