[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 155 (Friday, November 7, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11907-S11908]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH AND INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION

  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Madam President, I thank the Chair for this 
opportunity to recognize the month of November as National Adoption 
Month and to speak on this very important issue--one that is very close 
to my heart--and is at the very heart of my own family.
  As legislators, we work to enact laws to improve and protect the 
lives of the American people.
  However, there are occasions when our policies can hurt the very 
people we are trying to protect. In this instance, it is our children.
  Last year, in my State of Oregon, 221 parents adopted children from 
foreign countries, including China, Romania, Korea, India, and 
Thailand.
  During that same year, Congress passed the Immigration and 
Nationality Act that included a provision which, until now, seemed 
rather innocuous.
  But for parents like Gary and Laurie Hunter from Myrtle Creek, OR, 
who are adopting a daughter from China, it has become a bitter pill in 
the adoption process.
  Simply, the provision requires that all incoming immigrants receive 
certain immunizations before entering the United States.
  While this may seem like a logical public health law, it raises 
serious concerns about the health and safety of children receiving 
vaccinations under substandard conditions in foreign countries.
  Many of these countries do not practice the same sanitary health 
conditions as the United States.
  For example, some countries lack adequate medical records for 
children living in orphanages and do not have access to sufficient 
supplies of sterile needles, creating an even greater risk to the 
health of young adoptive children entering the United States.
  Today, I am proud to be a part of a Senate which has passed 
legislation, H.R. 2464, to repeal the provision requiring immunizations 
prior to entry into the United States, and protect the children who 
have yet to become citizens of this country.
  This bill will exempt internationally adopted children 10 years of 
age or younger from the immunization requirement, and allow parents 30 
days to immunize their children.
  Importantly, immunization will not occur overseas in an orphanage, or 
in

[[Page S11908]]

an immigration office, but upon entering the United States, under the 
supervision of a family physician in a safe environment.
  There is a tradition in the Senate, to begin the day with a prayer 
from the Senate Chaplain.
  Today, I would like to take a moment to end my statement with a short 
phrase from the Common Book of Prayer, a phrase that I hope will 
encourage and inspire my colleagues in these last few days of the 105th 
Congress to continue the work which we have been charged to do by the 
American people:

       We have left undone those things which we ought to have 
     done; and we have done those things which we ought not to 
     have done.

  Madam President, I am proud to stand before my colleagues today to 
say that with the passage of this important legislation, we have done 
those things which we ought to have done. I thank the Chair, and I 
yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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