[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12526-S12527]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ADOPTION AND SAFE FAMILIES ACT OF 1997

  Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I would like to express my strong support 
for legislation that will be considered by the Senate and has been 
considered by the House this morning. This legislation is the Adoption 
and Safe Families Act of 1997. This bill, which is a compromise version 
of legislation that I introduced originally now has as supporters and 
sponsors: Senator Rockefeller, Senator Craig, Senator Bond, Senator 
DeWine, Senator Coats, Senator Jeffords, Senator Landrieu, Senator 
Levin, Senator Kerrey, Senator Dorgan, Senator Moynihan, Senator 
Moseley-Braun, and Senator Johnson. Mr. President, this legislation 
will make some critical changes to the child welfare system--changes 
that will vastly improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of children 
currently in foster care and waiting for adoptive homes. I am very 
hopeful that the President, who has indicated his support for this 
legislation, will sign this measure promptly.
  Mr. President, just yesterday, there was yet another story in the 
newspapers about a young girl, 9 years old, who was found dead from 
severe abuse in her sister's Bronx apartment. The tragic story of young 
Sabrina Green's short life is harrowing, and it is all too reminiscent 
of the cases we read and hear about, unfortunately, every single day. 
Each time I read about a case like Sabrina Green's, I feel outrage and 
frustration with a system that cannot take care of the most vulnerable 
members of our society. Now, Mr. President, we cannot bring Sabrina 
Green back to life, nor can we bring back any of the hundreds of 
children who have died under similar circumstances; but we can take 
action to prevent such deaths in the future, and that is what we are 
doing today.
  The bill that will come over to us shortly, Mr. President, will put 
the safety and health of the child first. That is a significant change 
in the law. Under this legislation, the safety and health of the child 
will come first. We will not continue the current system of always 
putting the needs and rights of the biological parents first. While we 
still believe that family reunification is a worthy goal, it's time we 
recognize that some families simply cannot and should not be kept 
together. Children who have suffered severe abuse or whose parents have 
committed violent crimes should be moved out of those homes rapidly and 
into adoptive homes. Our bill does that. Children who are in foster 
care for over 15 months deserve to have a decision made about their 
future. Our legislation does both of those things.
  It is also time we put a stop to children lingering in foster care 
for years. There are currently half a million children in this 
country--500,000 children in the United States of America--who have 
been removed from their abusive or neglectful parents and are living in 
foster care. In my State, there are 1,500 of these children in foster 
care. Nationally, each of these children in foster care will remain so 
for an average of 3 years before a decision is made about their future, 
and many of them will wait much longer. The average is 3 years. Some 
have stayed for years and years in foster care. Today, we are sending 
those half a million children a message of hope. Under this 
legislation, their time in foster care will be shortened. States will 
be required to make a permanent plan for these children after a year, 
and if a child has been in foster care for more than 15 months--1 year 
and 3 months--the State will be required to take the first steps toward 
terminating parental rights and finding an adoptive home.
  Terminating parental rights is the critical first step in moving 
children into permanent placements, but it is not enough. We also must 
promote adoption of these children, and our bill does that. Our bill 
removes geographic barriers to adoption. There are no limitations under 
this bill about children in one State having to be adopted in that 
State. We remove these geographic barriers to adoption and require 
States to document efforts to move children into safe adoptive homes. 
We also provide financial bonuses to States that increase their 
adoption rights. There is money here for States that increase the rate 
of adoption in their States.
  There are legal and procedural barriers to adoption, and there are 
also financial barriers. Lack of medical coverage is one such barrier 
to families who want to adopt special needs children. What is a special 
needs child? It is a child who has medical problems or physical 
problems, or a child of such an age, maybe 15 or 16, in a foster home. 
Adoptive parents are very reluctant to take on a child of that age. 
Many of these children have significant physical and mental health 
problems due to years of abuse and neglect and foster care. Many of 
these children have been shuttled from foster parent to foster parent. 
So the adoptive parents are taking a huge financial risk in adopting 
these children if the parents are not guaranteed that there will be 
health insurance for these special needs children. Our bill ensures 
that special needs children who are going to be adopted will have 
medical coverage. We also ensure that children whose adoptive parents 
die or whose adoptions disrupt or terminate for some reason, they will 
continue to receive Federal subsidies when they are adopted by new 
parents.
  Mr. President, I am very proud of this legislation. The Senate and 
House sponsors have worked tirelessly for many months to come to an 
agreement. Our shared commitment to improving the lives of these 
children brought us together. In closing, I want to especially thank my 
good friend, Senator Jay Rockefeller, who has spent years devoting his 
time and attention to these children. I also thank Senator Craig, who 
brought his own personal experiences and dedication to this effort, and 
Senator DeWine, who brought so much expertise and professional 
experience to this initiative. I also want to thank the other members 
of the coalition, those Senators that I mentioned earlier, and I will 
repeat their names--Senator Bond, Senator Coats, Senator Jeffords, 
Senator Landrieu, Senator Levin, Senator Kerrey, Senator Dorgan, 
Senator Moynihan, Senator Moseley-Braun, and Senator Johnson.
  I also want to congratulate the House sponsors who worked so hard on 
this--Congressman Camp and Congresswoman Kennelly.
  I thank our staffs for the extraordinary efforts they devoted to 
achieving passage of this legislation. Particularly, I salute Laurie 
Rubiner, of my staff, and Barbara Pryor, of Senator Rockefeller's 
staff. All of these individuals that are mentioned, and others, have 
been so helpful in achieving passage of this legislation, which I think 
has just now passed the House and will be coming here. We look for 
rapid action here.
  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. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.

[[Page S12527]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Enzi). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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