[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3133-S3134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HELMS (for himself and Ms. Landrieu):
  S. 682. A bill to implement the Hague Convention on Protection of 
Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I send to the desk legislation that the 
distinguished Senator from Louisiana, Ms. Landrieu and I are 
introducing today, its purpose being to implement the Hague Convention 
on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry 
Adoption--a treaty pending before the Foreign Relations Committee.
  Senator Landrieu and I have worked together on issues of adoption 
since her arrival in the Senate in 1997. I am genuinely grateful for 
her leadership on this issue.
  According to the most recent statistics, in 1998 almost 15,774 
children were adopted by Americans from abroad. The majority of the 
children were brought to the United States from Russia, China, Korea, 
and Central and South American countries. In my state of North 
Carolina, 175 children were adopted in 1996 from outside the United 
States.
  The Intercountry Adoption Implementation Act will provide for the 
first time a rational structure for intercountry adoption. The act is 
intended to bring some accountability to agencies that provide 
intercountry adoption services in the United States, and strengthen the 
hand of the Secretary of State in ensuring that U.S. adoption agencies 
engage in efforts to find homes for children in an ethical manner.
   Mr. President, I strongly support adoption. It is in the best 
interest of every child--regardless of his or her age, race or special 
need--to be raised by a family who will provide a safe, permanent, and 
nurturing home. However, it is also a process that can leave parents 
and children vulnerable to fraud and abuse.
  For this reason, the legislation that Senator Landrieu and I are 
introducing today includes a requirement that agencies be accredited to 
provide intercountry adoption. Mandatory standards for accreditation 
will include ensuring that a child's medical records be available in 
English to the prospective parents prior to their traveling to the 
foreign country to finalize an adoption. (We are also requiring that 
agencies be transparent, especially in their rate of disrupted adoption 
and their fee scales.)
  This legislation also places the requirements of implementing the 
Hague Convention with the U.S. Secretary of State. Some have advocated 
a role for various government agencies, but I believe that spreading 
responsibility among various agencies will undermine the effective 
implementation of the Hague Convention.
  During hearings last year in the Foreign Relations Committee 
regarding international parental kidnaping, the Committee heard 
testimony regarding the difficulties of coordination among agencies in 
implementing the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Parental 
Abduction. This situation provides a valuable lesson. As a result, our 
legislation tasks the Secretary of State with establishing 
accreditation criteria for adoption agencies.
  The Foreign Relations Committee soon will schedule hearings to 
consider both the treaty and this legislation. I hope that these 
hearings will emphasize both the many benefits of intercountry 
adoption, but also several of the abuses that have resulted during this 
decade.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I am very proud to join with my friend 
and colleague, the senior Senator from North Carolina, in introducing 
the implementing legislation for the Hague Convention on Intercountry 
Adoption. As many Members know, Senator Helms cares deeply about the 
welfare of children and knows personally of the joy of building a 
family through adoption. I commend him for his strong commitment, his 
leadership, and the very thoughtful work that he has put into this 
important piece of legislation.
  In my office, I have a large black and white poster of a smiling 
infant crawling only in a diaper. On the baby's bottom, on the diaper, 
is a huge bull's eye. The text says simply, ``Children always make the 
easiest targets.''
  Unfortunately, Madam President, that seems to be true in our 
legislative and budgetary process. They don't move very quickly, they 
are not very strong, they don't have very loud voices and they can't 
protect themselves. We need to help them do that.
  It would have been easy for the chairman of the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee to come to this floor on one of the dozens of other 
important treaties that he has pending before his committee. It would 
have required no effort to leave this relatively obscure treaty 
languishing in limbo for months or even years. Instead, Senator Helms 
made this treaty a priority. I am very proud to join him as a lead 
democratic sponsor of its implementing legislation, which will benefit 
millions of children throughout the world, and families around the 
globe.
  I have had the opportunity to meet with many foreign dignitaries on 
the subject of intercountry adoption, from China to Russia, to Romania. 
Many countries have indicated that the United States ratification of 
the Hague Convention is the single most important thing we can do to 
strengthen the process of intercountry adoption. The United States 
adopts more children than any other country in the world. 
Unfortunately, this Nation and other large receiving nations have been 
sending the wrong message about our intentions regarding adoption.
  A nation like Romania, for instance, which has had a tortured history 
in the field of child welfare indicated the importance of this treaty 
by being the first nation to ratify. For that, they should be 
commended.
  Other sending countries have similarly stepped up to the plate, while 
receiving nations remain inactive. We must change that.
  Today, in the Senate, we send a new message to the world. The United 
States is serious about the Hague convention. We are serious about 
improving and reforming the intercountry adoption system, and we will 
encourage other nations of the world to join us in that effort.
  Habitat for Humanity's Millard Fuller, a man who has accomplished a 
great deal in the last few years, has a credo for his organization. He 
says everyone deserves a decent place to live. He is right. With that 
simple, but bold vision, Habitat for Humanity has been an incredible 
success story, building homes around the world for millions of 
families.
  This is another simple but bold idea. Every child deserves a 
nurturing family. This treaty doesn't guarantee that, but it will give 
millions of children their best chance for a family to call their own. 
Furthermore, it will give millions of would-be parents a better chance 
at the joy of parenthood. We cannot let arbitrary borders and national 
pride get in the way of this simple but powerful idea, that every child 
should have parents who can love and care for them. No child should 
have to be raised alone.
  The Hague Convention, by normalizing the process of intercountry 
adoption, brings this bold idea a step closer to reality.
  I will briefly touch upon several important pieces of this 
legislation. First, let me say that this treaty is not a Federal 
endeavor to take control of the adoption process. This system is 
working for the most, and in many parts of the country it works very 
well. The philosophy throughout has been to address the real need for 
reform of intercountry adoptions and leave the other debate to another 
day.

[[Page S3134]]

  This bill, however, does make several changes which will 
revolutionize the status quo. First, the State Department will finally 
be given legislative authority to track, monitor and report on 
intercountry adoptions. We will have hard figures on disruptions, 
adoption fees, and most importantly, the number of American children 
who are adopted by people abroad.
  Second, accredited agencies will need to provide some minimum 
services to continue operating in the intercountry field. Among these 
services are translated medical reports, 6 weeks of preadoption 
counseling, liability insurance and open examination of practices and 
records. By allowing public scrutiny in this area, we believe the Hague 
implementing legislation provides some basic consumer protection and 
will help eliminate the few bad actors who occasionally grab headlines 
in the arena of international adoption.
  Another significant feature of this treaty is the adoption 
certificate which will be provided by the Secretary of State. With the 
certificate, INS procedures and State court finalizations will become 
routine and quick rather than involved and costly. This will be a 
welcome relief for many families across this country waiting for 
children to come home.
  Americans provide loving families for nearly 15,000 children from 
around the world. If we pass this convention, those numbers are most 
certainly likely to increase, which will be an opportunity for families 
here in the United States, as well as many children who desperately 
need homes.
  Every day, my colleagues speak eloquently from this floor about ways 
to help our children and families grow and become stronger, but rarely 
do we have an opportunity to do something which can have a significant 
impact on actually creating loving homes for children who have no one. 
This is such an occasion. We should not miss this historic opportunity.
  I look forward to working with our chairman from North Carolina as 
this bill and treaty progress through the Senate in the months ahead. 
It is with high hopes that we proceed, hoping that we can pass a 
strong, bipartisan piece of legislation before the end of the year.
  Madame President, the need to help children find loving homes, is as 
old as human history. You can look all the way back to Muhammad who 
stated that ``the best house is the house in which an orphan receives 
care.'' I hope we can create many such houses with this bill. I would 
like to conclude with a quote I read in preparation for this speech 
that I found quite moving. It says that ``orphans, other than their 
innocence, have no sin, and other than their tears, they have no way of 
communication. They cannot explain the wars, the struggles, the 
political disputes, or the geographical disputes which have all made 
them homeless, helpless, fearful, and alone. Human history has never 
seen such a large number of orphan children in this world. Mankind has 
never seen such a large number of people in comfort. If you follow any 
religion, it is your religious duty to take care of orphans. If you do 
not follow any religion, it is your observation toward humanity that 
should convince you to support them.''
  I ask unanimous consent that documents involving those nations that 
have signed the treaty be printed in the Record as well as those that 
have ratified the treaty.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       The Following States Have Ratified The Hague Convention of 
     29 May 1993 On Protection of Children and Co-Operation In 
     Respect of Intercountry:

     Entry Into Force
       Mexico, September 14, 1994, May 1, 1995
       Romania, December 28, 1994, May 1, 1995
       Sri Lanka, January 23, 1995, May 1, 1995
       Cyprus, February 20, 1995, June 1, 1995
       Poland, June 12, 1995, October 1, 1995
       Spain, July 11, 1995, November 1, 1995
       Ecuador, September 7, 1995, January 1, 1996
       Peru, September 14, 1995, January 1, 1996
       Costa Rica, October 30, 1995, February 1, 1996
       Burkina Faso, January 11, 1996, May 1, 1996
       Philippines, July 2, 1996, November 1, 1996
       Canada, December 19, 1996, April 1, 1997
       Venezuela, January 10, 1997, May 1, 1997
       Finland, March 27, 1997, July 1, 1997
       Sweden, May 28, 1997, September 1, 1997
       Denmark, July 2, 1997, November 1, 1997
       Total number of ratifications: 16,

       The Following States Have Signed The Hague Convention Of 29 
     May 1993 On Protection of Children and Co-Operation In 
     Respect of Intercountry Adoption:

       Costa Rica, 29 May 1993
       Mexico, 29 May 1993
       Romania, 29 May 1993
       Brazil, 29 May 1993
       Colombia, 1 September 1993
       Uruguay, 1 September 1993
       Israel, 2 November 1993
       Netherlands, 5 December 1993
       United Kingdom, 12 January 1994
       United States, 31 March 1994
       Canada, 12 April 1994
       Finland, 19 April 1994
       Burkina Faso, 19 April 1994
       Equador, 3 May 1994
       Sri Lanka, 24 May 1994
       Peru, 16 November 1994
       Cyprus, 17 November 1994
       Switzerland, 16 January 1995
       Spain, 27 March 1995
       France, 5 April 1995
       Luxembourg, 6 June 1995
       Poland, 12 June 1995
       Philippines, 17 July 1995
       Italy, 11 December 1995
       Norway, 20 May 1996
       Ireland, 19 June 1996
       Sweden, 10 October 1996
       El Salvador, 21 November 1996
       Venezuela, 10 January 1997
       Denmark, 2 July 1997

  Ms. LANDRIEU. It is my hope that we can work under the great 
leadership of Senator Helms on this issue to pass this implementing 
legislation and the treaty to provide hope to millions of children in 
families that would welcome it.
                                 ______