[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 113 (Wednesday, August 4, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S10229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. LANDRIEU (for Mr. Nickles (for himself, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. 
        Ashcroft, Mr. Bond, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Chafee, Mr. Cochran, Mr. 
        Craig, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Hollings, Mr. 
        Inhofe, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lott, Mr. Rockefeller, and 
        Mr. Smith of Oregon)):
  S. 1485. A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to 
confer United States citizenship automatically and retroactively on 
certain foreign-born children adopted by citizens of the United States; 
to the Committee on the Judiciary.


                    adopted orphans citizenship act

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I am proud to join the Senator from 
Oklahoma, Mr. Don Nickles, and a number of my colleagues, including 
Senators Ashcroft, Bond, Brownback, Chafee, Cochran, Craig, DeWine, 
Edwards, Grassley, Hollings, Inhofe, Kennedy, Levin, Lott, Rockefeller, 
and Gordon Smith in introducing a very important piece of legislation 
called the Adopted Orphans Citizenship Act.
  As you can see from this long list of distinguished Members, the 
Adopted Orphans Citizenship Act is an important piece of legislation 
and one I hope, by introducing it today, we could actually have some 
committee and floor action on in the weeks and months ahead. I commend 
Senator Nickles for his leadership. We have presented this bill on 
behalf of the 15,000 children who are adopted into our country each 
year through the process of international adoption.
  A few weeks ago, I had the great privilege to join Senator Levin and 
others to travel to Romania and had the opportunity to see firsthand 
the institutions and orphanages. Over 100,000 children of Romania call 
these places home, but they in fact do not look much like homes, as you 
can imagine. The staff at these homes try very hard to give the 
children in their care the love and support they need as they grow and 
mature, yet the fact is they are living in these institutions. Nothing 
can really supplant or take the place of a family or home to call your 
own.
  Not only in Romania but in many places in the world, American 
families are building their families through the process of 
international adoption. Last year alone, 15,000 families opened their 
homes and their hearts to adopt a child from another country, and 
85,000 families adopted children from within the United States. But 
this bill is directed at the families who are bringing children from 
other parts of the world to come and be part of an American family and 
become American citizens. What people may not realize is that now, when 
the adoption process is final, when all the paperwork has been done, 
after all the time and energy and in some cases a considerable amount 
of financial expense that is associated with these particular 
adoptions, under our current law, these children and these families 
still have to go through a citizenship process.
  This bill will basically make that process automatic and would, as 
the other parts of our law, recognize no difference between a child who 
is a biological child and a child who is an adopted child. It 
simplifies our law, it reduces paperwork, it reduces heartaches, 
reduces headaches, and really is something we should have done years 
ago. I am proud to join my colleagues today to introduce this 
legislation that, if passed, will make it automatic that children who 
are adopted into families in the United States will receive, with their 
adoption finalization, automatic citizenship, to be citizens of the 
United States of America.
  I think this change is long overdue. I can say, as the mother of two 
beautiful adopted children, obviously there is no difference between 
biological and adopted children. Both are wonderful ways to build 
families. Through the adoption process, many families in the United 
States are able to provide homes for children who were not fortunate 
enough to have them the first time around. So I am happy to join my 
colleagues to introduce this bill.
  I send it to the desk and ask it be referred to the proper committee, 
and I ask unanimous consent the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1485

       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 ``Adopted Orphans Citizenship 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. ACQUISITION OF UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP BY CERTAIN 
                   ADOPTED CHILDREN.

       (a) Amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act.--
     Section 301 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1401) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subsection (g);
       (2) by striking the period at the end of subsection (h) and 
     inserting ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(i) an unmarried person, under the age of 18 years, born 
     outside the United States and its outlying possessions and 
     thereafter adopted by at least one parent who is a citizen of 
     the United States and who has been physically present in the 
     United States or one of its outlying possessions for a period 
     or periods totaling not less than 5 years prior to the 
     adoption of the person, at least 2 of which were after 
     attaining the age of 14 years, if--
       ``(1) the person is physically present in the United States 
     with the citizen parent, having attained the status of an 
     alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence;
       ``(2) the person satisfied the requirements in subparagraph 
     (E) or (F) of section 101(b)(1); and
       ``(3) the person seeks documentation as a United States 
     citizen while under the age of 18 years.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     shall apply with respect to persons adopted before, on, or 
     after the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 ______