[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 46 (Wednesday, April 12, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2608-S2609]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ADOPTION OPPORTUNITIES ACT

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the Adoption 
Opportunities Act which would amend the current adoption tax credit so 
it does what it was originally intended to do, and that is to help all 
kinds of families in their efforts to adopt all kinds of wonderful 
children.
  I would like to begin my remarks this morning by introducing you and 
my colleagues to someone very special. This beautiful little girl's 
name is Serina Anglin. Serina was born, as you can see here, 
prematurely and severely addicted to drugs. Her mother was a 15-year-
old girl who herself had been abandoned in a crack house by her drug-
addicted mother.
  At birth, doctors were all but certain Serena would not survive. When 
she was just a few months old, a neurologist described her in the 
following way:

       In summary, Serina is a severely manifold handicapped child 
     whose significant defects are in social, adaptive, affective, 
     and cognitive development.
       Serina has cerebral palsy as well as other multiple 
     problems including crack cocaine prenatal addiction, history 
     of herpes and encephalitis, and seizure disorders including 
     epilepsy.  . . . Her ability to walk is very uncertain. I 
     think she will fall into the moderate to severe range of 
     retardation.

  However, through the grace of God, Serina came into the home of a 
wonderful couple, Hal and Patty Anglin, of Wisconsin, who are now her 
adoptive parents. I want to show you a current picture of Serina. 
Through their love and determination, Serina has not only survived but 
her progress has simply amazed medical experts.
  Today, Serina is a remarkable child. She still has some small 
seizures, but her larger seizures are all but gone. She not only can 
walk, she recently learned to ride a bike. Each day she is becoming 
more and more active. She is true and living proof that the love of a 
family, growing up in a nurturing environment, can make what was deemed 
impossible possible.
  This is not to say this miracle came easily. In the beginning, 
Serina's care required that she go to the doctor over 16 times a month. 
For the first year of her life, her adoptive mother, Patty, carried her 
in a tummy sack to simulate the safety and warmth she had been deprived 
in the womb. She had to be taught how to breathe and swallow. She has 
had several surgeries on her leg which was damaged as a result of 
prenatal drug exposure.
  I tell this story today because I cannot think of a better way to 
show my colleagues why the current tax credit needs to be changed. 
Serina was born to a mother who was a ward of the State. So upon her 
birth, she was immediately placed in foster care, as I explained. As 
such, when the Anglins, who were her foster care parents, went through 
the formal adoption process, the process of adoption cost them almost 
nothing.
  Therefore, under our current definition of qualified adoption 
expenses, they were not eligible to receive one single dime of the 
$5,000 tax credit that is supposedly available under current law. Had 
Serina, this beautiful little girl, been a healthy infant voluntarily 
given up and adopted privately or through one of our many able 
agencies, the Anglins would have been eligible to claim the $5,000 tax 
credit. I am sure my colleagues will agree this was not our intention 
when we passed the adoption tax credit.

  In the case of children in foster care with special needs, what gives 
many parents pause is that everyday care of these children can be both 
physically and financially draining. I cannot tell you how many foster 
parents tell me the only thing standing in the way of their formally 
adopting foster care children is the worry that their personal 
resources will be inadequate to properly care for them. Through a 
properly drafted and funded adoption tax credit, we can be the partners 
with these prospective parents whose hearts are ready to take on this 
responsibility.
  It is a small step in the right direction but a very important step. 
A tax credit for special needs children logically should assist 
parents, such as the Anglins, with the everyday long-term costs of 
raising a child with special needs and should not be limited to the 
expenses of the ``act of adoption'' itself. The current definition is 
limited to ``qualified adoption expenses.'' That is too narrow to reach 
children such as Serina who need our help the most.
  The Adoption Opportunities Act, which we introduce today, proposes to 
fix this dilemma. It allows a straightforward $10,000 tax credit for 
families who adopt a child with special needs. The new tax credit for 
special needs children will not require the parents to submit 
verification of their expenses, nor will the amount be dependent upon 
the cost of adoption itself.
  I know many of us have argued for years about simplifying the Tax 
Code. I am hard pressed to imagine a way that would be more simple than 
the one Senator Craig and I are proposing, for all a parent has to do 
is simply attach a certificate of adoption for any special needs child 
to their tax return and they will get, under this bill, a $10,000

[[Page S2609]]

credit that can be carried forward for 5 years. It is that simple.
  Another problem lies in the fact that the current tax credit for 
nonspecial needs children is due to sunset in December of 2001. Hoping 
to ensure the credit was well designed and necessary, the drafters of 
the original bill agreed to reevaluate it after 5 years. We have done 
that and have included that in our bill. It permanently extends the 
$5,000 tax credit for adoption and almost doubles the adoption tax 
credit for special needs.
  Because of this assistance, many families, who might not otherwise 
have been financially able to do so, have been able to build a family 
through adoption. Last week, in fact, I had the great honor of 
attending a ceremony when 17 children from 14 different countries 
became citizens of the United States. All of these children were 
brought here to be adopted into loving and wonderful homes of Americans 
from all parts of our country.
  At that gathering, one of the mothers who had adopted two children 
came up to me and said: Senator, please let them know in Congress how 
much we appreciate the adoption tax credit. It made all the difference 
to me and my husband as we decided to adopt our second child.
  So we know that tax credit works. We know it has a positive impact, 
and part of our bill today extends that permanently so families can 
count on it.

  With the cost of adoption still on the rise, this tax credit is an 
important factor, as I have mentioned. It has been estimated that 
adoptions can range anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000, whether done 
privately or through an agency domestically or internationally.
  Another figure to keep in mind is one that was released recently by a 
national adoptive parent organization. They estimate that using 
specialized foster or adoptive parents instead of what we do now, which 
is congregate care facilities for drug-exposed children, could save--
and I believe the Senator from Texas, Mr. Gramm, will be interested in 
this as he continues to fight for ways the Federal Government can save 
our money--they estimate we can save as much as $550 million a year by 
relying on adoptive parents instead of keeping many of these children 
in the ``system,'' for which the taxpayers pay. Anything we can do to 
encourage adoption will not only be the right thing, the moral thing, 
the wonderful thing, and the family values thing to do, but it is smart 
for the taxpayers of the United States.
  In addition, in case people are interested, there are more than 
100,000 children in this country today waiting to be adopted--children 
who have had termination with their biological parents. They are 
waiting for someone to claim them as their own and to be adopted. There 
are 550,000 children in foster care. About 450,000 of those are in the 
process of either being returned to their families or they, too, can be 
eligible for adoption. Clearly, there is a need to promote adoption in 
this country that works for the benefit of birth parents, adoptive 
parents, and the children.
  Finally, for parents to raise a child in their home, the estimates 
for a middle-class family are about $140,000. That is not including 
college tuition or vocational education. That is just an estimate. The 
least we can do is help in a small way with a $5,000 or $10,000 tax 
credit to encourage families to be their partner in this adoption 
effort.
  I believe not only does it simplify the Tax Code, but there is a 
great need, and the need has been demonstrated. The results have been 
terrific. We have had testimony after testimony about how important the 
current system has been, so anything we can do to improve it I am sure 
will be welcomed by so many. It is a step in the right direction.
  I close by saying, as we debate which tax credits to pursue, which 
are worthy, this adoption tax credit should be on the top of every 
list. We need to continue to be bold enough to take these steps because 
every time we do, children such as Serina, for whom people have given 
up hope, have found families on which to rely and with whom to grow.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Burns). The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. GRAMM. I commend our colleague from Louisiana. Today we have 130 
million people who work outside the home and earn income. We have some 
260 million Americans. About 30 million of them get some form of public 
assistance. You might ask yourself: Who takes care of the other 100 
million Americans? They are taken care of by families. And the driving 
force is love.
  So not only is the distinguished Senator from Louisiana talking about 
saving money, but what adoptive parents will add to the equation is 
love and care. The whole world benefits from it. So I commend her.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAIG. I, too, thank the Senator from Louisiana for her 
leadership on this issue. We are fortunate enough to work together on 
this marvelous issue of adoption, chairing the adoption coalition here 
on the Senate side.
  Both Senator Landrieu and I this week have helped host two delightful 
young ladies who are on the hill, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, both 
adopted, both coming from adoptive families. They were in my office 
this morning speaking about the wonderful families they were allowed to 
be a part of who have granted them all of this charm and talent that 
can only come from a loving environment, that has allowed them to 
become national leaders, as they now are, as Miss USA and Miss Teen 
USA.
  I say thank you to the Senator for her leadership on this issue. It 
is critically important to America and America's families.

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