[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 36 (Monday, March 19, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S2474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HATCH:
  S. 560. A bill for the relief of Rita Mirembe Revell (a.k.a. Margaret 
Rita Mirembe); to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a private relief 
bill for Rita Mirembe Revell. Rita is a 15-year-old child from Uganda 
who was brought to this country in 1994. When Rita was 18 months old 
she was left with the Daughters of Charity Society, a Catholic 
organization in Kampala, Uganda. Rita was an orphan, abandoned with no 
known family.
  Rita has resided in the United States under a student visa since 
1994. As an orphan the only parents she has ever known are her American 
guardians, who have sponsored Rita since she was three years old. They 
want very much to adopt Rita, but they have been unable to get around 
the mess of international red tape. The Ugandan Government has very 
strict policies concerning adoption by foreign nationals. Now as Rita 
approaches her 16th birthday she is in danger of being deported. Rita 
has formed an intimate bond with her American parents, who hope to 
complete the adoption as soon as possible. Papers for adoption have 
already been filed, while there are bureaucratic difficulties, the 
adoption is not contested by any party.
  Understandably, the family is concerned that Rita will be deported 
before her adoption is finalized. This bill simply gives Rita permanent 
residency so that she might remain with the only parents she has ever 
known while her adoption becomes final. Other immigration scenarios 
would require Rita to return to an unsafe country for an unknown period 
of time. She has no known family in Uganda. Her new life is in 
California where she was recently admitted to Loretto High School, an 
outstanding college preparatory high school.
  This bill gives Rita permanent resident status, which will allow her 
to remain in the country while the adoption process continues. It 
allows Rita to stay with her American parents in the country that she 
now calls home. The bill also offers the comfort of certainty for her 
parents.
  I hope that we can move quickly to grant this relief.
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