[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 150 (Tuesday, November 19, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11554-S11555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        A SPECIAL ADOPTION MONTH

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, November is a special month to the adoption 
community, because it is National Adoption Month. In my state of Idaho, 
this particular November is a very special month because it is when one 
of our newest citizens--Tilly McKeown--came home.
  Tilly is one of hundreds of children from Cambodian orphanages who 
are the focus of a special humanitarian initiative by the United States 
Immigration and Naturalization Service and the State Department. 
Adoptions from Cambodia were halted late last year because of serious 
concerns about the process in that country, and the initiative has been 
working since then to investigate and clear these adoptions on a case 
by case basis.
  We all want the adoption system to be ethical, transparent, and 
efficient. To achieve those goals in international adoptions, the 
United States signed the

[[Page S11555]]

Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, a landmark international 
treaty setting standards for adoption that will protect the interests 
of children and families everywhere in the world. The Senate ratified 
the treaty, and Congress passed legislation to implement it.
  We expect our federal agencies involved in international adoption to 
work toward these goals with all sending countries, whether they have 
signed the treaty or not. These are important policy goals for our 
government, but what is more important, they will help bring waiting 
children everywhere together with the families who will love them 
forever.
  They also will help prevent situations like the Cambodian dilemma 
from ever happening again. Before last December, our country had never 
placed a moratorium on adoptions out of a foreign country, and I think 
it is safe to say that anyone who knows anything about the Cambodian 
moratorium hopes our country never takes such an action again. In fact, 
some of us in Congress have worked on legislation to that end.
  This surely must be the hope of every family whose adoption was 
caught in the moratorium. Mr. President, the anguish these families 
have endured is indescribable. I do not think a day has passed when 
they have not pressed the Cambodian and American governments for a 
resolution to enable them to bring their children home to the United 
States. They know all too well what an enormous impact government 
policies can have on human lives and futures.
  I hope that some day, Tilly's parents will tell her the true story of 
how hard they worked, every day, to bring her home how sad they were 
every time the answer was ``not yet,'' how they traveled all the way to 
Cambodia just to see and hold her, and how overjoyed they were when 
they finally got the call to bring their daughter home.
  And when they tell her that story, I hope they also share with her 
the fact that there were people across the nation and around the world 
who also cared, and worried about her, and were trying to help her and 
her family. In the United States Senate, the House of Representatives, 
the Department of State, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 
and our embassies, people knew about Tilly and were working to remove 
the obstacles that kept this family apart, while still carrying out the 
requirements of the law. The White House played a critical role, 
providing extraordinary leadership and resources to resolve this 
complicated situation. The commitment this Administration has made to 
all of these families and their children is truly remarkable and should 
be commended. The humanitarian initiative has made tremendous progress, 
and none of this could have happened without the dedicated efforts of 
all these individuals, working together.
  I realize the resolution of the Cambodian adoption crisis cannot come 
fast enough for the families involved, and some will never accept or 
forgive the decision that was made last December, or the amount of time 
that has passed. To them, I pledge to see this initiative through and 
work for reforms so that no other families are put in this predicament 
again. To the many government officials who are working in the field or 
in Washington, D.C. on this initiative, I encourage you to persevere in 
this very important effort; you are making a lasting difference in the 
lives of these families and their children.
  And to Tilly, a very happy welcome to Idaho--at last.

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