[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 158 (Wednesday, October 28, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H12001-H12004]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY AND NATIONAL 
                             ADOPTION MONTH

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 831) supporting the goals and ideals 
of National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month by promoting 
national awareness of adoption and the children in foster care awaiting 
families, celebrating children and families involved in adoption, 
recognizing current programs and efforts designed to promote adoption, 
and encouraging people in the United States to seek improved safety, 
permanency, and well-being for all children.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 831

       Whereas there are nearly 500,000 children in the foster 
     care system in the United States, approximately 130,000 of 
     whom are waiting for families to adopt them;
       Whereas nearly 54 percent of the children in foster care 
     are age 10 or younger;
       Whereas the average length of time a child spends in foster 
     care is more than 2 years;
       Whereas, for many foster children, the wait for a 
     permanent, adoptive, ``forever'' family in which they are 
     loved, nurtured, comforted, and protected seems endless;
       Whereas the number of youth who ``age out'' of the foster 
     care system by reaching adulthood without being placed in a 
     permanent home has increased by more than 60 percent since 
     1998, as nearly 28,000 foster youth ``aged out'' of foster 
     care during 2007;
       Whereas every day loving and nurturing families are 
     strengthened and expanded when committed and dedicated 
     individuals make an important difference in the life of a 
     child through adoption;
       Whereas, while 3 in 10 people in the United States have 
     considered adoption, a majority of them have misconceptions 
     about the process of adopting children from foster care and 
     the children who are eligible for adoption;
       Whereas 71 percent of those who have considered adoption 
     consider adopting children from foster care above other forms 
     of adoption;
       Whereas 45 percent of people in the United States believe 
     that children enter the foster care system because of 
     juvenile delinquency, when in reality the vast majority of 
     children in the foster care system were victims of neglect, 
     abandonment, or abuse;
       Whereas 46 percent of people in the United States believe 
     that foster care adoption is expensive, when in reality there 
     is no substantial cost for adopting from foster care, and 
     financial support in the form of an adoption assistance 
     subsidy is available to adoptive families of eligible 
     children adopted from foster care and continues after the 
     adoption is finalized until the child is 18, so that income 
     will not be a barrier to becoming a parent to a foster child 
     who needs to belong to a family;
       Whereas significant tax credits are available to families 
     who adopt children with special needs;
       Whereas the Department of Health and Human Services, 
     Administration for Children and Families, in a partnership 
     with the Ad Council, supports a national recruitment campaign 
     for adoptive parents;
       Whereas the Collaboration to AdoptUsKids features a 
     photolisting Website for waiting foster children and 
     prospective adoptive families at www.adoptuskids.org, and in 
     Spanish at www.adopte1.org;
       Whereas National Adoption Day is a collective national 
     effort to find permanent, loving families for children in the 
     foster care system;
       Whereas, since the first National Adoption Day in 2000, 
     25,000 children have joined forever families during National 
     Adoption Day;
       Whereas in 2008, adoptions were finalized for over 4,600 
     children through more than 325 National Adoption Day events 
     in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico;
       Whereas National Adoption Month celebrates the gift of 
     adoption, recognizing the adoptive and foster families who 
     share their hearts and homes with children in need, and 
     raises awareness of the need for families for the many 
     waiting children, particularly older children and teens, 
     children of color, members of sibling groups, and children 
     with physical and emotional challenges; and
       Whereas November 2009 is National Adoption Month, and 
     November 21, 2009, is National Adoption Day, and activities 
     and information about both are available at 
     www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/nam/activities.cfm: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) supports the goals and ideals of National Adoption Day 
     and National Adoption Month;
       (2) recognizes that every child in foster care deserves a 
     permanent and loving family;
       (3) recognizes the significant commitment of taxpayers to 
     support adoption, including the $1,900,000,000 provided to 
     support adoption through the Title IV-E Adoption Assistance 
     program, as well as the assistance provided through the Title 
     IV-E Foster Care program to 130,000 children waiting for 
     adoptive families, among other important programs; and
       (4) encourages the citizens of the United States to 
     consider adoption of children in foster care who are waiting 
     for a permanent, loving family.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Davis) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-
Waite) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
might consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 831, a resolution 
supporting the goals and ideals of National Adoption Day and National 
Adoption Month.
  I am pleased to have worked with Congresswoman Brown-Waite, 
Congressman Tiberi, and Congressman McDermott on this legislation.
  On any given day, there are over a half million children in our 
Nation's foster care system, of which nearly 130,000 are waiting for a 
permanent home through adoption. While 51,000 children found a family 
to call their own last year through adoption, far too many children in 
the foster care system remain waiting for some level of permanency.
  Adoption provides children who are unable to return to their 
biological homes with the opportunity to be raised in a safe and loving 
home, providing them a level of stability that

[[Page H12002]]

generally cannot be found in foster care.
  Adoption is an important option for many children in the foster care 
system. It allows children to be raised as a member of a new family, a 
family that will provide the love, security and support that every 
child deserves.
  The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act 
supported adoption as an important pathway to permanency. This historic 
law also recognized the need to support multiple avenues to permanency, 
given that adoption may not be the best option for all children and 
families.
  I have worked with Representative Jim McDermott and my colleague from 
Illinois, former Representative Jerry Weller, to include language in 
the fostering connections law to provide additional opportunities to 
children in foster care via kinship guardianship. Kinship guardianship 
gives a child a permanent home with their grandparent or other 
relative, providing the same level of love, security and support that 
an adoption home provides but without the termination of parental 
rights.
  An evaluation of Illinois' subsidized guardianship waiver found that 
children in kinship guardianship fair as well as those in other 
permanency settings on measures of well-being, including school 
performance, engagement in risky behaviors, and access to community 
resources.
  A recent GAO report identified kinship guardianship as a key Federal 
policy to decrease the overrepresentation of African American children 
in our Nation's child welfare system. African American children enter 
foster care at higher rates and remain in foster care for longer 
periods of time when compared to children from other racial or ethnic 
groups.
  Indeed, African American children make up nearly one-third of the 
children waiting for adoption in this country. There are a variety of 
reasons why these children remain in the system longer, with one reason 
being that adoption is not equally availed by families from different 
races and ethnicities, especially among African American and Native 
American communities. Research shows that allowing a child to achieve 
permanency with a relative enhances their development and long-term 
well-being by maintaining their cultural identity and sense of family 
belonging, which, understandably, is particularly important for African 
American and Native American children.
  I personally know the value of kinship guardianship because Illinois 
has been a leader in developing and demonstrating the effectiveness of 
pioneering child welfare reforms such as kinship guardianship and 
extension of foster care to age 21, also included in the fostering 
connections legislation.
  In addition to seeing the positive effects of kinship caregiving 
Statewide, I have seen the importance of kinship guardianship in 
Chicago. My congressional district has the highest percentage of 
children living with kinship caregivers in the Nation, followed by the 
First Congressional District of Illinois with the second highest 
percentage, and the Second District with the 10th highest percentage in 
the Nation.
  I am proud that the fostering connections law worked to increase 
adoption and other avenues to permanency such as kinship guardianship 
to help children find the permanent, safe homes they deserve.
  Despite the reforms that we have achieved in this legislation, more 
work needs to be done to improve the experiences of all children and 
all families in the system and to end racial disparities that continue 
to persist.
  This spring, I joined with Representative Jim McDermott and Todd 
Platts to introduce legislation that would provide Federal funding to 
support evidence-based early childhood home visitation programs. These 
programs provide important home-based instruction and services to 
pregnant mothers and families with preschool-age children that help to 
improve the health and educational outcomes of children and their 
parents.
  A growing body of evidence has found that early childhood home 
visitation programs serve as an effective child abuse prevention 
strategy, reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect by nearly 
40 percent. Home visiting also produces significant health benefits to 
children and their families, such as improved child health, child 
development, parenting skills, and school readiness.
  I am pleased that it was included as part of the health care reform 
proposal that was reported out of the Ways and Means Committee. A 
similar proposal was included in the health proposal that was reported 
out of the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month.
  I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to improve 
our Nation's foster care system through adoption, guardianship, home 
visitation programs, and other important initiatives.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the ideals and goals of 
National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month by voting in favor of 
H. Res. 831.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 831, 
recognizing the goals and ideals of National Adoption Day and Month.
  As you know, November 21 will mark this year's annual National 
Adoption Day celebration. All across the country communities will 
gather together to celebrate the adoptions that have been finalized 
this year and those that we hope to finalize in the following year.
  It is this spirit of community and family that makes National 
Adoption Day so effective and so very important in the lives of the 
Nation's nearly 500,000 foster children. Since the tradition began in 
the year 2000, over 25,000 children have joined families on this very 
important day.
  As someone who gave birth to two children--and I also adopted an 
older, hard-to-place child--I know what having a family means to so 
many children, and in particular to older children. My oldest daughter, 
following in her mom's footsteps, she and her husband 1 year ago 
adopted a baby at birth. So whether it's at birth or when the child is 
older, it is a wonderful, wonderful experience for any family. I am 
happy to report that little Joey just celebrated his first birthday.

                              {time}  1230

  Although we don't often consider it, each year thousands of children 
also age out of the foster care system. Each year they grow older, it 
becomes harder and harder to place them with forever families. In so 
many cases, adoption is the key to breaking the cycle of abuse for 
children who would otherwise languish in dangerous homes.
  Perhaps it goes without saying how important it is for children to 
grow up in loving and supportive families; yet, with thousands and 
thousands of children still being denied this most fundamental 
opportunity, Congress must do all that it can to support their efforts 
to find a home for these children.
  As such, the Federal Government has rightly stepped in to relieve the 
financial burden on adoptive families and, in doing so, has made 
adoption more affordable to people of all income levels. But much still 
remains to be done. The resolution that we are considering today is an 
important affirmation and reaffirmation of our commitment to improving 
the lives of foster children everywhere.
  I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their support 
and attention to this matter. If you don't think that taking a child 
into your home and loving that child makes a real difference, let me 
tell you something that my adopted daughter just told me this week. 
Now, remember, she was in a very, very poor situation as she was 
growing up. She told me that she met a man who epitomizes what her dad 
represented. Her dad was my deceased husband, Harvey Waite. So she 
learned what a true family man really was through our adoption.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this resolution, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. I want to thank Representative Brown-Waite for 
her introduction of this legislation and also for her remarks.
  It's my pleasure now to yield such time as he might consume to the 
chairman of the Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee, the 
gentleman from Washington, Representative Jim McDermott, one of the 
real champions of child welfare in this

[[Page H12003]]

country and one who knows exactly what is needed to make sure that 
children have safe and comfortable environments in which to live.
  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by acknowledging my 
colleagues, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) and the gentlewoman 
from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite) for bringing this resolution to 
the floor.
  This is an issue that deserves our unanimous support, and I'm sure it 
will have it. H. Res. 831 really expresses the ideals and the goals of 
National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month. Every child deserves 
to be raised in a home that is safe, loving and is permanent. 
Unfortunately, this basic principle is not a reality for the 129,000 
children who are currently in our Nation's foster care system waiting 
for a permanent home to call their own.
  Last year, the Congress passed bipartisan, bicameral legislation that 
dramatically reformed our Nation's foster care and adoption program. 
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act was 
designed to improve the outcomes of children's lives in the foster care 
system as well as increase the number of children who find permanency 
through placement with a grandparent or other relative or through 
adoption. The new law helps States provide greater financial assistance 
to relative caregivers who choose to become the legal guardian of a 
foster child and also promotes the adoption of children with special 
needs and improves the Adoption Incentive Program.
  While my colleagues and I were able to accomplish a great deal last 
year in improving foster care and adoption programs, our work is far 
from over. We must ensure that families are given the postadoption 
support they need when they welcome an adopted child into their home. 
Any of us who have raised a child know that it's difficult to do, but 
it is an immensely rewarding endeavor, and when the Federal Government 
has an ability to encourage these connections, we ought to do so.
  There are a wealth of families interested in adopting a child out of 
foster care. A study last year showed that there are 600,000 women in 
the United States seeking to adopt. The majority of these women said 
they would consider adopting older youth, siblings, or children with 
special needs. We can and must do a better job of connecting these 
would-be parents to kids growing up in foster care.
  It's my hope that this bill and the resolution connected to it will 
lead to an overall increase in the awareness of National Adoption Day 
and will help us close the gap so that it is possible to imagine a 
Nation where every child, indeed, lives in a safe and secure home.
  We must also do a better job of keeping kids out of the foster care 
system to begin with. Today, we provide some or more financial 
assistance to States to remove children from homes and place them in 
care than we do in providing support to children in at-risk homes where 
they are living in their homes.
  At this time last week, I delivered remarks in front of a group of 
current and former foster youth, and the topic of discussion was: How 
can we better address the stresses of crises in the home that bring 
families to the door of the system in the first place? The point I 
heard over and over again from these young adults was, My parents 
weren't bad people. They just needed some extra help and guidance to 
keep our family together.
  Keeping children safely with their biological parents is almost 
always in the child's best interest. In an effort to move us in that 
direction, I have introduced bipartisan legislation with Representative 
Danny Davis and Todd Platts to provide States with mandatory grant 
funding to support an evidence-based voluntary home visitation program.
  The President took Representative Davis' idea and put it in his 
budget. We put it in H.R. 3200, which is the health care bill that is 
now about to be considered in this body.
  The home visitation program provides services to pregnant women and 
families with preschool-aged children that are designed to enhance the 
child's health, well-being, and development. I am pleased that the 
proposal was introduced and that it made its way into the health care 
bill. We expect it will pass out of here in a few days.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 831 and to 
recommit ourselves to working on legislation that improves the lives of 
all children and families and improves our child welfare system. The 
129,000 children who are awaiting a permanent family deserve nothing 
less from this Congress.
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional 
Members wishing to speak on this. I will just certainly agree with my 
colleagues that this is a very worthwhile resolution and one that I 
hope Americans who have room in their hearts and their homes to adopt 
someone will take very, very seriously. Adoption is a long process and 
one that should be taken very seriously, but it's one that has many, 
many rewards.
  I would encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution.
  I yield back the balance of my time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 831.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. To close, Mr. Speaker, let me just commend 
Representative Brown-Waite, Chairman McDermott, Mr. Tiberi, and all 
those who have worked on bringing this legislation to the floor. Our 
children are, indeed, the future, and it's our responsibility to 
provide every opportunity that we possibly can for them. I think this 
legislation and this resolution all combine to help make America a 
better place for children, so I would ask that all Members support it.
  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of H. 
Res. 831, a resolution that recognizes the successes of federal efforts 
to encourage adoption, and honors National Adoption Day and Month.
  As an avid adoption supporter, I believe that Congress must continue 
to promote the adoption of children into safe and loving homes. Through 
our work in 1997 as part of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and 
more recently through the Fostering Connections to Success and 
Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, Congress has made significant 
advances in providing more options for children in need.
  Yet, far too many children, nearly 130,000, are waiting in foster 
care programs throughout our country for families to adopt them. These 
children should be given every opportunity to lead successful lives, 
and one way to make that happen is to increase the adoption of these 
children into safe, permanent, loving homes.
  That is why National Adoption Day and Month are so important. This 
year, National Adoption Day will take place on November 21, and is 
designed for communities around the country to highlight adoptions. 
Last year there were events in all 50 states during which the adoptions 
of 4,000 children were finalized.
  This year is especially important, as the National Adoption Day is 
celebrating its 10-year anniversary. This is a significant achievement 
from its humble beginnings, when Los Angeles County Judge Michael Nash 
started ``Adoption Saturdays'' to help facilitate the adoption of 
foster children.
  I have been honored to participate in National Adoption Day over the 
past several years. To be part of such a special occasion reinforces 
the need for further efforts to move kids into adoptive homes.
  I would also like to highlight the efforts of the Congressional 
Coalition on Adoption Institute to promote adoption through its annual 
Angels in Adoption Awards Ceremony, held in September. This event also 
highlights those that have opened their hearts and their homes.
  This year, I was honored to nominate Sarah and Steve Rosinski, from 
Traverse City, Michigan, as Angels in Adoption. Steve and Sarah became 
foster parents when a young boy name Logan was placed in their home. 
Coming from a difficult family, Logan needed special attention and 
care. The Rosinskis gave him the love and support he needed to thrive 
and made him a permanent addition to their family by adopting him in 
2007.
  They now are fostering a baby girl, also coming to them with early 
challenges--again, putting the child's best interests first, they are 
working on a reunification plan with her family. The Rosinksis have 
never asked for recognition for what they have done, they have simply

[[Page H12004]]

done what is right. This is what National Adoption Day is all about.
  I first got involved by helping families with their adoption 
proceedings as their attorney. I strongly believe that we have the 
ability and the opportunity to help encourage adoption and help those 
in the foster care system. That is why it is so important to recognize 
the families who make extraordinary efforts to welcome children into 
their family and highlight the importance of National Adoption Day and 
Month.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues today in support of 
this resolution supporting National Adoption Day and Month. I join in 
recognizing all of the children in foster care awaiting loving adoptive 
families as well as the many caring adults who have opened their hearts 
and homes to take in foster or adopted children.
  During 2007 an estimated 783,000 children were served by the foster 
care system, with 494,000 children in care at the end of the year, 
including 12,236 in my home State of Georgia. In 2006 across the U.S., 
50,941 adoptions were completed with public child welfare agency 
involvement. Significantly, the rate of adoption from foster care has 
increased from 5.5 percent in 1995 to 10 percent in 2006. That 
improvement has been driven by specific policies--including the 
landmark Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997--designed to increase 
the rate of adoption.
  While that is welcome progress, there is more work to be done. 
Congress took additional steps last year with the passage of bipartisan 
legislation designed to promote more adoption, especially of children 
in foster care. As that law, the Fostering Connections to Success and 
Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, is implemented, I look forward to 
reviewing the continued progress we will hopefully be making in 
improving the lives of children. When it comes to promoting more 
adoption instead of more foster care, we certainly have a solid track 
record to build on, and cause for optimism.
  Beyond the legislation now in place, I call on Congress and the 
American people to continue working to improve educational 
opportunities for foster youth, as for all youth. Foster youth face 
particularly high hurdles in graduating from high school on time, or 
even at all. The reasons are many, including the multiple home 
placements that often cause young people in foster care to bounce not 
just from home to home but also from school to school. Overcoming these 
challenges is a key goal of last year's legislation, and one that will 
take the concerted efforts of many in the child welfare and education 
communities, in addition of course to the dedication of young people 
and their foster and adoptive parents. Giving each young person a solid 
chance of success in life starts with ensuring each and every student 
finishes at least high school and has the basic skills to find and keep 
a stable, well-paying job.
  I urge all Members to support this resolution, and work with the many 
dedicated faith-based and other groups in their districts who promote 
adoption not only in November, but in every month of the year. We 
should all work toward the day when every child will be in a safe and 
loving permanent home, either with their own parents or, if they cannot 
adequately care for them, with loving adoptive parents.
  Along the way, it is right to recognize both those who have already 
opened their hearts and homes to these special young people, as well as 
those who will do so in the future. They deserve our thanks and 
admiration for the tremendous commitment of love and devotion they show 
every day.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 
support of House Resolution 831 to support the goals and ideals of 
National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month. This resolution 
seeks to promote awareness of adoption and the foster care system and 
remind all of us of the importance that adoption plays in the lives of 
countless Americans across the country.
  Today there are nearly half a million children in foster care in the 
United States with roughly 130,000 waiting for families to adopt them. 
The awareness and encouragement that National Adoption Day and Month 
brings have helped numerous children find loving families. It is 
expected that 4,500 foster care children will be adopted this year on 
National Adoption Day which takes place on November 21.
  Mr. Speaker, a loving family can have a lifelong impact on a child, 
and it is important that we acknowledge the sacrifices and celebrate 
the importance that every party in the adoption process has. I 
encourage my colleagues to join me today in supporting House Resolution 
831 so that we can continue to recognize the on-going efforts of 
America's adoptive families and their adopted sons and daughters.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 831.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________