[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H5784-H5785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION HARMONIZATION ACT OF 2010
Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5532) to amend the Immigration and
Nationality Act with respect to adopted alien children, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5532
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 ``International Adoption
Harmonization Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF ADOPTION AGE REQUIREMENTS.
Section 101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (E)--
(A) by striking ``(E)(i)'' and inserting ``(E)'';
(B) by striking ``sixteen'' and inserting ``eighteen'';
(C) by striking ``; or'' and inserting a semicolon; and
(D) by striking clause (ii);
(2) in subparagraph (F)--
(A) by striking ``(F)(i)'' and inserting ``(F)'';
(B) by striking ``sixteen'' and inserting ``eighteen'';
(C) by striking ``Attorney General'' and inserting
``Secretary of Homeland Security''; and
(D) by striking clause (ii); and
(3) in subparagraph (G)--
(A) by striking ``sixteen'' and inserting ``eighteen''; and
(B) by striking ``Attorney General'' each place such term
appears and inserting ``Secretary of Homeland Security''.
SEC. 3. HARMONIZING ADOPTIONS BETWEEN HAGUE CONVENTION AND
NON-HAGUE-CONVENTION COUNTRIES.
Section 212(a)(1)(C)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(1)(C)(ii)) is amended by striking
``section 101(b)(1)(F),'' and inserting ``subparagraph (F) or
(G) of section 101(b)(1),''.
SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE WITH PAYGO.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, shall
be determined by reference to the latest statement titled
``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act,
submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the
Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the House of
Representatives, provided that such statement has been
submitted prior to the vote on passage.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I introduced H.R. 5532, the International Adoption Harmonization Act
of 2010, to correct two longstanding problems and inconsistencies with
respect to adoptions of foreign children by U.S. citizen parents.
First, the bill would harmonize the age requirements of such
adoptions and provide some needed flexibility in cases where adoptions
take longer than expected. Currently, our law contains two age
requirements related to the adoption of foreign children. The general
rule is that an adoption must be finalized before a child turns 16 in
order for the child to qualify for legal status in the United States.
For any sibling of such a child, the adoption must be finalized before
the sibling's 18th birthday, but only if the sibling comes from the
country that has not signed The Hague Convention on Intercountry
Adoptions. The age cutoff for siblings from signatory countries is 16.
These different requirements create confusion; and, in particular, with
respect to more stringent requirements for the signatory countries, the
16-year-old cutoff provision, failing to meet the cutoff can have
disastrous consequences.
Every year, the 16-year-old age requirement prevents a small number
of foreign children who have been adopted by U.S. citizen parents from
obtaining legal status in the United States. If an adoption takes
longer than expected, even for reasons outside the parent's control,
and the deadline is missed even by 1 day, the child is left with no
remedy whatsoever. Although the child may be legally adopted by U.S.
citizen parents, he or she cannot legally remain with them in the
United States. Obviously, this is a nonsensical result where one's
child has to be removed from the United States or, more likely, the
individual comes to us for private relief which we may or may not
succeed in granting.
H.R. 5532 remedies the above problem by harmonizing the provisions to
require that all adoptions be finalized before a child's 18th birthday.
This would
[[Page H5785]]
provide an additional 2 years by which to complete an adoption before a
child is barred from living in the United States with his or her
parents. As adoptions for foreign children are rarely completed beyond
a child's 16th birthday--China, for example, allows adoptions only up
to the age of 14--this bill would affect very few children; but for
those few children, this bill is critical.
Second, H.R. 5532 would also harmonize immunization requirements with
respect to international adoptions. Current law requires adopted
children to have certain vaccinations prior to arrival, but there is an
exemption for children under 10 if the adoptive parents certify that
necessary vaccinations will be obtained within 30 days of entry.
{time} 1830
This exemption, which was created by Congress in 1997, was designed
to prevent parents from having to subject their children to numerous
and often unsafe immunizations in foreign nations and to allow them to
safely immunize their children in the United States.
This exception, however, applies only to children adopted from
countries that are not signatories to the Hague Convention. It does not
apply to children from signatory countries. This bill fixes this
nonsensical discrepancy by expanding the definition to also cover
children regardless of whether their home country is a signatory to the
Hague Convention.
I want to thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, John
Conyers; the ranking member, Lamar Smith; and Representative Jeff
Fortenberry, for their support on this measure.
I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I cosponsored this legislation introduced by
Congresswoman Lofgren, chair of the Immigration Subcommittee, and I
urge my colleagues to support it.
Our Nation has a wonderful tradition of welcoming newcomers. We admit
more than 1 million legal immigrants a year, as many as all other
nations combined. This legislation continues that generosity by
ensuring that American parents who want to open their homes and hearts
to children from around the world are able to do so.
The Immigration and Nationality Act provides that U.S. citizens can
adopt foreign children and have the children considered immediate
relatives for immigration purposes if the children are adopted while
under the age of 16 years.
American families who initiated adoptions of foreign children by
their 16th birthdays but were not able to complete the adoptions by
that date have often sought relief from their Representatives in
Congress. We have responded sympathetically.
Congress has routinely passed private bills over the years to allow
these families to sponsor their adopted children for permanent resident
status in the U.S. In fact, Congress has so routinely passed such
private bills that it makes sense for us to simply modify the law and
provide a broad remedy.
This legislation provides that for immigration purposes, adoptions by
U.S. parents have to be completed by the age of 18 instead of 16. Under
the bill, the parents are still obligated to finalize the adoption by
the 18th birthday in order to receive immigration benefits for their
child.
Of course, we expect U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to
continue to be on guard against any possible fraud in the foreign
adoption process.
This bill accomplishes one more objective by making a technical
correction regarding the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions.
Under current law, prospective immigrants have to be vaccinated
against certain diseases. The law provides an exemption to the general
immunization requirement for adopted children if, one, a child is 10
years of age or younger and, two, the adoptive parents certify that the
child will receive the necessary vaccinations within 30 days of entry
into the U.S.
This exemption, enacted in 1997, is designed to ensure that parents
don't have to subject their children to sometimes unsafe immunizations
in foreign nations. Rather, they can more safely immunize their
children in the United States.
However, when the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions was
later adopted, this exception was not extended to the children from
signatory countries. Ms. Lofgren's bill simply extends the exemption to
cover children from these countries.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance
of my time.
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members and staff are reminded not to
traffic the well while other Members are under recognition.
The question is on the motion offered by the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren) that the House suspend the rules and pass
the bill, H.R. 5532, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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