[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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