[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 148 (Monday, November 15, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H7406-H7408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION SIMPLIFICATION ACT

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 1376) to restore immunization and sibling age exemptions for 
children adopted by United States citizens under the Hague Convention 
on Intercountry Adoption to allow their admission to the United States.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 1376

       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 ``International Adoption 
     Simplification Act''.

     SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FROM VACCINATION DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENT.

       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. 3. SIBLING ADOPTIONS.

       Section 101(b)(1)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
     (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)(G)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(G)(i) a child, younger than 16 years of age at the time 
     a petition is filed on the child's behalf to accord a 
     classification as an immediate relative under section 201(b), 
     who has been adopted in a foreign state that is a party to 
     the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in 
     Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done at The Hague on May 
     29, 1993, or who is emigrating from such a foreign state to 
     be adopted in the United States by a United States citizen 
     and spouse jointly or by an unmarried United States citizen 
     who is at least 25 years of age, Provided, That--
       ``(I) the Secretary of Homeland Security is satisfied that 
     proper care will be furnished the child if admitted to the 
     United States;
       ``(II) the child's natural parents (or parent, in the case 
     of a child who has one sole or surviving parent because of 
     the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, 
     the other parent), or other persons or institutions that 
     retain legal custody of the child, have freely given their 
     written irrevocable consent to the termination of their legal 
     relationship with the child, and to the child's emigration 
     and adoption;
       ``(III) in the case of a child having two living natural 
     parents, the natural parents are incapable of providing 
     proper care for the child;
       ``(IV) the Secretary of Homeland Security is satisfied that 
     the purpose of the adoption is to form a bona fide parent-
     child relationship, and the parent-child relationship of the

[[Page H7407]]

     child and the natural parents has been terminated (and in 
     carrying out both obligations under this subclause the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security may consider whether there is 
     a petition pending to confer immigrant status on one or both 
     of such natural parents); and
       ``(V) in the case of a child who has not been adopted--

       ``(aa) the competent authority of the foreign state has 
     approved the child's emigration to the United States for the 
     purpose of adoption by the prospective adoptive parent or 
     parents; and
       ``(bb) the prospective adoptive parent or parents has or 
     have complied with any pre-adoption requirements of the 
     child's proposed residence; and

       ``(ii) except that no natural parent or prior adoptive 
     parent of any such child shall thereafter, by virtue of such 
     parentage, be accorded any right, privilege, or status under 
     this chapter; or
       ``(iii) subject to the same provisos as in clauses (i) and 
     (ii), a child who--
       ``(I) is a natural sibling of a child described in clause 
     (i), subparagraph (E)(i), or subparagraph (F)(i);
       ``(II) was adopted abroad, or is coming to the United 
     States for adoption, by the adoptive parent (or prospective 
     adoptive parent) or parents of the sibling described in 
     clause (i), subparagraph (E)(i), or subparagraph (F)(i); and
       ``(III) is otherwise described in clause (i), except that 
     the child is younger than 18 years of age at the time a 
     petition is filed on his or her behalf for classification as 
     an immediate relative under section 201(b).''.

     SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
     amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of 
     the enactment of this Act.
       (b) Exception.--An alien who is described in section 
     101(b)(1)(G)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 
     added by section 3, and attained 18 years of age on or after 
     April 1, 2008, shall be deemed to meet the age requirement 
     specified in subclause (III) of such section if a petition 
     for classification of the alien as an immediate relative 
     under section 201(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
     (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)) is filed not later than 2 years after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and add 
extraneous material.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CONYERS. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this measure, the International Adoption Simplification 
Act, corrects two problems and inconsistencies with respect to 
adoptions of foreign children by United States citizen parents.
  The bill would harmonize age requirements for children subject to 
inter-country adoptions, irrespective of whether the child's home 
country is a signatory to the Hague Convention on Intercountry 
Adoptions.
  Currently, the law contains two age requirements related to the 
adoption of foreign children. The general rule is that an adoption must 
be finalized before the child turns 16 in order for the child to 
qualify for legal status in the United States. The law also provides an 
exception to this age requirement for the siblings of such an adopted 
child. This exception, meant to keep siblings together where possible, 
provides that the sibling of an adopted child may also get legal status 
in the United States as long as the sibling's adoption takes place 
before his or her 18th birthday.
  Now, strangely enough, this exception is available only if the 
sibling comes from a country that has not signed the Hague Convention. 
The exception is not available to siblings from signatory countries. 
Please do not ask me why this exists in the law. But Senate 1376 
remedies this problem by expanding the sibling age exception to 
signatory countries. This will harmonize the law and allow adopted 
siblings to remain together, irrespective of whether the sending 
country is a signatory to the Hague Convention.
  S. 1376 also harmonizes immunization requirements with respect to 
international adoptions. Currently the law requires adopted children to 
have certain vaccinations prior to arrival, but there is an exemption 
for children under 10 years of age if the adoptive parents certify that 
necessary vaccinations will be obtained within 30 days of entry. This 
exemption was enacted in 1997 by Congress to prevent parents from 
having to subject their children to numerous and sometimes unsafe 
immunizations in foreign nations, allowing them to safely immunize 
their children in the United States instead.

                              {time}  1450

  As with the age cut-off requirement, this exemption applies only to 
children adopted from countries that are not signatories to The Hague 
Convention. It doesn't apply to children from signatory countries. And 
so, once again, the Senate bill fixes what could be called a 
nonsensical discrepancy by expanding the exemption to apply to all 
children, regardless of whether their own country is a signatory to The 
Hague Convention or not.
  I want to thank Lamar Smith, our ranking member on Judiciary, and our 
subcommittee chair, Zoe Lofgren of California, for their bipartisan 
support of this measure.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill which makes corrections to the 
implementation legislation for The Hague Convention on Intercountry 
Adoptions. Under current law, U.S. citizens can generally adopt foreign 
children and have those children considered immediate relatives for 
immigration purposes if the children are adopted while under the age of 
16. However, adoptions are also allowed up to the age of 18 in 
instances in which the U.S. citizens are seeking to adopt an alien 
child after having already adopted a sibling of the child.
  Unfortunately, the implementing legislation to The Hague Convention 
on Intercountry Adoptions did not include the latter provision. 
Therefore, the Immigration and Nationality Act's provision allowing 
adoptions of siblings under the age of 18 does not apply to children 
adopted from countries that are signatories to The Hague Convention. 
This bill simply extends the provision to these sibling adoptions. The 
bill also contains one other provision to The Hague Convention. Under 
current law, prospective immigrants have to be vaccinated against 
certain diseases before they can come to the United States. There is an 
exemption for adopted children if the children are 10 years of age or 
younger and the adoptive parents certify the children will receive the 
necessary vaccinations within 30 days of coming to the United States. 
This exemption was enacted in 1997 to ensure that parents don't have to 
subject children to often unsafe immunizations in foreign countries. 
However, the exemption does not apply to children adopted from 
countries that are signatories to The Hague Convention. The bill simply 
expands the exemption to cover children adopted from The Hague 
countries as well.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of S. 1376, ``International Adoption Simplification Act.'' The aim of 
this bill is to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to simplify 
the process of international adoptions, especially in situations where 
time is of the essence to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of 
the child.
  First, I would like to thank my colleague Senator Amy Klobuchar and 
her fellow Senate co-sponsors for introducing this important 
legislation that openly embraces children. There are ample reasons 
American citizens opt to adopt children from abroad and now we have 
legislation that will help expedite the process and decrease the 
burdensome bureaucracy.
  The International Adoption Simplification Act will allow children in 
need of immediate adoption to become exempt from required admissions 
vaccination documentation. Children who have been adopted in a foreign 
country that is a signatory to the Hague Convention, or who are 
emigrating from such a country for U.S. adoption will be subjected to 
simplified adoption procedures.
  This bill comes at a point in history where simplification of 
international adoption is necessary to save lives. Haiti is 
experiencing record outbreaks of cholera and other infectious diseases 
resulting from the earthquake, incidents of genocide are taking place 
in Darfur, and terrorist activity is at its peak. The ability to remove 
innocent children from harms way, into the safe homes of loving parents 
allows America to further its notion that children are indeed the 
future.

[[Page H7408]]

  From this bill we can expect to see a surge in American adoptions 
globally, and a decrease in global child homelessness and poverty. By 
implementing this bill we are able to create jobs for government 
workers processing individual cases, child care providers, school 
teachers and many others who provide direct services aimed at youth.
  I stand today with Senator Amy Klobuchar and other members of 
Congress re-affirming my support of S. 1376. By enacting this 
legislation, we are able to boost the morale of frustrated parents who 
may have spent years in the adoptive process and provide children with 
stable homes, all the while, creating jobs in communities at a time 
when they are needed the most.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in support of S. 1376.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, S. 1376.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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