[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
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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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