[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 94 (Thursday, June 27, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S5506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 190--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT FOREIGN 
 ASSISTANCE FOR CHILD WELFARE SHOULD ADHERE TO THE GOALS OF THE UNITED 
         STATES GOVERNMENT ACTION PLAN ON CHILDREN IN ADVERSITY

  Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Ms. Landrieu) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.:

                              S. Res. 190

       Whereas, as of 2013, there are at least 153,000,000 
     children in the world who have lost at least 1 parent, and of 
     those children, approximately 17,800,000 have lost both 
     parents;
       Whereas more than 400,000,000 children in developing 
     countries are living in extreme poverty;
       Whereas more than 115,000,000 children are engaged in 
     hazardous work and more than 5,500,000 children are in 
     situations of forced labor;
       Whereas 36 percent of girls and 29 percent of boys around 
     the world have been sexually abused;
       Whereas at least 2,000,000, and probably many more, 
     children are raised in institutional care;
       Whereas millions of children throughout the world live 
     under conditions of serious deprivation or danger, and 
     children who experience violence or are exploited, abandoned, 
     abused, or severely neglected also face significant threats 
     to their survival and well-being, as well as profound risks 
     that have an impact on their human, social, and economic 
     development;
       Whereas children in the most dire circumstances, including 
     children without protective family care, or who are living in 
     abusive households, on the streets, or in institutions, 
     trafficked, participating in armed groups, or exploited for 
     their labor, face a multitude of risks posed by extreme 
     poverty, disease, disability, conflict, and disaster;
       Whereas family reunification, kinship care, and domestic 
     and intercountry adoption promote permanency and stability to 
     a far greater degree than long-term institutionalization;
       Whereas permanent family care, transitioning children from 
     institutions into protective family care, and preventing 
     violence within households and in schools are associated with 
     reduced infant and child mortality, decreased grade 
     repetition, decreased future criminal activity, decreased 
     drug use and abuse, fewer teen pregnancies, and higher 
     economic earning potential;
       Whereas past efforts by the United States to assist 
     vulnerable children in low- and middle-income countries have 
     not always been coordinated among the Federal agencies 
     responsible for foreign assistance, and that lack of 
     coordination has sometimes resulted in a fragmented response;
       Whereas, with the increasing number of children in need, 
     limitations on Federal funding, and multiple Federal agencies 
     involved in efforts to assist children in need, it is more 
     important than ever to improve the coordination and coherence 
     of those efforts in order to maximize the effect on children;
       Whereas the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable 
     Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-
     95; 119 Stat. 2111), which passed the House of 
     Representatives by a vote of 415 to 9 and passed the Senate 
     by unanimous consent, called for a comprehensive, 
     coordinated, and effective response on the part of the 
     Government of the United States to assist the most vulnerable 
     children in the world;
       Whereas the Special Advisor for Assistance for Orphans and 
     Vulnerable Children appointed under section 135(e) of the 
     Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152f(e), in 
     coordination with 7 Federal agencies, released the United 
     States Government Action Plan on Children in Adversity as the 
     first-ever whole-of-government strategic guidance for foreign 
     assistance for children provided by the United States; and
       Whereas the United States Government Action Plan on 
     Children in Adversity seeks to ensure that all activities of 
     the Government of the United States are coordinated among 
     appropriate Federal agencies and integrated into relevant 
     foreign policy initiatives of the United States, with the 
     goal of promoting permanent family care and integrating 
     evidence-based practices that are in the best interest of 
     children: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) a comprehensive action plan for addressing the needs of 
     children living in adversity should be sanctioned by the 
     highest level of the Government of the United States;
       (2) Federal funding that currently goes toward projects and 
     research benefitting children in low- and middle-income 
     countries should be coordinated among the Federal agencies 
     that receive it with the goals of--
       (A) promoting permanent family care for the most vulnerable 
     children in the world;
       (B) reducing the number of children who experience 
     violence, exploitation, or abuse; and
       (C) eliminating unnecessary duplication and contradictory 
     approaches within the Government of the United States; and
       (3) the United States Government Action Plan on Children in 
     Adversity has the potential to realize those goals and create 
     a more effective and efficient response by the Government of 
     the United States to assisting the most vulnerable children 
     in the world.

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