[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 165 (Friday, October 18, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1308]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING TC AND MAEGAN SCHWINDLING AND ALL ADOPTIVE FAMILIES IN ALABAMA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 18, 2019

  Mr. ADERHOLT. Madam Speaker, our opening prayer yesterday morning was 
offered by Pastor Phil Waldrep from Decatur, Alabama. I want to thank 
Pastor Waldrep for his dedication to the scripture and his passion for 
families.
  Six years ago, Pastor Waldrep's extended family grew through the gift 
of adoption. In Spring of 2013, his oldest daughter, Maegan 
Schwindling, and her husband, TC, began pursuing adoption from the 
Democratic Republic of Congo. They were matched at the beginning of 
summer 2013 with a young girl in Lubumbashi, DRC.
  Things took an unfortunate turn a few months later. On September 25, 
2013, adoptions from the DRC came to a halt as President Kabila blocked 
Internationally-adopted children from leaving the country. Child 
placement agencies and adoptive families scrambled to find their way 
through this roadblock yet they were undeterred in getting these 
children home.
  I had the privilege of meeting Maegan and several other Alabama 
families during this season while they were stuck with children on the 
other side of the world. We worked closely with the Congressional 
Caucus on Adoption and the U.S. State Department to help these families 
be united here in their new homes.
  Pastor Waldrep's granddaughter Zoe finally came home to the United 
States with Maegan and TC on April 16, 2016. She became a proud 
American citizen on September 27, 2016--almost 3 years to the day after 
President Kabila suspended international adoptions in the DRC.
  On Thursday, a little over 6 years after Zoe's journey with her 
family began, Zoe was in the gallery to watch her grandfather open the 
House of Representatives in prayer. Zoe has suffered loss and tragedy 
in her life, but through the gift of adoption and the love and care of 
her parents and extended family, she has become a true example of 
beauty in broken places.
  As the House Republican co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on 
Adoption, I'm honored to recognize the Schwindlings and all of the 
adoptive families in Alabama. Next month we will celebrate National 
Adoption Month. May Zoe's story be a reminder to us all of the 
magnitude of loss and the beauty of coming home that can be found in 
adoption stories across the country.

                          ____________________