[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 182 (Thursday, November 14, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6581-S6582]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        National Adoption Month

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, November is National Adoption Month. 
Later this morning, I will be spending time with a family I nominated 
to receive an Angels in Adoption Award this year. The Angels in 
Adoption Program is designed to bring recognition to individuals and 
organizations who are, in the words of the program, ``making 
extraordinary contributions to adoption, permanency, and child 
welfare.''
  Angels in Adoption is a program in the Congressional Coalition on 
Adoption Institute, and each year Members of Congress are invited to 
nominate an individual or family to receive an Angels in Adoption 
Award. I have been making these nominations for more than a decade now. 
It has been a privilege and an inspiration to meet South Dakota 
families who have opened their hearts and homes to children in need.
  This year, I nominated Mike and Kim Adams, fellow residents of Sioux 
Falls, SD. Mike and Kim have a tremendous heart for children. They have 
five biological children, but as they learned more about the plight of 
children in poverty, they were drawn to adoption.
  God put the country of Ethiopia on their hearts in a particular way. 
In 2008, they adopted a daughter from Ethiopia--Eva. Within a few 
years, they had adopted three more children--Selena and Amanuel from 
Ethiopia and Shakira from Uganda--making them a family of 11. The story 
doesn't end there. Seeing the poorest of the poor in Ethiopia deeply 
moved them, and in addition to adoption, they sought ways to help 
communities stuck in poverty.
  The needs of children were particularly close to their hearts. In 
2013, Mike and Kim agreed to take over two schools in Ethiopia when the 
agency running them was forced to pull out of the country. The Adams 
family formed the Adams Thermal Foundation to support the schools. 
Today the foundation supports more than 1,000 students in two schools 
in Ethiopia. The schools' mission is to serve children most in need--
those who might otherwise miss out on the opportunity for an education. 
In addition to academic instructions, schools provide other resources 
in an effort to alleviate some of the effects of poverty and to make it 
easier for the children to stay in school.
  To name one example, at the end of last year, the foundation 
completed a project to provide a permanent source of clean water to its 
school in Ottoro, Ethiopia, as well as to seven local villages. In 
addition to providing essential health and sanitation benefits, the new 
pipeline also frees children from the hours-long task of fetching water 
for their families, meaning more children can attend school.
  In learning Mike and Kim's story, I was struck by how love multiplies 
and expands. Mike and Kim's willingness to open their hearts has led 
not only to four children finding a forever home but to hope and 
opportunity for hundreds more. I feel privileged to have learned their 
story and to be able to nominate them for an Angels in Adoption Award 
this year.
  National Adoption Month is a chance to honor all those who, like the 
Adams, chose to welcome a child in need of a home. Sadly, not every 
child is born into a safe and loving home. Some are born to parents who 
are unable to take care of them. Some lose their parents to war, 
accident, or illness, and, tragically, some are born to parents who 
refuse to take care of them or actively seek to damage the great gift 
in their care.
  Thankfully, there are parents out there eager to receive these 
children. Across our country, there are countless parents whose homes 
and hearts are already prepared to welcome a child in need. They may 
not yet know the names of their future sons or daughters, but they are 
ready and waiting to meet them.

[[Page S6582]]

  National Adoption Month is a good time to rededicate ourselves to 
caring for children in need and helping them find loving families to 
receive them.
  In the gospel of Mark, Jesus says, ``Whoever welcomes one of these 
little children in my name welcomes me.''
  There are few actions more worthy of admiration than a decision to 
welcome a child in need and to create for that child a secure and 
loving home.
  I am so grateful for all of the generous families across this country 
who have opened their hearts and found sons and daughters through 
adoption. I am also thankful for all of the birth mothers who have 
chosen adoption for their children to give them better lives in loving 
families.
  I am honored to recognize the Adams family today for their embrace of 
their own adopted children, as well as everything they have done to 
make life better for children in Ethiopia.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.