[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22312]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



           INTRODUCTION OF THE INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION OF 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DAVE CAMP

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 22, 1999

  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to join with my friend and 
colleague, the Chairman of the House International Relations Committee 
Benjamin Gilman, in introducing the Intercountry Adoption Act of 1999, 
legislation to implement the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. 
His leadership on this important issue is a testament to his concern 
for the safety and well-being of children looking forward to permanent 
and loving adoptive families.
  More and more, American couples are looking abroad as they seek to 
expand their families through adoption. The United States adopts more 
children than any other country. We're the land of opportunity, in so 
many ways, and intercountry adoption is yet another example of that 
fact. As the world's leader in adopting children of other countries, we 
have a responsibility to ensure that intercountry adoption take place 
in a way that guarantees the children's safety and fully protects the 
rights of both the adoptive parents and the birth parents.
  For that reason, the United States in 1994 signed the Hague 
Intercountry Adoption Convention, which establishes basic international 
procedures for concluding safe intercountry adoptions. We've heard too 
many stories about the small minority of unscrupulous agencies and 
individuals who have brided parents or foreign officials, deceived 
prospective adoptive parents about the costs of an adoption or actually 
who the child is that they are adopting, and even stories about the 
selling of children. Though such horror stories are a small minority, 
we need to ensure that international standards are in place so only 
competent and law-abiding agencies and individuals are involved in 
intercountry adoptions.
  The Intercountry Adoption Act, which we are introducing today, 
implements the Hague Convention. The bill's first main provision would 
establish the State Department as a ``Central Authority,'' to monitor 
intercountry adoptions and provide assistance to adoptive parents in 
dealing with officials in other countries.
  Secondly, the bill calls for the Department of Health and Human 
Services to designate one or more private, non-profit organizations to 
serve as accrediting bodies which would then accredit U.S. adoption 
service providers in accordance with strict standards of ethics, 
competence, and financial soundness. These accredited agencies could 
then facilitate intercountry adoptions in other countries under the 
Hague Treaty.
  Mr. Speaker, we can be proud of our success domestically, in 
increasing adoptions here in the U.S. and decreasing the time many of 
our children spend in foster care. Our 1997 legislation, the Adoption 
and Safe Families Act, has led to enormous increases in domestic 
adoptions. The Intercountry Adoption Act takes the next step, to ensure 
that international adoptions are safe, and that they are in the best 
interests of the child, the birth parents, and the adoptive parents. I 
look forward to working with Chairman Gilman and other Members of 
Congress interested in international adoption, and I urge my colleagues 
to join us in supporting this important legislation.

                          ____________________