[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25433]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM COOPER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Saturday, November 20, 2004

  Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, on this Saturday, National Adoption Day, 
courts across the country will be finalizing the adoptions of 
approximately 3,000 former foster care children, including several 
dozen children in my home state of Tennessee. I rise today in 
celebration of National Adoption Day and in honor of these newly-
adopted children and their families.
  This year marks the fifth National Adoption Day, which was founded in 
part by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. I am proud 
to be a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, and I have 
made it one of my priorities in Congress to ensure that all children in 
foster care are placed in loving, permanent homes.
  Many children in foster care face long odds for adoption. In 2001, 
only about 50,000 children were adopted out of foster care, while as 
many as 129,000 children were left waiting. While the number of 
children being adopted out of foster care has been increasing, it is 
obvious that we have a long way to go.
  I believe that our churches and communities must come together with 
government to help end this crisis, and that is why I've introduced 
H.R. 4431, the One Church, One Child Act of 2004.
  This bill is based on a highly successful adoption ministry begun by 
a Catholic priest in Chicago, Fr. George Clements, more than two 
decades ago. The concept of One Church, One Child is simple: it is a 
challenge to every faith community and congregation to adopt or foster 
one child. If every church, synagogue and mosque in America took up 
this challenge, the nation's foster care problem would be virtually 
erased overnight. My bill would provide grant funding for community and 
faith based organizations to recruit and train new foster and adoptive 
parents and to involve faith communities in building better lives for 
abused and neglected children in need of loving homes.
  On this National Adoption Day, I am proud to honor the thousands of 
families across the nation who have opened their homes and their hearts 
to a foster child. And I look forward to the day when every child in 
foster care can count on finding a loving and permanent home.

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