[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12507]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    THE SAFE AND TIMELY INTERSTATE PLACEMENT OF FOSTER CHILDREN ACT

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 5403, the Safe and 
Timely Interstate Placement of Foster Children Act.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 5403) to improve protections for children and 
     to hold States accountable for the safe and timely placement 
     of children across State lines, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, today I rise to speak on passage of the 
Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of Foster Children Act. This 
legislation seeks to expedite the interstate placement of foster 
children into the safe and nurturing families they so desperately need 
and deserve. In doing so, it encourages and provides incentives to 
States to help expedite the completion of home studies, which are all 
too often the cause or delays in interstate placement cases.
  Nationwide, there are currently over 500,000 children in foster care, 
and more than 2,500 in my home State of Arkansas. On trips back home 
and in meetings with my constituents, I have listened to the many 
heartbreaking tales of children who continue to suffer needlessly 
because of barriers to their timely placement. While a recent increase 
in the number of adoptions has allowed many of these children to spend 
less time in foster care homes, an unacceptably large number still 
encounter barriers that delay their timely placement. This is 
particularly the situation for children placed across State lines. In 
fact, recent reports indicate that interstate placements take an 
average of one year longer than placements within a State.
  The situation is unacceptable, and I am grateful that we are 
addressing this issue by taking a step forward. Although we are taking 
that step here today, we must also recognize that we are improving a 
process, not fixing it. In cooperation with our State child welfare 
agencies and State court systems, we need to continue working to finish 
the task before us by carefully evaluating improvements that result 
from passage of this legislation and looking at other ways Federal and 
State agencies can work together in the future to make interstate 
placements work even better.
  We must work together to provide both better guidelines for the 
process of gaining approval for sending children across State lines 
while allowing States the much-needed flexibility to cater them to 
their specific circumstances. We must work together to find a way to 
set deadlines that expedite the processing of home studies yet does not 
set unrealistic timelines on our States. We must work together to find 
better ways to ensure more efficiency in the process while also taking 
each State's circumstances under consideration.
  In short, we must continue working together to ensure that no more of 
our children are unnecessarily stuck in foster homes because of 
bureaucratic inefficiencies, unnecessary delays, and red tape. We can 
do better by these children. The opportunity to grow up in a nurturing, 
loving, and stable family is something that none of us should take for 
granted. It is our duty in this Congress to ensure that these children 
are not denied this opportunity, but given timely placement with the 
home and the family that each and every one of them deserve.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 5403) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this bill, H.R. 5403, the adoption bill, is 
a bill that is aimed at improving protection for children. It holds 
States accountable for the safe and timely placement of children across 
State lines.
  I am gratified we have passed this bill today to help our children 
who are in foster care. Finding permanent and loving homes for foster 
care children is the first order of a compassionate society. Far too 
often, these children bounce from one temporary situation to another 
and then to another, never finding a permanent loving family.
  The bill we passed just a few moments ago speeds their placement by 
making interstate placements easier, particularly with extended family. 
I, in particular, commend the former majority leader of the House, Tom 
DeLay, for his passionate crusade for at-risk children. A foster parent 
himself, Tom has worked tirelessly on adoption and foster care issues 
during his long service in the House of Representatives.
  It is a fitting tribute to Tom DeLay's service that the House passed 
this bill on his last day in office. And I am gratified we just passed 
it a few moments ago.

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