[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 31836-31837]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 15, 2007

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today on the eve of National 
Adoption Day to recognize those American families that open their 
hearts and homes to our most vulnerable children and teenagers.
  There are currently 114,000 children in foster care who need adoptive 
homes. Many of these children were victims of abuse, neglect, or 
abandonment, and most will wait at least five years and will move at 
least three times before they are adopted. One in five will never

[[Page 31837]]

be adopted. In the face of these disheartening statistics, we must 
celebrate those parents who choose to adopt and provide a loving home 
to these children and encourage the adoption of more children from 
foster care.
  In November 2000, hundreds of lawyers, child advocates, State foster 
care agencies, and courts, worked together to finalize hundreds of 
foster care adoptions across the country as part of National Adoption 
Day. Since then, National Adoption Day has grown as thousands of new 
families have come together.
  I am proud that Montgomery County, Maryland, which is in my 
Congressional District, has finalized 7 adoptions this month and 30 so 
far this year. In one family, 2 sisters, Jerry and Beverly Wright, have 
adopted 5 children, and, with their biological children, now have 10 
children safe and well-cared-for in their home. I congratulate them, 
and all the happy and thriving families that include adopted children.

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