[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[Senate]
[Page 31877]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY

  Mr. CARDIN. This Saturday, November 17, is the eighth annual National 
Adoption Day. On this day, courts across the country will open their 
doors to finalize the adoption of thousands of children from foster 
care.
  This month, four Maryland cities will celebrate with events: 
Baltimore, Urbana, Rockville, and our capital city of Annapolis. In 
Baltimore on Saturday, November 17, the Circuit Court for Baltimore 
City will finalize the adoptions of more than 40 children. The court 
will host an event with face painting, arts and crafts, a dessert 
reception, and a commemorative photography session. Local businesses 
have donated toys and gift certificates for the children. Also, on 
Saturday, November 17, the Montgomery County Department of Health and 
Human Services, Child Welfare Services, will host an appreciation 
luncheon in Rockville. In Urbana on Sunday, November 18, an 
organization called Adoptive Families and Friends will host a 
celebration at the Urbana Public Library. They will have balloons, 
refreshments, entertainment, and representatives of adoption agencies, 
cultural groups, and support groups. Finally, in Annapolis on Thursday, 
November 29, the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County will finalize 
between 10 to 15 adoptions and then host a reception for the new 
families and guests.
  Mr. President, celebrations similar to these four in Maryland will 
occur all across our Nation in the days to come. The new families will 
serve as the inspiration for countless more adoptions in the years to 
come. By facilitating these adoptions, the lawyers, foster care 
workers, child advocates, judges, and others are building strong 
families and stronger communities.
  This is my first year in the Senate, but for several years in the 
House of Representatives, I had the privilege of serving as ranking 
member on the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, which 
handled issues related to families, foster care, and adoptions. Its new 
name is the Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee. In 1997, 
the committee worked in a bipartisan manner to pass the Adoption and 
Safe Families Act. That law created the Adoption Incentives Program, 
which provides incentive payments to States to promote adoptions out of 
foster care, with additional incentives provided for the adoption of 
foster children with special needs. Since that time, we have seen a 
substantial increase in the number of those adoptions--more than 60 
percent.
  Then in 2003, Representative Dave Camp and I authored, and Congress 
passed, the Adoption Promotion Act. It was introduced in the Senate by 
Senators Grassley and Landrieu, and became law on December 2, 2003. 
That bill reauthorized the program providing States with incentives for 
increasing overall adoptions, and it created bonuses for placing older 
children in permanent homes. It also authorizes the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services to penalize States that fail to provide the Federal 
Government adequate data on adoptions and foster care services.
  That law will expire next year, and to ensure that these vital 
programs can continue, Congress will need to reauthorize it. We still 
need more families willing to bring children into their homes. More 
than 114,000 American children are still awaiting adoption, and half of 
them are over 9 years old. These are the children who have the least 
chance of being adopted and the greatest chance of spending the rest of 
their childhood in foster care, so we must do more to help find 
adoptive families for them. I will be listening closely to the people 
of Maryland to learn how we can improve upon current laws.
  Despite all the work we have done to promote adoptions, more than 
25,000 age out of foster care every year. That means that they reach 
adulthood without ever having received permanent placement with a 
family. In September, a few of my colleagues and I participated in a 
wonderful event sponsored by the Orphan Foundation of America. We went 
to the Mansfield Room and helped put together care packages that are 
sent to college students across the country. It is something that many 
of us who have put children through college don't automatically think 
about. We have sent our college-age kids care packages with clothing, 
food, and other items. But what about the students without parents? 
This organization, with funding from Federal Express and many other 
companies, assembles and ships more than 3,700 packages to college 
campuses every year. I had the honor of meeting six talented students 
from Maryland--four from Morgan State University, one from the 
University of Maryland College Park, and one from the College of 
Southern Maryland. They have all the brains, promise, and enthusiasm of 
their fellow students, but they aged out of foster care, so they need 
our support to make the transition into adulthood a smoother one.
  Mr. President, I believe every child deserves a loving family and a 
safe place to call home. We in Congress have the power to make that a 
reality for many of the more than 100,000 foster children now waiting 
for a family. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the 
children who will be adopted this week and in working on policies that 
will help children who remain in foster care to get the opportunities 
they deserve.

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