[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15761]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       ADOPTIVE FAMILY RELIEF ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, before I speak on the legislation the 
Senate will consider this afternoon, I want to say a few words about S. 
1300, the Adoptive Family Relief Act. I spoke on this bill in July 
after it passed the Senate with unanimous consent. Now I would like to 
praise the House of Representatives for passing this important piece of 
legislation just yesterday.
  The issue this bill addresses is of particular importance to me, and 
I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the legislation. More than 
400 American families, approximately 20 of them from Kentucky, have 
successfully adopted children from the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo, or the DRC. However, due to the DRC Government's years-long 
suspension of exit permits, many of these families have been unable to 
bring their adoptive children home to the United States.
  To make matters worse, families have been financially burdened by the 
cost of continually renewing their children's visas while they wait for 
the day the DRC decides to lift its suspension. In an attempt to help 
these families, the Adoptive Family Relief Act would provide meaningful 
financial relief by granting the State Department authority to waive 
the fees for multiple visa renewals in these and other extraordinary 
adoption circumstances.
  This bill builds on Congress' bipartisan efforts on the adoption 
issue, including my amendment to this year's budget resolution to 
encourage a solution to the situation as well as numerous bipartisan 
congressional letters sent to Congolese officials.
  Later today I will have the opportunity to meet with the Brock family 
from Owensboro. I was grateful to assist in the return of their 
medically fragile child from the DRC last Christmas. However, their 
other adopted son still remains in the country.
  For this Kentucky family, and for many others still waiting, I again 
strongly urge the Government of the DRC to resolve the matter 
expeditiously and in a way that provides for the swift unification of 
families. Until then, I want to praise the bipartisan action that led 
to the passage of the Adoptive Family Relief Act. I hope families see 
this as a message that Congress is supporting them.
  This bill will now go to the President for his signature. It is my 
hope it will bring needed assistance to so many loving families, like 
the Brocks, who want nothing more than to open their homes to a child 
in need.
  Allow me to also thank the sponsors of this bill, Senators Feinstein 
and Johnson and Representative Trent Franks, for all their hard work. 
That thanks extends as well to the 78 other cosponsors in both Chambers 
and both parties, along with the Senate and House judiciary committees 
for their hard work and truly bipartisan commitment to solving this 
heartbreaking issue.

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