[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7391-7392]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House

[[Page 7392]]

for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate National Foster Care 
Month, first recognized by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, I would 
like to thank the dedicated foster families, social workers, and 
service providers for their commitment to help children.
  May is also a time to shed light on the plight of nearly 400,000 
children and youth who are currently in our country's foster care 
system, and we call for safe and nurturing environments for these 
vulnerable members of our society.
  In an effort to give qualified adoptive and foster parents an 
opportunity to make a lasting difference in the lives of these 
children, I will be introducing bipartisan, bicameral legislation that 
would help ensure that more children have the opportunity to be raised 
in a loving and supportive home that they can call their own.
  The Every Child Deserves a Family Act would ensure that prejudices 
plays no part in adoption and foster care placements. A parent's 
ability to care for a child should not be determined by any parent's 
sexual orientation or gender identity, but by their love.

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