[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11519-11520]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       ADOPTIVE FAMILY RELIEF ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 145, S. 1300.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1300) to amend the section 221 of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act to provide relief for 
     adoptive families from immigrant visa fees in certain 
     situations.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill 
be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 1300) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                S. 1300

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Adoptive Family Relief 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. WAIVER OF FEES FOR RENEWAL OF IMMIGRANT VISA FOR 
                   ADOPTED CHILD IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS.

       Section 221(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
     U.S.C. 1201(c)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(c) Period of Validity; Renewal or Replacement.--
       ``(1) Immigrant visas.--An immigrant visa shall be valid 
     for such period, not exceeding six months, as shall be by 
     regulations prescribed, except that any visa issued to a 
     child lawfully adopted by a United States citizen and spouse 
     while such citizen is serving abroad in the United States 
     Armed Forces, or is employed abroad by the United States 
     Government, or is temporarily abroad on business, shall be 
     valid until such time, for a period not to exceed three 
     years, as the adoptive citizen parent returns to the United 
     States in due course of his service, employment, or business.
       ``(2) Nonimmigrant visas.--A nonimmigrant visa shall be 
     valid for such periods as shall be by regulations prescribed. 
     In prescribing the period of validity of a nonimmigrant visa 
     in the case of nationals of any foreign country who are 
     eligible for such visas, the Secretary of State shall, 
     insofar as practicable, accord to such nationals the same 
     treatment upon a reciprocal basis as such foreign country 
     accords to nationals of the United States who are within a 
     similar class; except that in the case of aliens who are 
     nationals of a foreign country and who either are granted 
     refugee status and firmly resettled in another foreign 
     country or are granted permanent residence and residing in 
     another foreign country, the Secretary of State may prescribe 
     the period of validity of such a visa based upon the 
     treatment granted by that other foreign country to alien 
     refugees and permanent residents, respectively, in the United 
     States.
       ``(3) Visa replacement.--An immigrant visa may be replaced 
     under the original number during the fiscal year in which the 
     original visa was issued for an immigrant who establishes to 
     the satisfaction of the consular officer that the immigrant--
       ``(A) was unable to use the original immigrant visa during 
     the period of its validity because of reasons beyond his 
     control and for which he was not responsible;
       ``(B) is found by a consular officer to be eligible for an 
     immigrant visa; and
       ``(C) pays again the statutory fees for an application and 
     an immigrant visa.
       ``(4) Fee waiver.--If an immigrant visa was issued, on or 
     after March 27, 2013, for a child who has been lawfully 
     adopted, or who is coming to the United States to be adopted, 
     by a United States citizen, any statutory immigrant visa fees 
     relating to a renewal or replacement of such visa may be 
     waived or, if already paid, may be refunded upon request, 
     subject to such criteria as the Secretary of State may 
     prescribe, if--
       ``(A) the immigrant child was unable to use the original 
     immigrant visa during the period of its validity as a direct 
     result of extraordinary circumstances, including the denial 
     of an exit permit; and
       ``(B) if such inability was attributable to factors beyond 
     the control of the adopting parent or parents and of the 
     immigrant.''.

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I just want to briefly say a few words 
about today's Senate passage of S. 1300, the Adoptive Family Relief 
Act. The issue this bill addresses is of particular importance to me, 
and I am proud to be a 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 
suspension of exit permits--which has been in place for close to 2 
years now--many of these families have been unable to bring

[[Page 11520]]

their adoptive children home to the United States.
  For example, although I was pleased to be able to help the Brock 
family from Owensboro, KY, with the return of one of their adopted sons 
last Christmas, their other son still remains in the DRC. To make 
matters worse, many of these 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 the suspension.
  In an attempt to help these families, the Adoptive Family Relief Act 
will provide meaningful financial relief by granting the State 
Department the authority to waive the fees for multiple visa renewals 
in this and other extraordinary adoption circumstances.
  The bill builds on Congress's bipartisan efforts on this adoption 
issue, including a provision in this year's congressional budget 
resolution to encourage a solution to the stalemate in the DRC.
  I strongly urge the DRC Government to resolve this matter. I truly 
hope there is a solution to it soon, but until then I urge the House 
and President Obama to help us enact the Adoptive Family Relief Act. 
The passage of this bill through the Senate today will help bring 
needed assistance to so many loving families across our country who 
want nothing more than to open their homes to a child in need.
  I wish to thank the bill's sponsors, Senators Feinstein and Johnson, 
the 17 other bipartisan cosponsors, and the Judiciary Committee for 
their hard work and truly bipartisan commitment to solving this 
heartbreaking issue.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Will the Senator withhold?
  Mr. McCONNELL. I am sorry. I withhold.

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