[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 51 (Monday, December 23, 1996)]
[Pages 2512-2513]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

December 14, 1996

    Good morning. Today we're taking important new steps to make 
adoption easier and to move children out of foster care faster. These 
efforts will help to give even more children what every child needs and 
deserves, loving parents and a strong and stable home.
    I'm delighted to be joined in the Oval Office today by a remarkable 
group of children and parents who know firsthand the tremendous 
possibilities of adoption and by the First Lady who has worked so long 
and hard on this issue and whose efforts have made today possible.
    I'm especially pleased to be able to take this action now, in this 
season of hope and light. The holidays we celebrate this month teach us 
that through faith and love we can truly repair the world. I can think 
of no better way to fulfill the promise of this season than to bring a 
child into a family and a family to a child.
    There are more than 450,000 children in the Nation's foster care 
system. They are placed there because of abuse, neglect, or a home life 
that is neither safe nor secure. While most of these children eventually 
return to their original homes, nearly 100,000 of them simply don't have 
that option. Those children wait far too long, typically 3 years or 
more, to find permanent homes and families to love them.
    Promoting adoption has been at the heart of our administration's 
efforts to protect our children and strengthen our families. Earlier 
this year I was proud to sign a $5,000 tax credit to help families adopt 
children. We put an end to racial preferences for adoption. No longer 
can laws keep children of one race from nurturing arms of adoptive 
parents of another. This is a good start, but we must do more.
    That is why I have just signed a Presidential directive with a clear 
goal: We will double the number of children we move from foster care to 
permanent homes, from 27,000 a year today, to 54,000 a year by the year 
2002. With this effort we're saying no child should be trapped in the 
limbo of foster care, no child should be uncertain about what the word 
``family'' or ``parents'' or ``home'' mean, particularly when there are 
open arms waiting to welcome these children into safe and strong 
households where they can build good, caring lives.
    As part of this initiative, I'm directing the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services, Donna Shalala, who is also with us today, to launch 
an extensive effort to determine what steps we must take to meet our 
goal. I want the Secretary to report back to me with her recommendations 
in 60 days. This report must tell us how we can help States set and meet 
urgent new adoption targets. It must describe how we can improve 
coordination among local, State, and Federal authorities so that every 
community has access to the best ways to encourage adoption. And it must 
outline what sensible financial incentives we can provide States to 
raise adoption rates.
    I also want the Secretary to determine what additional changes we 
can make in Federal laws and regulations to ensure that children won't 
get trapped in foster care. And I want to know if there are any new 
provisions we can put in place to move children through the system 
faster and to protect them when they leave.
    There are other steps we are taking immediately. I'm instructing the 
Departments of Treasury, Labor, Commerce, and Health and Human Services 
to launch an all-out effort to heighten public awareness about adoption 
and to recognize those in the private sector who are committing 
themselves to this important cause.
    Let me also say how grateful I am to those in Congress of both 
parties who are working so hard to make adoption a reality for America's 
most vulnerable children. I want to thank especially Senators 
Rockefeller and DeWine and Representatives Kennelly and Camp for their 
efforts.
    The fact that we are commemorating the birth of a child that began 
life in a manger and became the Prince of Peace should remind us that 
the promise of God has been placed in every child. We must work 
tirelessly to make sure that every boy and girl of America who is up for 
adoption has a family waiting out to reach him or her. No child should 
be in foster care for one day longer than he or she needs to be.

[[Page 2513]]

    This is a season of miracles, and perhaps there is no greater 
miracle than finding a loving home for a child who needs one.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the 
White House. Following the address, the President and First Lady talked 
with children in foster care.