[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 7 (Monday, February 17, 1997)]
[Pages 189-191]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Receiving the ``Adoption 2002'' Report and an Exchange with 
Reporters

February 14, 1997

    The President. Thank you very much, Olivia. Ladies and gentlemen and 
boys and girls, thank you all for being here. I also want to say a 
special word of thanks to some Members of Congress who are not here 
today but who have done an enormous amount of work on this issue, 
including Senators Rockefeller, Chafee, and DeWine, and Congresswoman 
Kennelly and Congressman Camp.
    Let me begin by also saying Happy Valentine's Day. All the kids look 
wonderful. The rest of us look all right, too--[laughter]--but the kids 
look especially wonderful.
    I want to thank you, Olivia, for the work you've done. And I want to 
thank the First Lady for the work she has done on this issue over more 
than 20 years now. I'll never forget the first conversation we had, 
shortly after we were married, about a case that she had involving a 
child in foster care who wanted to become an adopted child. I didn't 
know very much about it before then, and ever since then this issue has 
been of consuming

[[Page 190]]

interest to me because of what I learned through her. And I thank her 
for that.
    We know that our children's fundamental well-being depends upon 
safety and stability, that without these, children have a very hard time 
in this complicated, challenging world of ours. We know that far too 
many of our own children are indeed now in danger in the homes in which 
they live. The public child welfare system was created to provide a 
temporary haven for those children but not to let them languish forever 
in foster care.
    As you heard Olivia say, we have nearly half a million of our 
children in foster care today. Nearly 100,000 will never return to their 
original homes. Many of those children still will never know what it's 
like to live in a real home until they grow up and start their own 
families. But it does not have to be that way. We can find adoptive and 
other permanent families for waiting children like these fine children 
who have joined us today and the children whose valentines you see 
hanging behind me and here in front.
    In December I asked the Department of Health and Human Services to 
come up with an aggressive legislative and administrative strategy to 
double the number of children we move from foster care to permanent 
homes annually by the year 2002 and to move them there much more 
quickly. I'm proud to say that the Department went to work to produce 
this blueprint for achieving our goal.
    Now we have to move quickly to put this plan into action, so that no 
child is deprived of a safe and permanent home for even one day longer 
than necessary. Every agency of every State, every family court, every 
case worker in the country must understand that children's health and 
safety are the paramount concerns of the child welfare system, 
especially when determining whether to remove a child from his or her 
home or return them there. We'll work with Congress to make sure the law 
explicitly reflects this priority. We'll issue guidelines to the States 
so there will be no question as to the law's meaning.
    Second, to meet the goal of moving 54,000 children into permanent 
homes in 2002, we'll work with States and set yearly targets. We'll give 
them, as my balanced budget does, $10 million a year for the next 3 
years to give them the assistance they need to State agencies, courts, 
and communities to devise such a system. We'll also have $10 million to 
establish competitive grants for States to develop model strategies for 
moving children from foster care to permanent families.
    Third, we'll propose legislation that gives States bonuses, as 
Olivia said, for every child that is adopted over the prior year's 
total, with even larger bonuses when the child has special needs. The 
balanced budget will start paying for these bonuses, but we know they'll 
pay for themselves, since foster care costs far more than adoption. This 
isn't just cost effective--of course, it's the right thing to do.
    Fourth, to achieve our goal of moving children more quickly, we'll 
work with Congress to shorten from 18 to 12 months the time a child 
waits for the first hearing. And we're going to call it a permanency 
planning hearing, so that there's no mistake as to its purpose.
    Fifth, to give credit for model strategies that are working, we'll 
give national awards for excellence every year in November, National 
Adoption Month.
    Finally, we'll redouble our efforts to make sure no child of one 
race is deprived of a loving home when a family of another race is 
prepared to give it. That is illegal and wrong and often hurts our very 
neediest children. The Department of Health and Human Services will 
continue to ensure that States are meeting their obligations under this 
law.
    Putting this plan into action today will mean that we are ensuring 
that no child will languish in foster care when loving families are out 
there ready, willing, and able to open their hearts and their homes. 
This is just one part of our strategy to guarantee the well-being of our 
most vulnerable children. By giving States the flexibility to develop 
their own strategies, we're moving closer to achieving that goal.
    I'm proud to announce that we have approved Ohio's request for a 
waiver in dealing with their child welfare system. This is the fifth of 
its kind, and there will be more to come. It gives Ohio the authority to 
design and to test a managed care approach to improve child welfare 
services and move children out of foster care more quickly.

[[Page 191]]

    By working together across party lines at every level of government, 
in businesses, religious groups, communities, and in our homes, we can 
make sure that every child in America grows up in a safe and nurturing 
home. That is a goal every American should be proud to support. That is 
a gift of love we can make to all of our children. and if you look at 
the children here today, it's hard to think of anything more important 
we could be doing to say, Happy Valentine's Day.
    Thank you.

[At this point, the President and the First Lady greeted the children, 
and then the President took questions from reporters.]

American Airlines Labor Dispute

    Q. Mr. President, both sides of the American Airlines dispute seem 
to keep putting the ball into your court. How do you feel about being 
put into that position? Both sides of the dispute seem to keep putting 
the ball into your court.
    The President. They need to go back to work. They've got a few more 
hours of work to do.
    Q. Let me put it this way: What's the upside and the downside of 
your acting one way or the other?
    The President. I'm going to have a meeting on this later this 
afternoon to get an update, and then I think I should make myself 
available for questions after I see where we are in a couple hours.

Note: The President spoke at 12:51 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House.