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Compromise on International Adoption Approved by Committee

On March 22, legislation (H.R. 2909) designed to implement a treaty on international adoption was approved, 28-0, by the House International Relations Committee. Before giving final approval to the bill, the committee passed, by voice vote, a substitute amendment representing a compromise between Committee Chair Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jesse Helms (R-NC), as well as lawmakers on both committees.

According to federal statistics, Americans adopted 15,774 children from abroad in 1998. Most of those children were from orphanages and institutions in Russia, China, Korea, and Central and South American countries. However, in many cases, adoptive parents are inadequately prepared for the challenges of adopting such children.

Under the treaty, agencies that arrange international adoptions would be required to provide full health records to parents, basic instruction for dealing with previously institutionalized children, and preparation of parents for potential health and emotional issues, such as fetal alcohol syndrome often found in babies from Russia and the former Soviet Union.

Hearings on the issue were held last year in both committees (see The Source, 10/8/99, p. 6; 10/22/99, p. 5). The hearings pertained to H.R. 2909 and the Senate version of the bill (S. 682). Rep. Gilman is the sponsor of H.R. 2909; Sens. Helms and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) are the sponsors of S. 682.

As originally offered, both measures would implement The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. Sixty-six nations began negotiations in 1991 and completed the treaty in 1993. Since then, it has been ratified by 35 countries and signed, but not ratified, by 12 others—including the United States.

As originally offered, both bills would:

  • place central authority for enforcing the treaty with the Department of State’s (DOS) Bureau of Consular Affairs;
  • require the DOS and the Immigration and Naturalization Service to develop a system for tracking all international adoptees entering and departing the U.S.; and
  • allow nonprofit organizations to review and accredit participating U.S. adoption agencies.

However, S. 682 would designate the DOS to monitor and accredit adoption agencies from countries other than the U.S., while the original House measure would have designated the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for the task. Sen. Helms has stated that the DOS should be in charge because that agency’s consular officers posted overseas have the necessary access and knowledge to carry out the bill’s requirements. In contrast, the Clinton administration has supported H.R. 2909, on the basis that DHHS personnel have more experience with the adoption field.

The compromise version of H.R. 2909 adopts the policy of S.682, designating the DOS for monitoring and accreditation tasks. During the mark-up, Rep. Gilman praised the compromise for its “bipartisan and bicameral support,” expressing optimism that the legislation will be signed into law by the end of the year. “We should get started on enabling the State Department to provide the best possible protections for these children and their families,” he said. He also called on the other committees with jurisdiction over the bill—Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, and Judiciary—to move the bill forward quickly.

Another area of concern in the original bills was adoptees’ access to their own paternity records. The compromise version of H.R. 2909 reflects that bill’s original language, which would continue the current policy of deferring to state law.

Some advocates for adoptees and birth mothers had urged the committees to mandate that adoptees have access to their own records, rather than leaving the matter to each individual state government. However, during the mark-up, Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA) said the advocacy groups have “set aside their reservations on this issue in order to support” the compromise version of H.R. 2909. “This bill will preserve the status quo—and this emotional issue will continue to evolve as state courts and legislatures continue to grapple with it,” he said. Rep. Delahunt, the adoptive father of a Vietnamese daughter, added: “This bill will address the exorbitant fees, red tape, concealment of medical records, kidnapping, and outright fraud that are now concerns for those who are willing to help provide homes for children from abroad.”