New Adoption Bill Introduced Today - June 28, 2018

June 28, 2018

We just got news that a new adoption bill was introduced on the house floor today by North Carolina Senator Richard Burr (R-NC). 

Senator Burr said in a statement:

“This bill will help remove some of the frequent informational challenges families face when trying to learn the status of intercountry adoption policies. It will also shine a light on unnecessary and detrimental barriers some countries have put up to thwart adoptions, and require the State Department to provide information on what they are doing to address those barriers. I hope the Senate will work to pass this commonsense legislation as soon as possible.”

This is a bipartisan bill supported also by the following senators: 

Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)

Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO)

Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD)

Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

According to the press release on Senator Burr’s website, the report includes: 

“The report includes information on topics such as the number of intercountry adoptions involving immigration to the United States and the country from which each child immigrates, the time required for completion of an adoption and information on adoption agencies. The Intercountry Adoption Information Act would amend the IAA to require the State Department provide additional information on:

• All countries that have enacted policies to prevent or prohibit adoptions to the United States;
• Actions the State Department has taken which have prevented adoptions to the United States;
• How the State Department has worked to encourage the resuming of adoption in both cases.

This information is critical for American families looking to adopt from countries that have established barriers to adoption, such as Russia or Ethiopia, or areas where the State Department has suspended intercountry adoption, as of abandoned children in Nepal.”

To see Senator Burr’s press release, please click below: