Senate Passes Ammendment

Senator Landrieu offered an amendment which passed the United States Senate unanimously on July 20. The amendment directs the USAID to give money to international programs that support adoption and the placement of orphans in permanent families. It was prompted by information that UNICEF, which is funded in part by USAID, was funding programs that favored creating orphanages and boarding schools over the adoption of children. Senator Landrieu characterized the amendment as reaffirming the United States' support of the Hague Convention.

This certainly seems a positive step and I must admit I love the use of UNICEF to formally promote in theory the benefits of ICA vis a vis long term institutional care. In addition, this does appear to me to be some decent precendent for a new Ambassador-At-Large of ICA should the ICARE Bill come to law. However, this statement also does to a certain extent just restate was been formal policy without addressing things like "how does one determine that no options for permanency exist in the child's country of birth". Nonetheless, I applaud the actions of these Senator's, particularly Senator Landrieu, to focus attention on the primary goal of children growing up in a permanent family and that USAID should put some effort on this.

Here is an excerpt of her concluding remarks from the Congressional Record, followed by the text of the amendment:

Sen. Landrieu's comments are in italics:

Mr. President, I offered this amendment on behalf of myself, Senator Clinton, Senator DeWine, Senator Inhofe, and Senator Craig. It is an amendment we feel very strongly about and are proud to offer to the Senate this afternoon to clarify a very important principle as we give out billions of dollars in aid to other countries. That principal is very simple and straightforward: Families matter; families should be respected; children belong in families.
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To clear up some misperceptions that are out there about this issue, again the Landrieu amendment is not a sense-of-the-Senate amendment. It is a directive. It is a directive to USAID to say that as you are giving out this money, keep in mind that children belong in families. Try to allocate money in a way that keeps them with the families to which they were born, their families of origin. But if they become orphaned, let's work as hard as possible to reconnect those children to other families, preferably to relatives through domestic adoption, long-term permanency, long-term care; not long-term foster care, but through the permanency of a real new family. If that family is not available in that country, then to look within the human family to place those children, keeping sibling groups together as much as possible.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
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The legislative clerk called the roll.

Sen. Durbin: "I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. BYRD), and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. ROCKEFELLER), are necessarily absent."

The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 0, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 195 Leg.]

YEAS--98

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Text of Senator Landrieu's amendment to the DEPARTMENT OF STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS ACT:

ORPHANS, DISPLACED AND ABANDONED CHILDREN

SEC. 6113. (a) The Senate--

(1) reaffirms its commitment to the founding principle of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, that a child, for the full and harmonious development of the child's personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love, and understanding;

(2) recognizes that each State should take, as a matter of priority, every appropriate measure to enable a child to remain in the care of the child's family of origin, but when not possible should strive to place the child in a permanent and loving home through adoption;

(3) affirms that intercountry adoption may offer the advantage of a permanent family to a child for whom a family cannot be found in the child's State of origin;

(4) affirms that long-term foster care or institutionalization are not permanent options and should therefore only be used when no other permanent options are available; and

(5) recognizes that programs that protect and support families can reduce the abandonment and exploitation of children.

(b) The funds appropriated under title III of this Act shall be made available in a manner consistent with the principles described in subsection (a).