INHOFE BI-PARTISAN EFFORTS TO FACILITATE FOREIGN ADOPTIONS
Congressional Desk June 26, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC - Yesterday, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) joined U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) in introducing a bi-partisan adoption bill, the Foreign Adopted Children Equality (FACE) Act (S. 1359), eliminating many of the hurdles internationally adopted children of American citizens currently face before they come to the United States. Currently, the adopted child must be approved for a U.S. immigrant visa to be able to join their American family. This is often a very lengthy and expensive process. The FACE Act would provide automatic U.S. citizenship to children adopted by Americans, eliminating many of the complications involved with moving these children to the United States and granting them full rights afforded any other American child.
"It is estimated that there are over 143 million orphans in the world today, and millions of them are growing up on the streets or in institutions that lack the resources to provide the love and care that every child deserves," said Inhofe. "I have seen this problem first-hand in my travels to the continent of Africa. Unfortunately, many nations lack the number of willing and able adults to adopt and care for these children. It is vitally important that adults from outside nations be allowed to take action to address this problem. Inter-country adoption permits American families the opportunity to love and care for these children while providing them with hope and a future. I want to work to make it easier for American families to adopt, and easier for orphaned children to be adopted."
The Act would treat an adopted child of an American citizen the same way a biological child of the same citizen is treated if born abroad. American citizens who give birth to a child while overseas simply take their proof of citizenship and the child´s birth certificate to the U.S. Embassy and apply for and receive a U.S. passport and a Consular Report of Birth. The FACE Act provides equal treatment of internationally adopted children with foreign born biological children of American citizens.