[Senate Report 111-220]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 330
111th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 111-220
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INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION SIMPLIFICATION ACT
_______
July 14, 2010.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Leahy, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1376]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred the
bill (S. 1376), to restore immunization and sibling age
exemptions for children adopted by United States citizens under
the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption to allow their
admission into the United States, having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon, with an amendment in the nature of a
substitute, and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Background and Purpose of the International Adoption
Simplification Act...............................................1
II. History of the Bill and Committee Consideration..................3
III. Section-by-Section Summary of the Bill...........................3
IV. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................4
V. Regulatory Impact Evaluation.....................................4
VI. Conclusion.......................................................4
VII. Changes to Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............5
I. Background and Purpose of the International Adoption Simplification
Act
A. BACKGROUND
1. Immunization
In November, 1997, the Immigration and Nationality Act
(INA) was amended to exempt adoptees to the United States from
the immunization ineligibility provision for immigrants in the
Act. This exemption allowed such orphans adopted by American
citizens to provide certain vaccination documentation up to 30
days after entering the United States. This ensured that these
orphans could receive safe and sanitary immunizations in
American medical facilities as part of their adoption process.
In October, 2000, the INA was amended again by the
Intercountry Adoption Act (IAA), which set forth a new policy
for adoptions of children from foreign countries that are
signatories to the Convention on Protection of Children and
Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague
Convention) or who are emigrating from such a country for U.S.
adoption. Unfortunately, the IAA neglected to specify that the
immunization ineligibility exemption which had applied to all
adoptees previously should also apply to adoptees adopted from
foreign states that are signatories to the Hague Convention. As
a result, when the Hague Convention entered into force on April
1, 2008, adoptees adopted within foreign states that are
signatories to the Hague Convention were not exempted from the
immunization ineligibility provision.
As a result, unlike other orphan adoptees exempted from the
immunization ineligibility provision for immigrants as
discussed above, adoptees adopted from foreign states that are
signatories to the Hague Convention are required to receive
their immunizations under potentially unsafe and unsanitary
conditions in a foreign host country before entering the United
States. This unintentional and harmful inequity between the two
types of adoptees in the INA persists to this day.
2. Siblings
In December, 1999, the INA was amended to permit the
adoption of a child aged 16 or 17 when the child's natural
(birth) sibling had been adopted by a U.S. citizen. This
amendment allowed U.S. citizens to adopt sibling pairs even if
one of the adoptees was over the age of 15 and under the age of
18.
However, as happened with the immunization provision
discussed above, when the IAA was signed into law in 2000, it
also neglected to specify that the provision concerning sibling
adoption should also apply to adoptees adopted from foreign
countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention. As a
result, when the Hague Convention entered into force on April
1, 2008, the older siblings of children adopted by American
families from Hague compliant countries were not adoptable once
they turned 16. Hence, another inequity between the two types
of adoptees was created unintentionally.
B. PURPOSE
The purpose of the International Adoption Simplification
Act is to equalize requirements and exemptions for all foreign
adoptees by correcting the unintentional inequities created by
the October, 2000, passage of the Intercountry Adoption Act.
The International Adoption Simplification Act would both exempt
adoptees adopted from foreign states that are signatories to
the Hague Convention from the immunization ineligibility
provision and allow for the adoption of sibling pairs from
countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention, even if
one of the adoptees is aged 16 or 17. In this manner, all
categories of adoptees would be subject to the same
requirements and exemptions.
The provisions in the International Adoption Simplification
Act would apply retroactively as if enacted on April 1, 2008,
the date the Hague Convention went into force. This means that
upon passage of the bill, any older sibling that was under the
age of 18 on April 1, 2008 but could not be adopted with
younger siblings because of his/her residence in a Hague-
compliant country, would now be adoptable.
II. History of the Bill and Committee Consideration
On June 25, 2009 Senator Klobuchar introduced the
International Adoption Simplification Act. Senators Landrieu,
Inhofe, Feingold, and Durbin were original cosponsors. The bill
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. On October 14,
2009, Senators Leahy and Lugar joined as cosponsors of the
bill.
The Committee considered S. 1376 on December 17, 2009. In
Senator Klobuchar's absence, Senator Leahy offered on Senator
Klobuchar's behalf an amendment in the nature of a substitute
which made technical edits to the bill. The amendment in the
nature of a substitute clarified the definition of ``child''
under current immigration law for the process for sibling
adoptions and added an effective date of April 1, 2008. The
amendment was accepted by a voice vote.
The Committee then voted to report the International
Adoption Simplification Act, with an amendment in the nature of
a substitute, favorably to the Senate by unanimous consent.
III. Section-by-Section Summary of the Bill
Section 1. Short title
This section provides that the legislation may be cited as
the ``International Adoption Simplification Act.''
Section 2. Exemption from vaccination documentation requirement
This section amends the definition of ``child'' in the INA
to include within the exemption from required admissions
vaccination documentation those children who have been adopted
from any foreign country that is a signatory to the Convention
on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of
Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention) or who are emigrating
from such a country for U.S. adoption.
Section 3. Sibling adoptions
This section amends the definition of ``child'' in the INA
to exempt from required admissions vaccination documentation
any child who is under the age of 18 at the time an immediate
relative status petition is filed on his or her behalf, if that
child has been adopted abroad or is coming for U.S. adoption,
where that child is the natural sibling of:
An adopted child from a Hague Convention signatory
country.
A child adopted under the age of 16 who has lived
with the adoptive parents for at least two years, or a child
who has been abused.
An orphan who was under the age of 16 at the time
an immediate relative status petition was filed on his or her
behalf.
Section 4. Effective date
This section ensures that the amendments made by this Act
shall take effect as if enacted on April 1, 2008. This
provision ensures that any older sibling that was under the age
of 18 on April 1, 2008 but could not be adopted with younger
siblings because of his/her residence in a Hague-compliant
country would now be adoptable.
IV. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
May 14, 2010.
Hon. Patrick J. Leahy,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1376, the
International Adoption Simplification Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark
Grabowicz.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf.
Enclosure.
S. 1376--International Adoption Simplification Act
S. 1376 would exempt certain children being adopted from
foreign countries and their siblings from the requirement that
they be immunized before they enter the United States. The bill
would apply to adoptions on or after April 1, 2008.
Enacting this legislation could affect direct spending of
immigration fees by the Departments of State and Homeland
Security and the cost of certain federal assistance programs.
Because the bill could affect direct spending and revenues,
pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. However, based on
information from the Department of State, CBO expects the bill
would affect few people and we estimate that enacting S. 1376
would have no significant budgetary impact.
S. 1376 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
V. Regulatory Impact Evaluation
The passage of S. 1376 may require the Department of
Homeland Security to promulgate regulations governing the
retroactive processing of certain adoptions.
VI. Conclusion
The International Adoption Simplification Act (S. 1376)
corrects two critical, unintended inequities in policy for
adoption of children from Hague Convention signatory and non-
Hague Convention signatory countries. The physical health, as
well as the emotional well-being of foreign adoptees to the
United States from non-Hague-compliant countries, is
jeopardized by the current inequities in immigration law. It is
imperative that the amendments in S. 1376 take effect to ensure
that all types of adoptees are subject to the same requirements
and exemptions.
VII. Changes to Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
S. 1376, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, and existing law in which no
change is proposed is shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 12--IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY
Subchapter II--Immigration
* * * * * * *
Sec. 1182. Inadmissible Aliens
* * * * * * *
(C) Exception from immunization requirement
for adopted children 10 years of age or
younger.--Clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall
not apply to a child who--
(i) is 10 years of age or younger,
(ii) is described in [section
101(b)(1)(F)] subparagraph (F) or (G)
of section 101(b)(1); of this title,
and
* * * * * * *
Subchapter I--General Provisions
* * * * * * *
Sec. 1101. Definitions
* * * * * * *
[(G) a child, under the age of sixteen at the
time a petition is filed on the child's behalf
to accord a classification as an immediate
relative under section 1151(b) of this title,
who has been adopted in a foreign state that is
a party to the Convention on Protection of
Children and Co-operation in Respect of
Intercountry Adoption done at The Hague on May
29, 1993, or who is emigrating from such a
foreign state to be adopted in the United
States, by a United States citizen and spouse
jointly, or by an unmarried United States
citizen at least 25 years of age--
[(i) if--
[(I) the Attorney General is
satisfied that proper care will
be furnished the child if
admitted to the United States;
[(II) the child's natural
parents (or parent, in the case
of a child who has one sole or
surviving parent because of the
death or disappearance of,
abandonment or desertion by,
the other parent), or other
persons or institutions that
retain legal custody of the
child, have freely given their
written irrevocable consent to
the termination of their legal
relationship with the child,
and to the child's emigration
and adoption;
[(III) in the case of a child
having two living natural
parents, the natural parents
are incapable of providing
proper care for the child;
[(IV) the Attorney General is
satisfied that the purpose of
the adoption is to form a bona
fide parent-child relationship,
and the parent-child
relationship of the child and
the natural parents has been
terminated (and in carrying out
both obligations under this
subclause the Attorney General
may consider whether there is a
petition pending to confer
immigrant status on one or both
of such natural parents); and
[(V) in the case of a child
who has not been adopted
[(aa) the competent
authority of the
foreign state has
approved the child's
emigration to the
United States for the
purpose of adoption by
the prospective
adoptive parent or
parents; and
[(bb) the prospective
adoptive parent or
parents has or have
complied with any pre-
adoption requirements
of the child's proposed
residence; and
[(ii) except that no natural parent
or prior adoptive parent of any such
child shall thereafter, by virtue of
such parentage, be accorded any right,
privilege, or status under this
chapter.]
(G)(i) a child, younger than 16 years of age
at the time a petition is filed on the child's
behalf to accord a classification as an
immediate relative under section 201(b), who
has been adopted in a foreign state that is a
party to the Convention on Protection of
Children and Co-operation in Respect of
Intercountry Adoption done at The Hague on May
29, 1993, or who is emigrating from such a
foreign state to be adopted in the United
States by a United States citizen and spouse
jointly or by an unmarried United States
citizen who is at least 25 years of age,
Provided, That--
(I) the Attorney General is satisfied
that proper care will be furnished the
child if admitted to the United States;
(II) the child's natural parents (or
parent, in the case of a child who has
one sole or surviving parent because of
the death or disappearance of,
abandonment or desertion by, the other
parent), or other persons or
institutions that retain legal custody
of the child, have freely given their
written irrevocable consent to the
termination of their legal relationship
with the child, and to the child's
emigration and adoption;
(III) in the case of a child having
two living natural parents, the natural
parents are incapable of providing
proper care for the child;
(IV) the Attorney General is
satisfied that the purpose of the
adoption is to form a bona fide parent-
child relationship, and the parent-
child relationship of the child and the
natural parents has been terminated
(and in carrying out both obligations
under this subclause the Attorney
General may consider whether there is a
petition pending to confer immigrant
status on one or both of such natural
parents); and
(V) in the case of a child who has
not been adopted--
(aa) the competent authority
of the foreign state has
approved the child's emigration
to the United States for the
purpose of adoption by the
prospective adoptive parent or
parents; and
(bb) the prospective adoptive
parent or parents has or have
complied with any pre-adoption
requirements of the child's
proposed residence; and
(ii) except that no natural parent or prior
adoptive parent of any such child shall
thereafter, by virtue of such parentage, be
accorded any right, privilege, or status under
this chapter; or
(iii) subject to the same provisos as in
clauses (i) and (ii), a child who
(I) is a natural sibling of a child
described in clause (i), subparagraph
(E)(i), or subparagraph (F)(i);
(II) was adopted abroad, or is coming
to the United States for adoption, by
the adoptive parent (or prospective
adoptive parent) or parents of the
sibling described in clause (i),
subparagraph (E)(i), or subparagraph
(F)(i); and
(III) is otherwise described in
clause (i), except that the child is
younger than 18 years of age at the
time a petition is filed on his or her
behalf for classification as an
immediate relative under section
201(b).