House advances Collins’ bipartisan bill to make international adoption information transparent

The U.S. House of Representatives on July 10 passed bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) that would improve how families in his home state and across America can pursue international adoptions.

“Each day, families in northeast Georgia and beyond remain separated from their adoptive children as a result of shifting international policies and information gaps, so I hope the strong bipartisan support we saw in the House today encourages the Senate to pass this bill swiftly,” said Rep. Collins following the House’s voice vote on the Intercountry Adoption Information Act of 2018.

H.R. 5626, which Collins introduced on April 26 with U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Brenda Lawrence (D-MI) among the measure’s original cosponsors, would direct the U.S. State Department to provide current information to American families that could help them navigate adoption processes in foreign countries.

According to a statement from Rep. Collins’ office, Americans have found it difficult to locate updated information on which nations have enacted policies that hinder or prevent adoptions by United States citizens, including in countries like Russia, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Currently, the State Department must publish an annual, public report on the statistics of such intercountry adoptions. If enacted, H.R. 5626 would amend the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 to direct the State Department to widen the information included in its annual intercountry adoptions report.

Specifically, H.R. 5626 would require that the State Department’s report to Congress provide information on countries that have a law or policy that prevented or prohibited adoptions of children by American parents; the implementation date of any such law or policy; the department’s efforts to encourage the resumption of halted or stalled adoptions involving U.S. immigration; and any department actions that prevented, prohibited or halted such adoptions, according to the congressional record summary.

“Adopting children from abroad is an act of love that is too often complicated by a lack of reliable information about the international adoption landscape,” Rep. Collins said, noting that H.R. 5626 “would help unite loving parents and vulnerable children by providing them with accurate, timely information about the procedures and hurdles associated with adoption in specific countries.”

The congressman explained on the House floor, prior to its vote on H.R. 5626, that he authored the bill after learning about the adoption struggles of Pam and Mark Romano of Georgia, who began the process of adopting a pair of brothers from Russia before the country shut down adoptions to the United States in 2012, a policy that remains in place today.

“I introduced this bill to make it easier for Americans to get crucial information when they pursue adoptions in foreign countries,” Rep. Collins said on the House floor in support of his proposal. “And I’d like to talk about the faces behind the bill.”

He said the Romanos have suffered through shifting policy changes and standards that have kept them separated from the boys and which devastate their family. They continue to need information about what’s happening diplomatically in Russia in order to proceed with their adoption, Rep. Collins said.

In the meantime, the Romanos keep fighting to bring the boys to the United States, the congressman added, noting that the July 16 diplomatic summit scheduled in Helsinki between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin “would be a good time to bring up this issue.”

H.R. 5626 now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.