As co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Coalition on Adoption, Klobuchar and Blunt work to engage Members of Congress on issues pertaining to children in need of permanent homes, children in the foster system, and domestic and international child welfare
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Roy Blunt (R-MO), co-chairs of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption (CCA), announced that the Senate resolution they introduced recognizing November as National Adoption Month and November 19 as National Adoption Day has passed the Senate. As co-chairs of the bipartisan CCA, Klobuchar and Blunt work to engage Members of Congress on issues pertaining to children in need of permanent homes, children in the foster care system, and domestic and international child welfare.
“Over the years, some of my most memorable work as Senate co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption has been helping families navigate the often difficult and complicated adoption process,” Klobuchar said. “By recognizing November as National Adoption Month and November 19th as National Adoption Day, we help increase awareness about children in need of loving homes and honor the hard work of these nurturing adoptive families.”
Klobuchar is a strong advocate for adoptive families and children. Last week, Klobuchar and Blunt joined Representatives Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), House co-chairs of the CCA, in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of State expressing concern over new international adoption regulations and the negative impact some of the Department’s proposed changes could have on the adoption process. In July, Klobuchar and Blunt introduced the Vulnerable Children and Families Act, which would help more children living without families or in institutional care find permanent homes by enhancing U.S. diplomatic efforts around international child welfare and ensuring that intercountry adoption to the United States becomes a more viable and fully-developed option. Last year, Klobuchar and Blunt also introduced the Supporting Adoptive Families Act to help provide pre- and post-adoption support services, including mental health treatment, to help adoptive families stay strong. In addition, Klobuchar authored the International Adoption Simplification Act to help siblings stay together during an international adoption and protect adoptees from unsafe immunizations in foreign countries, which was signed into law on November 30, 2010. She also introduced the Accuracy for Adoptees Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in early 2014. This legislation cuts red tape for adoptive families and ensures that corrections made to adoptees’ birth certificates by state courts would be recognized by the federal government.
Klobuchar has also worked closely with adoptive Minnesota families to help them bring their children home from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Russia.
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