Bill Text: NJ SCR154 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Respectfully urges Russia to rescind the prohibition against adoption of Russian children by United States citizens.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-06-03 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [SCR154 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-SCR154-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LORETTA WEINBERG
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Respectfully urges Russia to rescind the prohibition against adoption of Russian children by United States citizens.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Concurrent Resolution respectfully urging Russia to rescind the prohibition against adoption of Russian children by United States citizens.
Whereas, On December 28, 2012, Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin signed into law legislation entitled "On Measures Concerning the Implementation of Government Policy on Orphaned Children and those without Parental Care," which includes a provision that prohibits adoptions of Russian children by United States citizens after January 1, 2013; and
Whereas, The new Russian law abrogates a bilateral adoption agreement strengthening the procedural safeguards in the adoption process between the United States and Russia, which took effect November 1, 2012 and required both countries to provide one year of notice to terminate the agreement; and
Whereas, The Russian Supreme Court ruled that only those adoptions of Russian children by United States citizens that had received court approval as of January 1, 2013 would be allowed to proceed; and
Whereas, Several dozen adoptions of Russian children by United States families have received court approval to proceed and hundreds of other United States families were in earlier stages of the adoption process at the time the prohibition took effect; and
Whereas, According to Russian authorities, there are an estimated 120,000 children in Russia eligible for adoption; and
Whereas, It is estimated that there are approximately only 18,000 Russian families registered to adopt; and
Whereas, More than 60,000 Russian children have found safe, loving, and permanent homes with American families; and
Whereas, The Department of State reports that between 1999 and 2012, New Jersey families adopted 8,431 children from other countries; and
Whereas, After China and Ethiopia, Russia is the third most popular country for United States citizens who adopt internationally; and
Whereas, Experts in the field of international adoption in Russia have suggested that families from the United States are far more likely to adopt a child with special needs or a disability than families in Russia or in Europe; and
Whereas, The United Nations, the Hague Convention on Private International Law, and other international organizations have recognized a child's right to a family as a basic human right worthy of protection; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey (the General Assembly concurring):
1. The government of the Russian Federation is respectfully urged to rescind the prohibition against adoption of Russian children by United States citizens.
2. Duly authenticated copies of this concurrent resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the General Assembly and attested by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the General Assembly, shall be transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Secretary of State of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, every member of Congress elected from this State, and the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the United States.
STATEMENT
This concurrent resolution respectfully urges the Russian Federation to rescind a law prohibiting all adoptions of Russian children by United States citizens after January 1, 2013. More than 60,000 Russian children have been adopted by American families since 1991 and experts estimate that hundreds of American families were in various stages of the process to adopt a Russian child when the prohibition took effect.
