H. Res. 578

In the House of Representatives, U.S., 

April 6, 2006.

Whereas following the execution of Romanian President 

Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, it was discovered that more 

than 100,000 underfed, neglected children throughout 

Romania were living in hundreds of squalid and inhumane institutions; 

Whereas United States citizens responded to the dire situation of these children with an outpouring of compassion 

and assistance to improve conditions in those institutions 

and to provide for the needs of abandoned children in Romania; 

Whereas, between 1990 and 2004, United States citizens 

adopted more than 8,200 Romanian children, with a 

similar response from Western Europe; 

Whereas the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported in March 2005 that more than 9,000 children a 

year are abandoned in Romania’s maternity wards or pediatric hospitals and that child abandonment in Romania 

in ‘‘2003 and 2004 was no different from that occurring 

10, 20, or 30 years ago’’; 

Whereas there are approximately 37,000 orphaned or abandoned children in Romania today living in state institutions, an additional 49,000 living in temporary arrange-
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ments, such as foster care, and an unknown number of 

children living on the streets and in maternity and pediatric hospitals; 

Whereas, on December 28, 1994, Romania ratified the 

Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption which recognizes that ‘‘intercountry adoption may offer the advantage of a permanent family to a child for whom a suitable 

family cannot be found in his or her State of origin’’; 

Whereas intercountry adoption offers the hope of a permanent family for children who are orphaned or abandoned 

by their biological parents; 

Whereas UNICEF’s official position on intercountry adoption, in pertinent part, states: ‘‘For children who cannot 

be raised by their own families, an appropriate alternative family environment should be sought in preference 

to institutional care, which should be used only as a last 

resort and as a temporary measure. Inter-country adoption is one of a range of care options which may be open 

to children, and for individual children who cannot be 

placed in a permanent family setting in their countries of 

origin, it may indeed be the best solution. In each case, 

the best interests of the individual child must be the 

guiding principle in making a decision regarding adoption.’’; 

Whereas unsubstantiated allegations have been made about 

the fate of children adopted from Romania and the qualifications and motives of those who adopt internationally; 

Whereas in June 2001, the Romanian Adoption Committee 

imposed a moratorium on intercountry adoption, but continued to accept new intercountry adoption applications 
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and allowed many such applications to be processed 

under an exception for extraordinary circumstances; 

Whereas on June 21, 2004, the Parliament of Romania enacted Law 272/2004 on ‘‘the protection and promotion of 

the rights of the child,’’ which creates new requirements 

for declaring a child legally available for adoption; 

Whereas on June 21, 2004, the Parliament of Romania enacted Law 273/2004 on adoption, which prohibits intercountry adoption except by a child’s biological grandparent or grandparents; 

Whereas there is no European Union law or regulation restricting intercountry adoptions to biological grandparents or requiring that restrictive laws be passed as a 

prerequisite for accession to the European Union; 

Whereas the number of Romanian children adopted domestically is far less than the number abandoned and has declined further since enactment of Law 272/2004 and 273/

2004 due to new, overly burdensome requirements for 

adoption; 

Whereas prior to enactment of Law 273/2004, 211 intercountry adoption cases were pending with the Government of Romania in which children had been matched 

with adoptive parents in the United States, and approximately 1,500 cases were pending in which children had 

been matched with prospective parents in Western Europe; and 

Whereas Romanian children, and all children, deserve to be 

raised in permanent families: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
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(1) supports the desire of the Government of Romania to improve the standard of care and well-being of 

children in Romania; 

(2) urges the Government of Romania to complete 

the processing of the intercountry adoption cases which 

were pending when Law 273/2004 was enacted; 

(3) urges the Government of Romania to amend its 

child welfare and adoption laws to decrease barriers to 

adoption, both domestically and intercountry, including 

by allowing intercountry adoption by persons other than 

biological grandparents; 

(4) urges the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to work collaboratively with the Government 

of Romania to achieve these ends; and 

(5) requests that the European Union and its member States not impede the Government of Romania’s efforts to place orphaned or abandoned children in permanent homes in a manner that is consistent with Romania’s obligations under the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

Attest: 

Clerk.