IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 915 

Urging the Government of Ukraine to review and modify its decision to 

suspend adoption by foreign nationals with a view to resuming such 

adoptions, particularly in cases where the mutual concerns of the Governments of Ukraine and of the United States can be substantially addressed. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2023 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. NORCROSS) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the Government of Ukraine to review and modify 

its decision to suspend adoption by foreign nationals 

with a view to resuming such adoptions, particularly 

in cases where the mutual concerns of the Governments 

of Ukraine and of the United States can be substantially 

addressed. 

Whereas adoption, including the adoption of child nationals 

of one country by adult nationals from another country, 

can be a profoundly beneficial way to unite children in 

need of parents with families that are eager and able to 

open their hearts and homes to children, providing the 

benefit of a permanent family to children who are orVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Dec 07, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR915.IH HR915

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•HRES 915 IH 

phaned or whose biological parents are otherwise unable 

to care for them; 

Whereas adoptions require government safeguards to insure 

that they promote the best interest of the child and in 

order to prevent the abduction, sale, exploitation, or trafficking of children; 

Whereas the Government of Ukraine has not acceded to the 

Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, and the circumstances of Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine 

render its accession currently difficult; 

Whereas, since at least 1992, the Government of Ukraine has 

facilitated the adoption of Ukrainian children by United 

States citizens through its domestic law and process, and 

in the ensuing decades both Ukraine and the United 

States demonstrated that they shared the concern to protect and ensure the best interests of the child; 

Whereas, as a direct result of the Russian Federation’s 

unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the 

Government of Ukraine temporarily suspended any adoption proceedings and protocols for the placement or adoption of its children with foreign nationals, on March 13, 

2022; 

Whereas the Government of Ukraine had very significant reasons to suspend intercountry adoption in March 2022, including that it was faced with the urgent and temporary 

displacement of Ukrainian children, including those who 

had been previously placed in institutional settings and 

orphanages, and the impossibility or extraordinary difficulty of conducting official business to protect and ensure the best interests of the child while under the shock 

of invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory; 


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•HRES 915 IH 

Whereas the Government of Ukraine has substantially restored its ability to conduct official business, including 

resuming the process of adoptions by Ukrainian nationals 

since May 31, 2022; and 

Whereas the Government of Ukraine has not lifted its suspension of the processing of adoptions by foreign nationals, including United States citizens, nor has it identified 

a time-frame or protocol for doing so: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) urges the Government of Ukraine to review 

3 and modify its decision to suspend adoptions and 

4 preadoptive placements of Ukrainian children by 

5 United States citizens, and to actually and in good 

6 faith resume such adoptions in cases where the mu7 tual concerns of the Government of the United 

8 States and of Ukraine to protect and ensure the best 

9 interests of the child can be substantially addressed; 

10 (2) recommends as particularly urgent cases in 

11 which prospective adoptive United States parents 

12 have already complied with the requirements under 

13 Ukrainian domestic law for the adoption of Ukrain14 ian children and that process has confirmed the le15 gitimacy of the adoptability of these children, and 

16 cases in which the prospective adoptive United 

17 States parents have completed the process set forth 

18 under domestic Ukrainian law and have had their 


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•HRES 915 IH 

1 dossiers vetted and approved by the Ukrainian Gov2 ernment before the suspension of the adoptions by 

3 foreign nations on March 13, 2022; 

4 (3) recommends that in those cases in which 

5 Ukrainian children had already participated in 

6 ‘‘hosting’’ programs facilitated by the Government of 

7 Ukraine and placed with individual families within 

8 the United States prior to the suspension of adop9 tions by foreign nationals, that regarding those chil10 dren which have already been determined by the 

11 Ukrainian Government to be legally adoptable, the 

12 United States parents be permitted to initiate the 

13 process for adoption and be permitted to receive the 

14 preadoptive placement of such children during the 

15 Ukrainian domestic adoption process; and 

16 (4) recommends that in those cases in which 

17 Ukrainian children had already participated in 

18 ‘‘hosting’’ programs facilitated by the Government of 

19 Ukraine and placed with individual families within 

20 the United States prior to the suspension of adop21 tions by foreign nationals, that regarding those chil22 dren whose status regarding legal adoptability re23 mains uncertain at this time, the United States par24 ents be permitted to make application to receive 

25 such children in preadoptive placements until the 


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•HRES 915 IH 

1 Ukrainian Government either establishes their 

2 adoptability or locates or identifies their biological 

3 parents. 

Æ 


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