IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1952 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To amend the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 to require 

the Secretary of State to report on intercountry adoptions from countries which have significantly reduced 

adoption rates involving immigration to the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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HR 1952 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Intercountry Adoption 

3 Information Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN 

5 ANNUAL REPORT ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOP6 TIONS. 

7 (a) REPORT ELEMENTS.—Section 104(b) of the 

8 Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14914(b)) 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following new para10 graphs: 

11 ‘‘(9) A list of countries that established or 

12 maintained a significant law or regulation that pre13 vented or prohibited adoptions involving immigration 

14 to the United States, regardless of whether such 

15 adoptions occurred under the Convention. 

16 ‘‘(10) For each country listed under paragraph 

17 (9), the date on which the law or regulation was ini18 tially implemented. 

19 ‘‘(11) Information on efforts taken with respect 

20 to a country listed under paragraph (9) to encourage 

21 the resumption of halted or stalled adoption pro22 ceedings involving immigration to the United States, 

23 regardless of whether the adoptions would have oc24 curred under the Convention. 

25 ‘‘(12) Information on any action the Secretary 

26 carried out that prevented, prohibited, or halted any 


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1 adoptions involving immigration to the United 

2 States, regardless of whether the adoptions occurred 

3 under the Convention. 

4 ‘‘(13) For each country listed pursuant to para5 graph (12), a description of— 

6 ‘‘(A) what policies, procedures, resources, 

7 and safeguards the country lacks, or other 

8 shortcomings or circumstances, that caused the 

9 action to be carried out; 

10 ‘‘(B) what progress the country has made 

11 to alleviate those shortcomings; and 

12 ‘‘(C) what steps the Department of State 

13 has taken in order to assist the country to re14 open intercountry adoptions. 

15 ‘‘(14) An assessment of the impact of the fee 

16 schedule of the Intercountry Adoption Accreditation 

17 and Maintenance Entity on families seeking to adopt 

18 internationally, especially low-income families, fami19 lies seeking to adopt sibling groups, or families seek20 ing to adopt children with disabilities.’’. 

21 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.—Section 104 

22 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

23 14914) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.—The Sec2 retary shall make the information contained in the report 

3 required under subsection (a) available to the public on 

4 the website of the Department of State.’’. 

5 (c) PRIVACY CONCERNS.—In complying with the 

6 amendments made by subsections (a) and (b), the Sec7 retary shall avoid, to the maximum extent practicable, dis8 closing any personally identifiable information relating to 

9 United States citizens or the adoptees of such citizens. 

10 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 104(a) of 

11 the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

12 14914(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘International Rela13 tions’’ and inserting ‘‘Foreign Affairs’’. 

14 (e) APPLICATION DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this section shall apply with respect to reports required 

16 to be submitted under section 104 of the Intercountry 

17 Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14914) beginning on the 

18 date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

19 Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 20, 2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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