I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2342
To implement the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-
operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 24, 1999
Mr. BURR of North Carolina (for himself and Mr. BALLENGER) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International
Relations, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned
A BILL
To implement the Hague Convention on Protection of Chil-
dren and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adop-
tion, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Intercountry Adoption Convention Implementation Act
of 1999’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
TITLE I—UNITED STATES CENTRAL AUTHORITY
Sec. 101. Performance of central authority functions.
Sec. 102. Authority of the Department of State.
Sec. 103. Responsibilities of the Secretary of State.
Sec. 104. Responsibilities of the Attorney General.
Sec. 105. Annual report on intercountry adoptions.
TITLE II—ACCREDITATION OF PERSONS PROVIDING
INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION SERVICES
Sec. 201. Eligibility to provide intercountry adoption services.
Sec. 202. Accrediting entities.
Sec. 203. Eligibility for accreditation.
Sec. 204. Oversight of accreditation.
TITLE III—RECOGNITION OF CONVENTION ADOPTIONS IN THE
UNITED STATES
Sec. 301. Adoptions of children immigrating to the United States.
Sec. 302. Amendments of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Sec. 303. Adoptions of children emigrating from the United States.
Sec. 304. Special rules for certain cases.
Sec. 305. Voiding of adoptions for cause.
Sec. 306. Recognition of Convention adoptions before entry into force of Con-
vention for the United States.
TITLE IV—ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT
Sec. 401. Records; privacy provisions.
Sec. 402. Documents of other Convention countries.
Sec. 403. Authorization of appropriations; collection of fees.
Sec. 404. Enforcement.
TITLE V—GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 501. Relation to other laws.
Sec. 502. No private right of action.
Sec. 503. Effective date; transition provisions.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress recognizes—
(1) the international character of the Conven-
tion, and
(2) the need for uniform interpretation and im-
plementation of the Convention in the United States
and abroad,
and therefore finds that enactment of a Federal law gov-
erning intercountry adoptions subject to the Convention
is necessary.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) ACCREDITED PERSON.—The term ‘‘accred-
ited person’’ means a person (including an agency),
not organized for profit, that has been accredited in
accordance with title II to provide adoption services
and to perform other functions under the Conven-
tion.
(2) ACCREDITING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘accred-
iting entity’’ means an entity designated under sec-
tion 202(a).
(3) ADOPTION SERVICES.—The term ‘‘adoption
services’’ means—
(A) identifying children for adoption and
arranging adoptions;
(B) securing necessary documentation of
consent to termination of parental rights and to
adoption;
(C) performing background studies on chil-
dren, home studies on prospective adoptive par-
ents, and reports of such studies;
(D) making determinations of the best in-
terests of the child and the appropriateness of
adoptive placement;
(E) counseling children and birth and
adoptive parents with respect to adoption;
(F) engaging in post-placement monitoring
of cases until final adoption; and
(G) if necessary because of disruption in
the adoption process, assuming custody of a
child, and providing child care or other social
services, pending an alternative placement of
the child.
(4) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means any
public entity or private corporation, partnership, or-
ganization, or other association.
(5) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Attorney
General’’ means the Attorney General, acting
through the Commissioner of Immigration and Nat-
uralization.
(6) BIRTH PARENT.—The term ‘‘birth parent’’
means the biological mother and, where applicable
under the law of the place of birth of the child, the
biological father of the child who is the subject of an
adoption.
(7) CENTRAL AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘central
authority’’ means the entity designated by any Con-
vention country under Article 6(1) of the Convention
as having primary responsibility for the discharge of
the obligations of that country under the Conven-
tion.
(8) CENTRAL
AUTHORITY
FUNCTION.—The
term ‘‘central authority function’’ means any duty
required to be carried out by a central authority
under chapter III or IV of the Convention.
(9) CONVENTION.—The term ‘‘Convention’’
means the Convention on Protection of Children and
Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption,
done at The Hague on May 29, 1993.
(10) CONVENTION ADOPTION.—The term ‘‘Con-
vention adoption’’ means, upon entry into force of
the Convention in the United States—
(A) an adoption (or prospective adoption)
of a child habitually resident in a foreign coun-
try party to the Convention by a United States
citizen; or
(B) an adoption (or prospective adoption)
of a child habitually resident in the United
States by a person or persons residing in an-
other Convention country.
(11) CONVENTION
ADOPTION
RECORD.—The
term ‘‘Convention adoption record’’ means any item,
collection, or grouping of information, including any
index, contained in an electronic or physical docu-
ment, an electronic collection of data, a photograph,
an audio or video tape, or any other information
storage medium of any type whatever that contains
information about a specific past, current, or pro-
spective Convention adoption (regardless of whether
a final adoption resulted) and that has been identi-
fied and retained in accordance with section 401(a)
by the Secretary of State or the Attorney General.
(12) CONVENTION COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Con-
vention country’’ means a country party to the Con-
vention.
(13) 
OTHER
CONVENTION
COUNTRY.—The
term ‘‘other Convention country’’ means a Conven-
tion country other than the United States.
(14) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ has the
meaning given the term in section 1 of title 1,
United States Code.
(15) PERSON WITH AN OWNERSHIP OR CON-
TROL INTEREST.—The term ‘‘person with an owner-
ship or control interest’’ has the meaning given such
term in section 1124(a)(3) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1320a–3).
(16) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 50
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
TITLE I—UNITED STATES
CENTRAL AUTHORITY
SEC. 101. PERFORMANCE OF CENTRAL AUTHORITY FUNC-
TIONS.
All central authority functions of the United States
shall be carried out by the Department of State and other
officials of the United States specified in this Act.
SEC. 102. AUTHORITY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in
this Act, for purposes of the Convention—
(1) the Department of State shall serve as the
central authority of the United States; and
(2) the Secretary of State shall serve as the
head of the central authority of the United States.
(b) STATE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL PERFORMING
CENTRAL AUTHORITY FUNCTIONS.—All personnel of the
Department of State performing central authority func-
tions in a professional capacity shall have 3 to 5 years
of personal or professional experience in international
adoptions.
(c) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE REGULATIONS.—Except as
otherwise provided in this Act, the Secretary of State may
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry
out central authority functions on behalf of the United
States.
SEC. 103. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF
STATE.
(a) LIAISON RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Secretary of
State shall have primary responsibility for—
(1) liaison with the central authorities of other
Convention countries; and
(2) the coordination of activities under the Con-
vention by persons subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States.
(b) INFORMATION EXCHANGE.—The Secretary of
State shall be responsible for—
(1) providing the central authorities of other
Convention countries with information concerning—
(A) persons accredited under title II, per-
sons whose accreditation is suspended or can-
celed, and persons temporarily or permanently
debarred from accreditation;
(3) may provide any other appropriate assist-
ance in other cases.
(d) ESTABLISHMENT OF REGISTRY.—The Secretary
of State and the Attorney General shall jointly establish
a case registry on—
(1) all adoptions involving immigration into the
United States, regardless of whether the adoption
occurs under the Convention; and
(2) all adoptions involving emigration of the
child from the United States to any other Conven-
tion country.
Such registry shall permit tracking of pending cases and
retrieval of information on both pending and closed cases.
SEC. 104. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
In addition to such other responsibilities as are spe-
cifically conferred upon the Attorney General by this Act,
the central authority functions specified in Article 14 of
the Convention (relating to the filing of applications by
prospective adoptive parents to the central authority of
their country of residence) shall be performed by the At-
torney General.
SEC. 105. ANNUAL REPORT ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOP-
TIONS.
(a) REPORTS REQUIRED.—Beginning one year after
the date of enactment of this Act, and every year there-
after, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to Con-
gress describing the activities of the central authority of
the United States under this Act during the preceding
year.
(b) REPORT ELEMENTS.—Each report under sub-
section (a) shall set forth with respect to the year con-
cerned, the following:
(1) The number of adoptions involving immi-
gration to the United States, regardless of whether
the adoption occurred under the Convention, includ-
ing the country from which each child emigrated and
the State to which each child immigrated.
(2) The number of adoptions under the Conven-
tion, including the country from which each child
emigrated and the State to which each child immi-
grated.
(3) The number of intercountry adoptions that
were disrupted, including the country from which
the child emigrated, the age of the child, the date of
the adoption of the child, the reason for the disrup-
tion, and the resolution of the disruption.
(4) The names of the persons who possessed ac-
creditation to perform intercountry adoptions.
(5) The names of the persons who were
debarred from performing intercountry adoptions,
and the reasons for the debarrment.
(6) The average time required for completion of
an intercountry adoption.
(7) The number of intercountry adoptions that
were completed in the United States, and the num-
ber of adoptions that were completed in each foreign
country from which children subject to such adop-
tions emigrated.
(8) The number of intercountry adoptions to
the United States that were found to be fraudulent.
(9) The average adoption fee for intercountry
adoptions to the United States set forth by country.
(10) The average adoption fee for intercountry
adoptions from the United States set forth by coun-
try.
(11) The average fee for accreditation of per-
sons engaging in the provision of intercountry adop-
tion services.
TITLE 
II—ACCREDITATION 
OF
PERSONS PROVIDING INTER-
COUNTRY 
ADOPTION 
SERV-
ICES
SEC. 201. ELIGIBILITY TO PROVIDE INTERCOUNTRY ADOP-
TION SERVICES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in
this title, no person may offer or provide adoption services
in connection with a Convention adoption unless that
person—
(1) is accredited by an accrediting entity in ac-
cordance with this title; or
(2) is providing such services through or under
the supervision and responsibility of an accredited
person.
(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to
any of the following persons:
(1) CERTAIN
SOCIAL
WORK
PROFESSIONALS
AND ORGANIZATIONS.—A social work professional or
organization conducting (and reporting on) home
studies on prospective adoptive parents or back-
ground studies on children in connection with adop-
tions, but not arranging or otherwise facilitating
adoptions subject to the Convention.
(2) ENTITIES
PROVIDING
CHILD
WELFARE
SERVICES.—A public or private entity intervening in
a Convention adoption to provide child welfare serv-
ices, but not itself arranging or facilitating the adop-
tion.
(3) ATTORNEYS PROVIDING LEGAL SERVICES.—
An attorney providing legal services in connection
with a Convention adoption, but not arranging, ei-
ther directly or through agents, the adoption or oth-
erwise providing adoption services in connection with
the adoption.
(4) PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE PARENTS ACTING
ON
OWN
BEHALF.—Prospective adoptive parents
when acting on their own behalf, if they are per-
mitted to do so under the law of the State in which
they reside.
SEC. 202. ACCREDITING ENTITIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) DESIGNATIONS
OF
ENTITIES.—The Sec-
retary of State shall designate as accrediting enti-
ties, and enter into agreements with, no more than
five nonprofit private entities that—
(A) have experience and expertise in devel-
oping and administering international adoption