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 Govern-
ments of Ukraine and of the United States can be substantially ad-
dressed. 
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 or-
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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 traf-
ficking of children; 
Whereas the Government of Ukraine has not acceded to the 
Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, and the cir-
cumstances 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 pro-
tect 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 adop-
tion proceedings and protocols for the placement or adop-
tion of its children with foreign nationals, on March 13, 
2022; 
Whereas the Government of Ukraine had very significant rea-
sons to suspend intercountry adoption in March 2022, in-
cluding 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 dif-
ficulty of conducting official business to protect and en-
sure 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 re-
stored 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 sus-
pension of the processing of adoptions by foreign nation-
als, including United States citizens, nor has it identified 
a time-frame or protocol for doing so: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) urges the Government of Ukraine to review 
and modify its decision to suspend adoptions and 
preadoptive placements of Ukrainian children by 
United States citizens, and to actually and in good 
faith resume such adoptions in cases where the mu-
tual concerns of the Government of the United 
States and of Ukraine to protect and ensure the best 
interests of the child can be substantially addressed; 
(2) recommends as particularly urgent cases in 
which prospective adoptive United States parents 
have already complied with the requirements under 
Ukrainian domestic law for the adoption of Ukrain-
ian children and that process has confirmed the le-
gitimacy of the adoptability of these children, and 
cases in which the prospective adoptive United 
States parents have completed the process set forth 
under domestic Ukrainian law and have had their 
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•HRES 915 IH 
dossiers vetted and approved by the Ukrainian Gov-
ernment before the suspension of the adoptions by 
foreign nations on March 13, 2022; 
(3) recommends that in those cases in which 
Ukrainian children had already participated in 
‘‘hosting’’ programs facilitated by the Government of 
Ukraine and placed with individual families within 
the United States prior to the suspension of adop-
tions by foreign nationals, that regarding those chil-
dren which have already been determined by the 
Ukrainian Government to be legally adoptable, the 
United States parents be permitted to initiate the 
process for adoption and be permitted to receive the 
preadoptive placement of such children during the 
Ukrainian domestic adoption process; and 
(4) recommends that in those cases in which 
Ukrainian children had already participated in 
‘‘hosting’’ programs facilitated by the Government of 
Ukraine and placed with individual families within 
the United States prior to the suspension of adop-
tions by foreign nationals, that regarding those chil-
dren whose status regarding legal adoptability re-
mains uncertain at this time, the United States par-
ents be permitted to make application to receive 
such children in preadoptive placements until the 
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•HRES 915 IH 
Ukrainian Government either establishes their 
adoptability or locates or identifies their biological 
parents. 
Æ 
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