Intercountry Adoption Information Act of 2019

Bill: 116-s-938
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]
Introduced: 2019-03-28
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Adoption and foster care

Congressional oversight

Department of State

Government information and archives

Immigration status and procedures

International law and treaties
Latest action: action_date: 2019-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-03-28
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Intercountry Adoption Information Act of 2019</b></p> <p>This bill directs the Department of State to include additional information in its annual report to Congress on intercountry adoptions. The reports shall contain (1) a list of countries that have laws that prevent or prohibit adoptions by American parents, (2) various information related to such prohibitions, and (3) what steps the State Department has&nbsp;taken to help such countries reopen intercountry adoptions.<br /></p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 938 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 28, 2019 Mr. Burr (for himself, Mr. Cardin , Mr. Blunt , Ms. Klobuchar , Mr. Tillis , Mr. Brown , and Mr. Wicker ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL 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. Short title This Act may be cited as the Intercountry Adoption Information Act of 2019 . 2. Additional information to be included in annual report on intercountry adoptions (a) Report elements Section 104(b) of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 ( 42 U.S.C. 14914(b) ) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: (9) A list of countries that established or maintained a significant law or regulation that prevented or prohibited adoptions involving immigration to the United States, regardless of whether such adoptions occurred under the Convention. (10) For each country listed under paragraph (9), the date on which the law or regulation was initially implemented. (11) Information on efforts taken with respect to a country listed under paragraph (9) to encourage the resumption of halted or stalled adoption proceedings involving immigration to the United States, regardless of whether the adoptions would have occurred under the Convention. (12) Information on any action the Secretary carried out that prevented, prohibited, or halted any adoptions involving immigration to the United States, regardless of whether the adoptions occurred under the Convention. (13) For each country listed pursuant to paragraph (12), a description of— (A) what policies, procedures, resources, and safeguards the country lacks, or other shortcomings or circumstances, that caused the action to be carried out; (B) what progress the country has made to alleviate those shortcomings; and (C) what steps the Department of State has taken in order to assist the country to reopen intercountry adoptions. . (b) Public availability of report Section 104 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 ( 42 U.S.C. 14914 ) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (c) Public availability of report The Secretary shall make the information contained in the report required under subsection (a) available to the public on the website of the Department of State. . (c) Privacy concerns In complying with the amendments made by subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary shall avoid, to the maximum extent practicable, disclosing any personally identifiable information relating to United States citizens or the adoptees of such citizens. (d) Conforming amendment Section 104(a) of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 ( 42 U.S.C. 14914(a) ) is amended by striking International Relations and inserting Foreign Affairs . (e) Application date The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to reports required to be submitted under section 104 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 ( 42 U.S.C. 14914 ) beginning on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.