4th District, Mich. and Washington, D.C., Nov 19 - In advance of National Adoption Day this Saturday, November 20, U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-MI, applauded passage of a resolution highlighting the need to encourage adoption and work to find solutions to the issues facing the nearly 114,000 children in foster care.

H.Res. 1648, which Camp co-sponsored, recognizes the importance of efforts to encourage adoption and honors National Adoption Day and Month, initiatives created in the same year Camp enacted his landmark adoption legislation, “Adoption and Safe Families Act.”

Since its inception, more than 30,000 adoptions have been finalized on National Adoption Day.

“As an avid adoption supporter, I believe that Congress must continue to promote the adoption of children into safe and loving homes,” Camp said in remarks submitted to the House. “Too many children are waiting in foster care programs throughout our country for families to adopt them. These children should be given every opportunity to lead successful lives, and one way to make that happen is to increase the adoption of these children into safe, permanent, loving homes.”


BACKGROUND: Camp is a long-time supporter of adoption and foster care issues both in Congress and before his first election, when he worked extensively with parents and children in the foster care system as an attorney in private practice.

In 1997 he introduced the Adoption and Safe Families Act, which put the health and safety of children first. It streamlines the adoption process to quickly help move more children from foster care into permanent adoptive homes. The law also offers incentives to states to increase the number of adoptions, and require them to more aggressively pursue adoption efforts when a child’s safety is in danger. This legislation also spurred National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month (November), while encouraging adoption throughout the year.

Camp most recently supported the 2008 bill, Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, which promotes adoption and guardianship of children in foster care through relatives, increases opportunities for youth once they leave foster care, and also improves education and health care.
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“Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of H. Res. 1648, a resolution that recognizes the importance of federal efforts to encourage adoption, and honors National Adoption Day and Month.

As an avid adoption supporter, I believe that Congress must continue to promote the adoption of children into safe and loving homes. Through our work in 1997 as part of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and more recently through the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, Congress made significant advances in providing more options for children in need.

Yet, far too many children, about 114,000, are waiting in foster care programs throughout our country for families to adopt them. These children should be given every opportunity to lead successful lives, and one way to make that happen is to increase the adoption of these children into safe, permanent, loving homes.

That is why National Adoption Day and Month are so important. This year, National Adoption Day will take place on November 20, 2010, and is designed for communities around the country to highlight adoptions. Over the last decade, these events have grown more and more successful. Last year there were events in all 50 states during which the adoptions of 4,800 children were finalized. Since its inception, more than 30,000 adoptions have been finalized on National Adoption Day.

I have been honored to participate in National Adoption Day over the past several years. To be part of such a special occasion reinforces the need for further efforts to move kids into adoptive homes.

I would also like to highlight the efforts of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) to promote adoption through its annual Angels in Adoption Awards Ceremony, held in October. This event also highlights those that have opened their hearts and their homes.

These initiatives are critically important to not only recognizing those who have promoted adoption, but also to highlight the need for greater action on this important topic.
Before I close, I would like to recognize the efforts of Representative Jim Oberstar, the sponsor of this resolution, for his work on behalf of adoption and children in foster care. Jim and I worked closely together on these important issues as co-chairs of Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. As an adoptive parent himself, he knows firsthand how life-changing adoption is, and with his experiences he has been an effective and tireless leader for children who need loving homes. His expertise will be missed, but his contributions in support of adoption will be lasting.

I would also like to congratulate and publicly thank Representative Ginny Brown-Waite for her role in promoting adoption and the wellbeing of all children. As a Member of the Ways and Means Committee, she has been an active supporter of efforts to promote adoption and child wellbeing, continuing her prior work as a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. Ginny is retiring at the end of this Congress, and her deep compassion for and active efforts on behalf of children who have been or are awaiting adoption will continue to inspire those of us she leaves behind. I wish both Jim and Ginny all the best in the years ahead and in thank both of them for their distinguished service to our families and country.”