Intercountry Adoption Advisory Committee Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 117 To establish an Intercountry Adoption Advisory Committee, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 28, 2021 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To establish an Intercountry Adoption Advisory Committee, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Intercountry Adoption 4 Advisory Committee Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State shall 7 establish within the Bureau of Consular Affairs an inter- 8 country adoption advisory committee (the ‘‘Advisory Com- 9 mittee’’). 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S117.IS S117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 117 IS (b) DUTIES.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 2 consult the Advisory Committee, as appropriate, on 3 intercountry adoption, including on the development, 4 refinement, and implementation of policies and pro- 5 grams pertaining to intercountry adoption. 6 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Advisory Com- 7 mittee shall develop, at the request of the Secretary, 8 recommendations for improvements to intercountry 9 adoption. 10 (3) PERIODIC REPORTS.—The Advisory Com- 11 mittee shall periodically submit to the Secretary of 12 State— 13 (A) reports on matters identified by the 14 Secretary; and 15 (B) reports on other matters identified by 16 a majority of the members of the Advisory 17 Committee. 18 (4) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Advisory Com- 19 mittee shall submit to the Secretary of State an an- 20 nual report providing information on the activities, 21 findings, and recommendations of the Advisory Com- 22 mittee for the preceding year. Not later than 180 23 days after the date that the Secretary receives the 24 annual report, the Secretary shall publish a public 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S117.IS S117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 117 IS version describing the Advisory Committee’s activi- 1 ties and such related matters as would be inform- 2 ative to the public consistent with the policy of sec- 3 tion 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. The re- 4 port required under this paragraph may be sub- 5 mitted as part of the Department of State’s annual 6 adoption report. 7 (5) FEEDBACK.—Not later than 90 days after 8 receiving recommendations transmitted by the Advi- 9 sory Committee under paragraph (4), the Secretary 10 of State shall respond in writing to the Advisory 11 Committee with feedback on each of the rec- 12 ommendations, an action plan to implement any of 13 the recommendations with which the Secretary con- 14 curs, and a justification for why any of the rec- 15 ommendations have been rejected. 16 (6) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later 17 than 30 days after providing written feedback to the 18 Advisory Committee under paragraph (5), the Sec- 19 retary of State shall notify Congress of the feedback. 20 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—Not later than 180 days after es- 21 tablishing the Advisory Committee under subsection (a), 22 the Secretary of State shall appoint the members of the 23 Advisory Committee. The members so appointed shall in- 24 clude groups representing adoption service providers, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S117.IS S117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 117 IS adoptive families, adoptees, adoption attorneys, social 1 workers, and representatives of U.S. Citizen and Immigra- 2 tion Services (USCIS) and the Department of State. 3 Members shall be appointed or reappointed by the Sec- 4 retary every two years. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S117.IS S117 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS