Intercountry Adoption Advisory Committee Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 363 To establish an Intercountry Adoption Advisory Committee, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 6, 2019 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. CASEY, Mr. INHOFE, and Mr. BOOZMAN) 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 may 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 00:45 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S363.IS S363 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 363 IS (b) DUTIES.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Advisory Committee is 2 established under subsection (a), the Secretary of 3 State shall consult the Advisory Committee, as ap- 4 propriate, on intercountry adoption, including on the 5 development, refinement, and implementation of 6 policies and programs pertaining to intercountry 7 adoption. 8 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Advisory Com- 9 mittee shall develop, at the request of the Secretary, 10 recommendations for improvements to intercountry 11 adoption. 12 (3) PERIODIC REPORTS.—The Advisory Com- 13 mittee shall periodically submit to the Secretary of 14 State— 15 (A) reports on matters identified by the 16 Secretary; and 17 (B) reports on other matters identified by 18 a majority of the members of the Advisory 19 Committee. 20 (4) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Advisory Com- 21 mittee shall submit to the Secretary of State an an- 22 nual report providing information on the activities, 23 findings, and recommendations of the Advisory Com- 24 mittee for the preceding year. Not later than 180 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S363.IS S363 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 363 IS days after the date that the Secretary receives the 1 annual report, the Secretary shall publish a public 2 version describing the Advisory Committee’s activi- 3 ties and such related matters as would be inform- 4 ative to the public consistent with the policy of sec- 5 tion 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. 6 (5) FEEDBACK.—Not later than 90 days after 7 receiving recommendations transmitted by the Advi- 8 sory Committee under paragraph (4), the Secretary 9 of State shall respond in writing to the Advisory 10 Committee with feedback on each of the rec- 11 ommendations, an action plan to implement any of 12 the recommendations with which the Secretary con- 13 curs, and a justification for why any of the rec- 14 ommendations have been rejected. 15 (6) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later 16 than 30 days after providing written feedback to the 17 Advisory Committee under paragraph (5), the Sec- 18 retary of State shall notify Congress of the feedback. 19 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—Not later than 180 days after es- 20 tablishing the Advisory Committee under subsection (a), 21 the Secretary of State shall appoint the members of the 22 Advisory Committee. The members so appointed shall in- 23 clude groups representing adoption service providers, 24 adoptive families, adoptees, adoption attorneys, social 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S363.IS S363 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 363 IS workers, and representatives of U.S. Citizen and Immigra- 1 tion Services (USCIS) and the Department of State. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S363.IS S363 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS