Intercountry Adoption Information Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 938 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. 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 adop- tions from countries which have significantly reduced adoption rates involving immigration to the United States, 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 Information Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S938.IS S938 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 938 IS SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN 1 ANNUAL REPORT ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOP- 2 TIONS. 3 (a) REPORT ELEMENTS.—Section 104(b) of the 4 Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14914(b)) 5 is amended by adding at the end the following new para- 6 graphs: 7 ‘‘(9) A list of countries that established or 8 maintained a significant law or regulation that pre- 9 vented or prohibited adoptions involving immigration 10 to the United States, regardless of whether such 11 adoptions occurred under the Convention. 12 ‘‘(10) For each country listed under paragraph 13 (9), the date on which the law or regulation was ini- 14 tially implemented. 15 ‘‘(11) Information on efforts taken with respect 16 to a country listed under paragraph (9) to encourage 17 the resumption of halted or stalled adoption pro- 18 ceedings involving immigration to the United States, 19 regardless of whether the adoptions would have oc- 20 curred under the Convention. 21 ‘‘(12) Information on any action the Secretary 22 carried out that prevented, prohibited, or halted any 23 adoptions involving immigration to the United 24 States, regardless of whether the adoptions occurred 25 under the Convention. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S938.IS S938 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 938 IS ‘‘(13) For each country listed pursuant to para- 1 graph (12), a description of— 2 ‘‘(A) what policies, procedures, resources, 3 and safeguards the country lacks, or other 4 shortcomings or circumstances, that caused the 5 action to be carried out; 6 ‘‘(B) what progress the country has made 7 to alleviate those shortcomings; and 8 ‘‘(C) what steps the Department of State 9 has taken in order to assist the country to re- 10 open intercountry adoptions.’’. 11 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.—Section 104 12 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 13 14914) is amended by adding at the end the following new 14 subsection: 15 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.—The Sec- 16 retary shall make the information contained in the report 17 required under subsection (a) available to the public on 18 the website of the Department of State.’’. 19 (c) PRIVACY CONCERNS.—In complying with the 20 amendments made by subsections (a) and (b), the Sec- 21 retary shall avoid, to the maximum extent practicable, dis- 22 closing any personally identifiable information relating to 23 United States citizens or the adoptees of such citizens. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S938.IS S938 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 938 IS (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 104(a) of 1 the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 2 14914(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘International Rela- 3 tions’’ and inserting ‘‘Foreign Affairs’’. 4 (e) APPLICATION DATE.—The amendments made by 5 this section shall apply with respect to reports required 6 to be submitted under section 104 of the Intercountry 7 Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14914) beginning on the 8 date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this 9 Act. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S938.IS S938 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS