U.S. Passes Resolution on Adoptions in Romania

The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution urging the Romanian government to "amend its child welfare and adoption laws to decrease barriers to adoption, both domestically and inter-country, including by allowing inter-country adoption by persons other than biological grandparents."

The resolution was passed on April 6, a press release states. Following the implementation of a new adoption law in January 2005, Romania completely banned international adoptions.

The U.S. resolution requests that the European Union and its member states "not impede the government of Romania's efforts to place orphaned or abandoned children in permanent homes in a manner that is consistent with Romania's obligations under the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption."

Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, Senator Sam Brownback, said the Romanian child welfare system, including its ban on inter-country adoption, has been hailed by some as a model for protecting orphaned or abandoned children.

"In reality, the Romanian government's own statistics and reports from concerned individuals in Romania indicate that the children's situations have actually worsened since passage of the new laws in 2004," said Brownback, adding that the members of the U.S. Congress and the Helsinki Commission will not stand idly by as these children suffer and they will also vehemently oppose any effort to replicate the Romanian model in other countries.

The resolution was sponsored by the commission's co-chairman, Republican Christopher Smith, who after the vote said he is very pleased that the House of Representatives has forcefully spoken about the need to provide permanent homes and families for tens of thousands of children in Romania.

"It is my fervent hope that passage of this resolution will cause the Romanian authorities, and those in the European Union to whom they look for advice, take a new stand for innocent babies and children," said Smith.

The resolution notes that unsubstantiated allegations have been made about the fate of children adopted from Romania and the qualifications and motives of those who adopt internationally and that there is no EU law or regulation restricting inter-country adoptions to biological grandparents or requiring that restrictive laws be passed as a prerequisite for accession to the EU.

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