Blunt, Klobuchar Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Group in Urging the Biden Administration to Help Unite Ukrainian Children with American Adoptive Families

WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), along with U.S. Representatives Robert Aderholt (Ala.) and Adam Smith (Wash.), co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Adoption Caucus, led a bipartisan, bicameral group of 73 colleagues in urging the Biden administration to take immediate action to unite Ukrainian children going through the adoption process with American adoptive or host families.

The lawmakers specifically called on the Biden administration to identify the approximately 300 Ukrainian children waiting to join American adoptive or host families and work with the Ukrainian government to find a way forward to allow children with in-process adoptions to travel to stay with host families in the United States instead of requiring these children to remain in other locations for displaced persons in Europe or in Ukraine.

“We write to advocate for immediately uniting American host families with Ukrainian children who are engaged in the adoption process, based on the shared belief that every child deserves a safe, stable, and loving place to call home,” the lawmakers wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Regardless of where children are within the adoption process, protecting vulnerable children should remain a top priority for Ukraine and the United States.”

“American families seeking to adopt or be host families for a Ukrainian child are eager to welcome these children into their home and provide the affection, stability, and safety all children deserve,” the lawmakers continued. “As you continue to lead the United States’ diplomatic response to the invasion of Ukraine, we request that you raise our concerns regarding these children in institutionalized care to the highest levels of our diplomatic engagement, so that they are prioritized in protection and response measures.”

As chairs of the Congressional Adoption Caucus, Blunt and Klobuchar have long worked to help American families looking to adopt children from overseas. Last May, they reintroduced bipartisan legislation to improve the intercountry adoption process. In 2020, Blunt and Klobuchar urged the Trump administration to use all available resources to ensure that intercountry adoptions proceed in a safe and timely manner during the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to Blunt and Klobuchar, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators John Thune (S.D.), Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Susan Collins (Maine), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), John Boozman (Ark.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Bob Casey (Pa.), James Inhofe (Okla.), Tina Smith (Minn.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Steve Daines (Mont.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Todd Young (Ind.), Angus King (Maine), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Bill Cassidy (La.), and Cory Booker (N.J.).

In addition to Aderholt and Smith, the letter was also signed by U.S. Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar (Fla.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.), Chuck Fleischmann (Tenn.), Betty McCollum (Minn.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Joseph Morelle (N.Y.), Brad Wenstrup (Ohio), Angie Craig (Minn.), Tom Emmer (Minn.), Mark DeSaulnier (Calif.), William Timmons (S.C.), Eric Swalwell (Calif.), Kevin Brady (Texas), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Deborah Ross (N.C.), Chris Stewart (Utah), Suzan DelBene (Wash.), Pete Stauber (Minn.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.), Ashley Hinson (Iowa), Tony Cardenas (Calif.), Barry Moore (Ala.), Mary Gay Scanlon (Pa.), Michelle Fischbach (Minn.), Bob Good (Va.), Trent Kelly (Miss.), Mike Johnson (La.), Rick Allen (Ga.), Michael McCaul (Texas), Blake Moore (Utah), Vicky Hartzler (Mo.), Julia Letlow (La.), Jamie Herrera Beutler (Wash.), Andrew Garbarino (N.Y.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Bill Huizenga (Mich.), Guy Reschenthaler (Pa.), and Mike Kelly (Pa.).