The Congressional Coalition on Adoption has invited the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to conduct a briefing of Congressional staff on issues related to intercountry adoption in Vietnam, Guatemala along with issues related to intercountry adoption in general. The briefing is scheduled for this Friday, August 1, 2008 in the U.S. Capitol Building, LBJ Room at 10:00 a.m.
Given the pending suspension of intercountry adoption and related services in Vietnam and the continuing issues of concern in Guatemala, Joint Council urges participation by all Congressional staffers. It is critically important that staffers participate in the U.S. Government’s role in international children’s services, specifically intercountry adoption. Given the impact of current issues on children and families, Joint Council urges 100% participation by Congressional staffers in this very important briefing.
In order to gain the largest possible participation, please contact your Congressional Representatives and Senators’ offices and urge staffers to participate in the briefing.
If you want to be kept abreast of what is happening with VN-US negotiations, I highly recommend making contact with your elected officials. Call their office and ask for the person in charge of international adoption issues. (Get this person’s name and check back with them often!) Keep your request simple – just ask them to send a representative from the office to this meeting and share with you any information they gain. (It’s likely they will tell you there is no new news. That’s okay, you just want to be kept in the loop!) I’d also like to suggest that when you call you emphasize the need for good ethical procedures that protect the child, birth family and adoptive families. We don’t want the fastest solution, we want the best solution! The easiest way to get a list of all your senators and congressmen is to go to Congress.org and type in your zip code. (congress.org is not a government-sponsored website)
No responses yet