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BRADLEY: 'ROMANIA MUST COMPLETE INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION CASES'

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BRADLEY: 'ROMANIA MUST COMPLETE INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION CASES'

Congressional Desk
Supports Resolution on House Floor urging Romania to process pending adoption cases.

(Washington, D.C.) - This week, First District Congressman Jeb Bradley spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives in support of H.Res. 578, a resolution urging Romania to complete its processing of some 1,100 pending international adoption cases. The resolution also encourages Romania to remove barriers to domestic and international adoption in order to improve the lives of the approximately 37,000 orphaned or abandoned children living in Romania today. Bradley is an original cosponsor of the resolution, which passed the House unanimously last night.

"There are approximately 200 American parents in over 40 states that have patiently waited to be united with their adopted Romanian children. These families have made an emotional and loving commitment to these orphans and have waited for several years for the process to be completed. It is about time that Romania processes these cases once and for all," stated Bradley.

Bradley has been working with the Schaaf Family of Stratham since 2004 to complete the adoption of their daughter, Natasha, from Romania. After completing all of the necessary paperwork to adopt Natasha, Allyson and Michael Schaaf ran into a mass of red tape with the implementation of a new law that states that Romanian children can only be adopted by foreigners if they are their grandparents and a search for Romanian adoptive families has failed.



Although Romania ordered a moratorium on all international adoption cases in order to meet requirements for ascension to the European Union (EU) in 2001, the country still continued to accept and process new international adoption applications - even completing several cases and allowing the children to leave Romania and join their adoptive families. In January 2005, a Romanian law took effect that permanently banned all international adoptions. Bradley and others have been lobbying for the country to resolve any adoptions that began before the law took effect, including the Schaafs' case.

Later this month, Bradley and Allyson Schaaf will travel to the headquarters of the EU in Brussels, Belgium to meet with EU and Romanian officials about the status of pending international adoption cases.
2006 Apr 7