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Letter to Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia - Lift Adoption Ban that Has Left 200 American Families in Heartbreaking Situation

Letter

By: Tim Scott, Robert Aderholt, French Hill, John Garamendi, Doug Lamborn, Drew Ferguson, Barry Loudermilk, Luke Messer, James Comer, Jr., Jamie Raskin, Tim Walberg, Billy Long, Mark Walker, Jeff Fortenberry, Bob Latta, Greg Walden, Phil Roe, David Kustoff, Suzan DelBene, Richard Shelby, Michael Bennet, David Perdue, Pat Roberts, Ed Markey, Gary Peters, Roy Blunt, Richard Burr, Martin Heinrich, James Lankford, Lamar Alexander, Patty Murray, Gary Palmer, Bruce Westerman, Ed Royce, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Doug Collins, Jim Banks, Lynn Jenkins, Thomas Massie, Justin Amash, Keith Ellison, Walter Jones, Jr., Mark Meadows, Dan Donovan, Jr., Pat Tiberi, Brendan Boyle, Jim Cooper, Michael McCaul, Ron Kind, John Boozman, Chris Coons, Joe Donnelly, Sr., Mitch McConnell, Jr., Chris Van Hollen, Jr., Al Franken, Roger Wicker, Heidi Heitkamp, Sherrod Brown, Jeff Merkley, Ted Cruz, Mo Brooks, Steve Womack, Mike Thompson, Ed Perlmutter, Hank Johnson, Jr., Jackie Walorski, André Carson, John Yarmuth, Bill Huizenga, Brenda Lawrence, Trent Kelly, Robert Pittenger, Adrian Smith, Bill Johnson, Ryan Costello, Scott DesJarlais, Steve Cohen, Pramila Jayapal, Luther Strange III, Tom Carper, Chuck Grassley, Jerry Moran, Ben Cardin, Amy Klobuchar, Thad Cochran, Thom Tillis, Kirsten Gillibrand, Ron Wyden, John Cornyn, Maria Cantwell, Mike Rogers, Terri Sewell, Trent Franks, Jared Polis, Tom Rooney, Jody Hice, Susan Brooks, Kevin Yoder, Anthony Brown, Fred Upton, Ann Wagner, David Price, Kevin Cramer, Sean Maloney, Suzanne Bonamici, Tom Rice, Marsha Blackburn, Pete Sessions, Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr., Tom Cotton, Johnny Isakson, Todd Young, Rand Paul, Debbie Stabenow, Claire McCaskill, Steve Daines, Bob Menendez, Rob Portman, Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch
Date: May 26, 2017
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Minors and Children Foreign Affairs

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn,

We write to express concern regarding your recent decision to suspend all intercountry adoptions from Ethiopia. We would like to work with you to ensure that orphans in Ethiopia have the opportunity to find safe, loving, and permanent homes. The United States' relationship with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is founded upon economic growth, development, regional peace, and security. The United States and Ethiopia work together to enhance food security, improve health services, strengthen education, promote trade, and expand development. We have welcomed Ethiopia's commitment to security in the region, including through peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan.

In this spirit of cooperation, we request that you reconsider your April 21 decision to immediately halt all adoption processing, including cases in which the adoption was completed in the Federal First Instance Court. Your government's decision to suspend international adoptions on April 21, 2017, has left more than 200 U.S. families, and as many Ethiopian children, in a difficult and heartbreaking position. While we respect your government's decisions regarding future adoption policy in Ethiopia, we ask for your help in resolving expeditiously cases that were already underway on April 21. We are concerned that a failure to work with us to help these children join their adoptive families could have a negative impact on the relationship between our two governments.

The cases of approximately 30 children and their families stand out as particularly troubling. These children's adoptions were completed in the Federal First Instance Court, and the adoptive parents are legally responsible for the children's well-being under your country's laws. However, they have been unable to obtain the necessary paperwork so that the children can travel home to the United States to join their families. We do not believe the adoptive parents have received from your government legal justification for these delays, which have detrimental effects on the children, many of whom have had to return to orphanages.

We share your government's concern for the security and welfare of all children, and that is why we ask for your help in resolving this situation without delay. In many cases, children and families have already initiated the emotional bonding and attachment process. We fear breaking these attachments by delaying these adoptions may be detrimental to the children and adoptive families involved. Our constituents want to provide loving, safe families to those in need and simply wish to bring their adopted children home in a timely fashion and in accordance with the law.

For these reasons, we ask you and your government to work with us and the U.S. Department of State to resolve this situation without delay. Once again, we respect your government's right to make decisions regarding future policy on international adoptions. However, for cases already underway on April 21, we ask your government to help these children join their adoptive parents by allowing their adoption cases to continue moving forward.

Thank you for your immediate attention to this important matter. We look forward to working with the Ethiopian Government to unite American families with the children they have legally adopted.


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