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Encouraging Foster Care AdoptionsThank you, Judge Nash, for that kind introduction, and for your leadership on this important issue. It's good to be with you here in Los Angeles to celebrate National Adoption Day, and thanks to each of you for coming here today. I'd also like to thank all of the partners across the countries that have helped make this day possible. Every year, American families adopt tens of thousands of children, many of whom come from America's foster care system. There are currently more than 565,000 children in foster care in the United States. Of these, more than 131,000 children are still waiting to be adopted, and have yet to find a permanent home. That's thousands of toddlers, teens, brothers and sisters, children from every race and every background, waiting for a generous parent to open their hearts and their homes. Good foster care is essential, yet all these children still urgently need the love and the stability of a permanent home. Promoting adoption isn't a partisan issue - it's one where all Americans of both political parties can agree. Every child deserves to be a part of a loving family, and finding that home will help determine a more hopeful course for their entire life. For all of us who support the value of every human life, we have a solemn responsibility to encourage lives of hope, health, and promise for all children. That's why this Administration is not accepting the status quo - we're acting for change, acting boldly and with energy and focus. We're working to encourage adoption on several fronts. At the Department of Health and Human Services, I recently announced nearly $4 million in awards to 13 organizations to help eliminate barriers to adoption for children with special needs as part of the Adoption Opportunities Program. In July, President Bush launched a new Web site, Adopt-U-S-Kids-Dot-Org (adoptUSkids.org), which features photographs and biographies of more than 6,500 children in foster care. Developed as a public-private partnership between the Administration for Children and Families of my department and the Adoption Exchange Association, this site is designed to raise public awareness, recruit adoptive families for waiting children and supply information and referral services to prospective families. And just yesterday, I announced the Adoption Excellence Awards for 2002, honoring adoption heroes around the nation. Common sense and social science lead to the same conclusion: Children thrive in secure, loving and stable homes. Providing that kind of home through adoption can be a long and a time-consuming process, one full of challenges for new parents. Yet adoption changes a single life forever, and it brings countless blessings to the lives of parents and children. I'd like to share with you the story of Mitch Pearlstein and his wife, Diane, who live in Minneapolis. They adopted their daughter, Nicole, when she was five years old. Nicole was born to a mom who used crack cocaine during her pregnancy, and a dad who was a drug dealer. Nicole lived in more than a dozen foster care and emergency placement homes before Mitch and Diane adopted her. Here's what Mitch says now: "Adopting Nicole has been the most difficult thing we've done in our lives, period. And adopting Nicole has been the best thing we've done in our lives, period." I know the people here today understand what this new commitment means - and on behalf of President Bush, I thank them for their selflessness and their compassion. Now I'd like to introduce Bruce Willis. You all know Bruce for his famous roles in such great films as "The Sixth Sense," "Pulp Fiction," and "Armageddon" - and I'm sure some of the kids here know him as Russell from "The Kid." He's played a lot of tough guys, but I also know him as a man of strong compassion as the National Spokesman for Children in Foster Care. You know, Bruce and I actually have a lot in common. We both want to encourage adoption. We've both been appointed by President Bush. And just like Bruce, I spend most of my free time saving the world. So, Bruce, come speak to us now. Last Revised: November 27, 2002 |
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