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    "ocrText": "FOIA Number:\n2006-1733-F\nFOIA\nMARKER\nThis is not a textual record. This is used as an\nadministrative marker by the William J. Clinton\nPresidential Library Staff.\nCollection/Record Group:\nClinton Presidential Records\nSubgroup/Office of Origin:\nFirst Lady's Office\nSeries/Staff Member:\nSpeechwriting\nSubseries:\nLaura Schiller: HRC Speeches 9/95 - 11/96, Clinton/Gore Speeches 1996\nOA/ID Number:\n24622\nFolderID:\nFolder Title:\nHRC Speeches 9/95 - 12/95: [11/13 National Adoption Month Ceremony]\nStack:\nRow:\nSection:\nShelf:\nPosition:\nS\n61\n2\n4\n1\nNat'l Adoption Month\nCeremony 11/13\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nOffice of the First Lady\nFor Immediate Release\nNovember 13, 1995\nREMARKS BY FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\nAT NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH EVENT\nWASHINGTON, D.C.\nMRS. CLINTON: Good Afternoon. Thank you. Thank you.\nPlease be seated and please be welcomed to the White House. This\nis a very special day for all of us. And there have been many\nvery important events that have occurred here in the East Room of\nthe White House, but I honestly don't believe there is any that\nis more important then what we are doing by celebrating National\nAdoption Month. And November is a particularly appropriate time\nto highlight the importance of adoption in this country.\nIt's hard to believe but Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season\nare a little more than a week away. And during this season we\ntraditionally focus on family. And we recognize how much we need\nand depend on the love of our parents and spouses and children\nand other relatives. So for all of you who are gathered here to\nbegin this celebration, that we hope will ignite a fire of\nenthusiasm throughout the country about adoption, I want to say\nthank you.\nThere are several members of Congress here and I am\ndelighted that all of you could join us. Secretary of Health and\nHuman Services, Donna Shalala, a long time advocate of family and\nchildren services is here with us because all of us believe that\nthere isn't anything more important than our families and that\nthe families formed by adoption are special and deserve the\nsupport of all the rest of us. Because we want to emphasize that\nthere's a need in our country to bring the richness and love and\nsupport and guidance and discipline and attention of family life\nto every one of America's waiting children.\nAs we go into the Holiday Season, I hope every American will\nrecognize that there are tens of thousands of children waiting\nfor the love of a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, to have\ngrandparents and aunts and uncles, to have a dog or a cat like\nSocks. Tens of thousands of those children, every single day,\nare growing up without mothers or fathers to help teach them, to\nnurture them and to tell them that they are special. We know\n1\nthey are, but they need someone in their family to tell them\nthat.\nOften when we think of adoption, we have a picture in our\nmind of infants being welcomed into a family. But adoption today\ninvolves children and teenagers of all ages, backgrounds and\ncircumstances. In this room today are adoptive families and\nwaiting children who demonstrate the range of adoptive\nexperiences. Adoption has provided a new beginning for school-\naged children, for adolescents, for children with physical and\nemotional and educational disabilities, children of different\nraces and cultures, and brothers and sisters who want to remain\ntogether.\nLet me give you a picture of the children in America who are\nwaiting. Six out of ten of them are school-aged children. Four\nout of ten are white. Four out of ten are African-American. The\nrest, Hispanic, Native American and every other race and color\nthat you can imagine. Two out of three have special needs. Each\none of these children has the capacity to love, to bring new joy\nand energy into a family. Most of you who are here, the families\nthat already know that, are living proof of how adoption can be\nsuccessful and emotionally rewarding. But we need more of you.\nI recently met with Shane Salter, a young man who grew up in\nfoster care without ever being placed in a permanent family. He\ndescribed what that meant to him. He talked about his continued\nlonging for parents who would not only care for him but who could\nbe grandparents to his own children. Adoption can change lives,\nnot only of those in the immediate family, but through\ngenerations.\nI know that adoption in America today can by frustrating and\nemotionally draining and expensive. A newspaper column I wrote\nabout adoption this summer generated more responses than any\nother I've written. I meet people throughout the country who\ncome up and say they have read my column and they're an adoptive\nparent. Or they have read my column and they're a foster parent.\nOr they read my column, and they were adopted. Prospective\nparents have written to tell me of the immense obstacles, the red\ntape, and the costs, particularly the legal costs, that have led\nthem to despair of ever being able to adopt a child.\nI want you to know that the President is committed to easing\nand encouraging the adoption process. And I recently convened a\ngroup of experts to discuss how to make the government a better\npartner, and more responsive to the needs of prospective parents\nand children. In particular, the administration is working hard\nto ease the adoption of minority and special-needs children. The\nPresident is committed to enforcing the Multi-Ethnic Placement\nAct which prohibits adoption agencies from denying the placement\n2\nof a child solely on the basis of race, color, or national origin\nof a child or prospective adoptive parents.\nThe administration also championed -- and the first bill the\nPresident signed -- was the Family and Medical Leave Act which\nensures that parents can take time off when they adopt a child\nwithout fearing the loss of their jobs. And the administration\nhas launched a public education campaign about adoption. A\ncampaign in which I am very honored to participate. These are\njust some of the many initiatives, both in the government and in\nthe private sector, and in partnership between both the public\nand private sectors, that are designed to support the placement\nof children in loving homes.\nBut all of your efforts and all of the administration's\nefforts to strengthen our families and children could be\njeopardized by actions in Congress. The government currently\nprovides essential recruitment and training services for\nprospective adoptive parents. As well as subsidies to families\nwho adopt special-needs children, those living with Cerebral\nPalsy, or HIV, or some other disability, since those children\nhave large medical and educational expenses. Many of the\nchildren who are special-needs, when they are adopted into\nfamilies, bring with them such large medical costs, that if\nMedicaid is cut back substantially, the medical insurance for\nmany of those special-needs children will no longer be available\nafter they are adopted. Which would be a great tragedy, because\nthere are so many parents who just need a little bit of financial\nhelp with the costs. Need a little bit of subsidy but then do\nneed continuing medical help to be able to open their lives to\nthese children. So we must all who care about adoption know that\nputting our nation's economic house in order does not mean\nsweeping out compassion and caring for our neediest children and\nfamilies, making it less likely they will ever have a house of\ntheir own.\nWe have to work together to improve our adoption system. In\nthe Proclamation for National Adoption Month the President said\nthat citizens from all communities and organizations from the\npublic and private sectors must join together to renew our\ncommitment to finding permanent homes for each one of America's\nchildren. Two of the private foundations doing this important\nwork are the Ann E. Casey Foundation which is active in five\nstates, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Families For Kids,\nactive in ten states.\nI wish we could re-double, re-triple our efforts. I believe\nthat if we really put our minds to it, if we could recruit\nqualified volunteers out of our judicial system and our legal\nsystem and our social work system, to be assigned to each child\nwho is waiting to be adopted. We could make it possible for\nthousands and thousands more children to be adopted by this time\n3\nnext year. We have to put our minds to it but there is no more\nimportant task than trying to do everything in our power to\nensure that every child has a family.\nPerhaps no person has been a more effective advocate for\nchildren waiting to be adopted, than our next speaker. The\nfounder of Wendy's, the star of T.V., Dave Thomas started\nspeaking out on adoption in 1990 when he became the national\nspokesperson for the White House Initiative on Adoption. As an\nadopted child himself, he says he would not have become the\nsuccessful father, husband and businessman he is today, had he\nnot been able to grow up in a supportive family.\nThe Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption seeks to make\nadoption more affordable, streamline the adoption process, and\neducate the public about the potential joys of adoption. Mr.\nThomas believes that no child is unadoptable and every child\ndeserves a home and a loving family. But he knows, as we all do,\nthat we have to overcome some misconceptions about adoption. We\nhave to make it very clear that the children who are waiting are\nchildren just like yours and mine and every other child who goes\nto school and plays in playgrounds. They are America's children.\nAnd we have to make it clear to America that they would benefit\ngreatly from having one of these children in their lives.\nMr. Thomas has also been a leader in the campaign to\nencourage corporations to extend maternity benefits to adoptive\nparents. This is so important. We do a terrible job in our\ncountry of ensuring maternity benefits in nearly every instance\nin most of the businesses in our country. It's important for new\nparents to be able to spend time with that child. Think how\nimportant it is for a new child coming into a strange home,\nfilled with anticipation to have some time where he is the center\nof that family's attention, and that at least one parent gets a\nchance to spend that time with the child.\nWithin Wendy's, adoption benefits are paid leave and\nfinancial assistance with adoption costs. Available to employees\nwho have been with the company for at least one year. All of us\nare very proud of Mr. Thomas' leadership and grateful to him for\nit.\nFollowing him to the podium will be the Reverend Wayne\nThompson, President of One Church-One Child. This is one of the\ngreat ideas in America. And I wish every church would join One\nChurch-One Child. Because through One Church-One Child, we have\nseen literally hundreds of thousands of children being given\nhomes who might otherwise not have been known to anyone. And the\nchurch serves as a back-up extended family for the members who\nadopt children. Through this work, thousands of African-American\nchildren have found loving homes and supportive church\ncongregations.\n4\nYou will also be hearing from the Marshall Family. The\nproud parents of two beautiful little girls, they have\nexperienced so much love and happiness with their two daughters,\nthat they have spent considerable time promoting adoption in\ntheir own community. In fact, they are the family featured in\nthe posters supporting adoption that appear in Wendy's\nrestaurants around the world.\nAnd then finally, we will hear from a young woman who knows\nexactly what's at stake. Deanna is 13. She lived in a foster\nhome for seven years before moving into a group home in Topeka,\nKansas. Though she no longer lives with her two foster sisters,\nshe is still close to them and she is still waiting. She is a\ncheerleader, an avid reader, and a budding poet -- and a lovely\nyoung woman based on my experience with her a few minutes ago.\nSo these people who will be speaking to you have the\nexperience that we would like to see transmitted to every\nAmerican. They know what it's like to form a family by choice.\nTo be able to say, I choose you to be my son or daughter. And in\nreturn to know what it's like as a child to have the love and\nsupport that can only come from one's own family. So please join\nme in welcoming Mr. Dave Thomas.\"\nDave Thomas: \"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I thank\nyou Mrs. Clinton. I asked Mrs. Clinton about, something like\nabout a year ago, if she would help. And she said, \"I will.\"\nAnd that's the reason why we're here today so I just want\neveryone to know that Mrs. Clinton and the President are\ndedicated to adoption. So let's give them a big hand, because\nthey did it.\nLet me tell you why I'm interested in adoption. I was\nadopted as Mrs. Clinton said, and my mother, my foster mother\ndied when I was about five years old. And I was born out of\nwedlock and I had nothing to do with it -- trust me. And I had\nnothing to do about being adopted, it wasn't my fault. But I was\nadopted and I had six, no not six, I had three more foster\nmothers and step-mothers and then I left when I was 15 years old.\nBut I do know how important it is, a family. And all through my\nlife I've always been envious of mothers and fathers. Because\nI've never seen my mother and father. And if you have never seen\nyour mother and father and the nurturing, you know everyone\ndeserves the love and nurturing, when you grow up. I never had\nit, and I've always been kind of jealous of it.\nAnd my kids, I have five children, fourteen grandchildren,\nand I probably spoil them for that reason. Now whether that's\ngood or bad, but it's one of the things that, I wasn't spoiled.\nBut I know one thing, I did have a grandmother that did care for\n5\nme. She was my foster grandmother and I didn't find out until I\nwas 13 years old that I was adopted, and I was really hurt. So I\ndo know how important it is and I feel so sorry for these\nchildren today, in particular, parents who don't take care of\ntheir children. I mean I just think it's a crime. I think we\nneed to have an education to educate these parents about\nresponsibility. I don't know how you feel about it but I'm real\nstrong on responsibility.\nYou know, in foster care, there is almost a half-million\nchildren in foster care right now. And there's about 100,000\nwaiting to be adopted. And when we started the foundation, we\nsaid, well, we need to have some goals. And our objective was to\nmake adoption affordable and take the red tape out of adoption,\nand so that's what we've really been trying to do. And so the\nfirst thing we did, we put adoption benefits right with the\nmaternity benefits. And I want everybody to understand it's kind\nof a no-brainer. If you have maternity benefits, add adoption\nbenefits. And we've done that--\nI'm even trying to get the federal government to do the\nsame. Right Mrs. Clinton? Mrs. Clinton said she's going support\nme. Congressmen? -- Women? -- Senators? Don't forget now,\nbecause it's really important. But right now we have, in about\nthirty-five states, we have adoption benefits. And in cities and\nin corporations. We wrote all kinds of letters and it's really\nthe right thing to do. We have not said how much, but just to\nhelp.\nAnd we also have a bill in the Congress to a tax-credit.\nAnd I think it's something for -- adoption is expensive. And we\nneed to help people to adopt as Mrs. Clinton said. And I hope\nthis bill -- Debby -- is going to work out real well. I hope\neverybody supports it because it's really an important thing.\nAnd then, I think that the next thing that we've been\nworking on, is that we've tried something that we call a\ncomputer. Does everybody understand what computers are? And Jan\nHeffner is the Director of the Dave Thomas Foundation -- stand up\nJan -- Jan has been working on this real, real hard.\nYou know what it is, it's really children with willing\nparents. Now the children need to be matched with willing\nparents. And what's happened is IBM, AT&T and Marriot have\nhelped with some government agencies working to make this happen.\nAnd the first example case of adoption's waiting children on-line\nthrough the National Adoption Center, there was 100,000\ninquiries. Am I right Jan? Over 100,000. So Internet is really\nsomething that we're really trying to work on.\n6\nWe're trying to do everything we can to make it possible and\nremind people about adoption. Because, what happens, these kids\nare out there, and they go from foster home to foster home. I\nwas in Chicago not too long ago and a little boy, six years old,\nwas in sixteen foster homes. Can you imagine that? I mean\nthat's not fair. So that's what we're really trying to do and if\nwe can get the federal government -- that would really be a good\nexample to put in for all the federal workers adoption benefits.\nDon't you think so?\"\nMrs. Clinton: \"I do.\"\nDave Thomas: \"So, I'd just like to say this, I'd like to\njust say this. I think this is really a great event. I think\nit's something that we need to work on. And the more awareness\nand the more we talk about it. And I just keep talking about,\nand some people like to listen to me and some don't. But I'm\ngoing to keep talking because that -- every boy and every girl\ndeserves a loving family. So thank you, and god bless you.\nWayne Thompson: \"Thank you Mrs. Clinton for the opportunity\nto be a part of this historic day, and for your help in raising\nthe awareness of the need for adoptions in our nation. The\nimportance of adoption of children throughout our country can\nnever be overstated. For these children are fortunate enough to\nhave loving, permanent homes, in which they have been nurtured\nand cared for. They're led into adulthood with the support of\nparents which every child is entitled to and every child\nrequires.\nThe family values are embodied by those parents who choose\nto bring children into their families and experience the joys of\nparenthood. The mission of the National One Church-One Child is\nto challenge each and every African-American congregation to\nadopt one African-American child. We believe that this furthers\nour need in our community for taking responsibility for our\nchildren. Believe me, this plan works.\nIn our church, we have had over sixteen adoptions since my\ninvolvement in this worthwhile program. In fact, there's one\nlittle boy who thinks he's pastor. When he was adopted I noticed\nthat -- I always go to the door to greet the members as they\nleave -- I noticed that my line was shorter than usual, and I\nbecame a little bit concerned. I looked around and saw him\nshaking hands. And he had been adopted by a single-parent, a\nyoung woman who was an accountant, so I went over to him and I\nsaid, 'Now listen, there are some ground rules in this church.\nI'm the pastor -- and I shake everybody's hands so if you want to\nshake hands, come stand by me.' Well the brightness of his eyes\n7\ntold the whole story. That where he had had no friends, no\nextended family, no church home, he was rejoicing, because now he\nhad a new family and new friends.\nWe've had enormous success in placing children in our\ncommunity in much needed adoptive homes. Many families, however,\ncannot adopt children without the help of the federal guarantee\nof financial assistance for every child and especially for\nspecial-needs children. This includes the children with Downs\nSyndrome and Cerebral Palsy and HIV AIDS and crack-cocaine\naddictive. These children are important too. And children are\nimportant to god and so our mission is one that we feel that we\nmust continue to fight until the battle has been won.\nThe average family could not accept the responsibility for\nthese children without the federal guarantee of financial\nassistance that is currently provided. This guarantee enables\nthese families to care for children who would otherwise languish\nin the foster care system. And we are aware that there are\nwelfare reform proposals that are pending now in Congress that\nwould eliminate this much needed guarantee. And so our aim, and\nour struggle continues as we sound the alarm throughout our\ncommunities and from our pulpits, that there are children who are\nneeded to be adopted, but that the government needs to accept the\npartnership which we offer. We offer it willingly. We offer it\ngladly.\nTwo out of three children who are waiting for adoption in\nthis country have special-needs, making this federal guarantee\nmore essential than every before. In the history of One Church-\nOne Child, since 1980, more than 90,000 children have found homes\nthrough our congregations across this nation.\nWe thank god for the vision of Father Clemence many years\nago and we thank you, Mrs. Clinton, for the vision you've cast\nforth today, because with your support and the support of those\nwho represent and make up our government, we know that the\nprayers of the righteous will be answered. And so we offer, in\nthis partnership consortium, the prayers of many people who want\nchildren to have permanent loving homes. Many pastors who work\nin our programs have themselves, like me, become adoptive parents\nand so we know that we practice what we preach. And we know that\nthe children are the ones who get the blessing.\nAgain, thank you for making this a special day for children\nacross this nation. We know that they long and deserve\npermanent, loving homes. And so that the need for further\nguaranteed federal protection most come and we believe with the\nhelp of god it will come. Thank you.\n8\nMrs. Marshall: \"First of all, I'd like to thank Mrs.\nClinton, Mr. Thomas and all others involved, for inviting my\nfamily to be a part of this special event for a very important\nissue.\nFirst of all, I would like to say that if only everyone out\nthere knew, how much joy and happiness Kayla and Terry have\nbrought into me and my husband's life, everyone would be lined up\nat all adoption agencies everywhere to adopt a child.\nMy husband and I have been married for 12 years. After\nbeing married 9 years, we decided we wanted children. I went to\nthe doctor and found out that I wasn't able to have children. I\nused to always watch a local spot on our local news program\ncalled, 'Wednesday's Child'. They highlight on children that are\nup for adoption and need homes. So we decided to call Franklin\nCounty Children's Services and see how we could go through the\nadoption process.\nThey invited us to an adoption party in April of 1992. We\nwere there for about an hour and there were hundreds of kids\nthere from the ages of new-born to 7 years of age. We were there\nand we played with kids, we made balloons, we jumped rope and\nthen all of a sudden, a little girl comes in. She was late. She\ncame in and she had her little friend's hand and I looked at my\nhusband and I said, 'Look at those jaws, I just love her.' When\nI first saw her, we knew that she was the one.\nShe talked to us at lunch, she asked for our fruit that we\ndidn't want. She wasn't shy at all. And so we knew that she was\nthe one and we called the next day and said that we wanted to\nstart our class immediately, we wanted to get her as soon as\npossible. After we adopted Terry, she wanted sisters and\nbrothers and so we said, 'Hey, we're willing to go and adopt\nanother.' So then, Kayla comes into our life and there's not a\nday that doesn't go by that she just makes us smile and laugh so\nmuch. And if we had room in our home we would adopt 1,000 kids,\nno matter what race, what religion, color. We just love kids,\nbecause children are our future.\nI remember when one day we didn't have kids, back when we\ndidn't have kids, we adopted 15 children, nieces, nephews,\nneighbors' kids, and we went to the Ice Capades. We took up a\nwhole row. We came back to our one bedroom apartment, we threw a\nbig pajama party for 15 children. So, I mean, if we had room, we\nwould adopt more, but we don't have the room in our home but we\ndo have the room in our hearts. And we would like to let the\nkids know that are waiting for families and homes to keep the\nfaith and with a little bit of help, hope and prayer, you'll all\nhave a family and a home some day. Thank you.\"\n9\nDeanna Moppin: \"My name is Deanna Lee Moppin. I have been\nin SRS custody ever since I was five years old. I was removed\nfrom my birth home because of sexual abuse. I was then placed in\na new home where I remained for seven years, but then we seemed\nto have some problems so I was removed from that home along with\ntwo other of the girls that were in there.\nWe were placed in a shelter in Topeka, Kansas where we\nremained for a few nights before moving on to the villages. In\nthe villages, I have two foster parents and there are nine other\nkids living with me. The foster parents try to help us feel good\nabout ourselves and they try to help us with our problems and\nthey do the best to find us all good homes that we will happy in.\nSome of the kids have nowhere to go, so they just have to\nkeep putting one foot in front of the other and hope for the best\nwhile making goals for themselves until they reach their\ndestination.\nFor most of them their destination is adoption. It is also\none of mine. The reasons that I want to get adopted is usually\nif I want to go to the movies, I have to ask my house parents and\nthey have to ask my village social worker who has to ask my\nsocial worker -- and then it has to come back the same way. That\nusually takes awhile. And if I want clothes, I have to ask my\nhouse parents who have to ask my village social worker who has to\nask my social worker. There is also paper work that needs to be\ndone and that usually takes up to about three weeks.\nThe other reasons that I want to be adopted is I would have\na place that I could call home. I would have a room that I could\ncall my room. I would have a family that I could love and would\nlove me back.\nI wrote a poem about waiting for a home and I would like to\nshare it with you now:\nMy nerves cringe with excitement as I must wait.\nI don't know when it will happen, there is no date.\nMy one wish that I hope to come true.\nWill you make my wish come true, will you?\nI don't want to be here forever, I want a home.\nPlease get me out of this system and out of this dome.\nDoes anyone want me; it feels like three whole years.\nI am still waiting for you, I'm so close to tears.\nI want to live happy with my spirit so free.\nOnly you can make it happen; when will it be?\n10\nThe papers are here, you have finally heard.\nI'd fly to you now if I were a bird.\nOne question left; Do we make a pair?\nAre you somebody who will really care?\nI hope you're the one for other choices have come.\nI'll go through them all for my choice should not be dumb.\nI've always been hoping for this day to arrive.\nWithout a good family I could not survive.\nMy nerves boil with excitement I no longer wait.\nI know when it will happen and I do know the date.\nMrs. Clinton: \"I want to thank everyone who's here and all\nof the participants. I want to invite all of you into the State\nDining Room where there will be a reception and some cookies and\nthings for all of the children who have demonstrated\nextraordinary patience this afternoon. I just want to end with\nsomething that really, I think, echoes what everyone said. The\nprimary responsibility for children lies with the parents and\nparents have the highest obligation to their own children and\nshould do everything in their power to take care of those\nchildren. But sometimes for a lot of reasons that go back to the\nbeginning of human history, that responsibility is not accepted.\nAnd then all the rest of us, I think, have the responsibility.\nWe are a part of every child's family whether we acknowledge it\nor not. And so in any way that we can, we should try to accept\nthat responsibility and give the love and attention that every\nchild who was born deserves to have. And so that's what we hope\nthe result of this National Adoption Month campaign will lead to\n-- more and more Americans accepting responsibility for all our\nchildren. Thank you very much.\"\n11\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\nREMARKS FOR NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH CEREMONY\nTHE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D.C.\nNOVEMBER 13, 1995\n[Acknowledgements: Secretary Shalala, Members of Congress who\nhave adopted children]\nGood Afternoon. I'd like to welcome each of you to the White House\nfor this celebration of National Adoption Month.\nNovember is a particularly appropriate time to highlight the importance of\nadoption in this country. Thanksgiving and the holiday season are little more\nthan a week away. And during this season, a time traditionally centered around\nthe family, we recognize how much we need and depend on the unconditional\nlove of our parents, spouses, children and other relatives.\nFamily is the cornerstone of our society. It is what makes our country\nstrong and sustains our core values. National Adoption Month celebrates a\nspecial kind of American family those created by adoption. We're here to\nemphasize the need to bring the richness of family life to each of America's\nwaiting children.\nThis holiday season, tens of thousands of children are waiting for the\nlove of a mother, a father and a family. Tens of thousands of children who are\ngrowing up without mothers or fathers to teach them right and wrong, to\nnurture their dreams, to tell them they are special.\nWhen we think of adoption, we often think of infants being welcomed\ninto a family. But adoption today involves children of all ages, backgrounds\nand circumstances. In this room today are adoptive families and waiting\nchildren who demonstrate the range of adoptive experiences. Adoption has\nprovided a new beginning for school-aged children; adolescents; children with\nphysical emotional and educational disabilities; children of different races and\ncultures and brothers and sisters who want to remain together.\nLet me give you a picture of children in America who are waiting to be\nadopted. Sixty percent of them are school-age children. Four out of ten are\nwhite. Four out of ten are African American. One out of 14 is Hispanic.\nTwo out of three have special needs.\nEach one of these children has the capacity to love, to bring new joy and\nenergy into a family. Most of you, the families who are here at the White\nHouse today, already know this. You are living proof that adoption can be\nsuccessful and emotionally rewarding.\nBut we need more of you. I recently met with Shane Salter, a young\nman who grew up in foster care without ever being placed in a permanent\nfamily. He described the many places he had lived and the insecurity he had\nexperienced. He spoke of his continued longing for parents who would not\nonly care for him, but who could be grandparents to his own children. So, you\nsee adoption changes lives for generations.\nI know that adoption as it currently is can be a frustrating and\nemotionally-draining process. A newspaper column I wrote on adoption this\nsummer generated more responses than almost any other I've written.\nProspective parents wrote to tell me of the immense obstacles - red-tape and\nexpensive legal costs - that have led them to despair of ever adopting children.\nI want you to know that the Clinton Administration is committed to\neasing and encouraging the adoption process. I recently convened a group of\nexperts to discuss how to make the government more responsive to the needs of\nprospective parents and children.\nIn particular, the Administration is working hard to ease the adoption of\nminority and special needs children. The President is committed to enforcing\nthe Multiethnic Placement Act, which prohibits adoption agencies from denying\nthe placement of a child solely on the basis of race, color or national origin of a\nchild or prospective adoptive parents.\nThis Administration also supported the enactment of the Family and\nMedical Leave Act which ensures that parents can take time off when they\nadopt a child, without fearing the loss of their jobs.\nAnd the Administration has launched a public education campaign about\nadoption - a campaign in which I am honored to participate. Beginning this\nmonth, I will be appearing in a public service announcement that will air on TV\nstations across the country:\nThese are just some of the many initiatives designed to support the\nplacement of children in loving homes.\nBut all of your efforts and all of the Administration's efforts to strengthen\nour families and children could be jeopardized by actions in Congress.\nThe government currently provides subsidies to families who adopt\nspecial needs children - those living with AIDS or cerebral palsy, for instance -\nsince they may have large medical and other expenses. We hope this adoption\nassistance program will be preserved as Congress debates welfare reform.\nWe must let Congress know that putting our economic house in order\ndoes not mean sweeping out compassion for our neediest children and families.\nBut government cannot improve our adoption system alone. As the\nPresident said in his Proclamation on National Adoption Month, \"Citizens from\nall communities and organizations from the public and private sectors must join\ntogether to renew our commitment to finding permanent homes for each one of\nAmerica's children.\"\nTwo of the private foundations doing good, pioneering work on the issue\nof adoption reform are The Annie E. Casey Foundation, which is active in five\nstates, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Families for Kids, active in ten\nstates.\nPerhaps no person has been more effective an advocate for children\nwaiting to be adopted than our next speaker.\nThe founder of Wendy's, Dave Thomas started speaking out on adoption\nin 1990 when he became national spokesperson for the White House Initiative\non Adoption.\nAn adopted child himself, Dave says he would not have become the\nsuccessful father, husband and businessman he is today had he not been able to\ngrow up in a supportive family.\nHis Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption seeks to make adoption more\naffordable, streamline the adoption process and educate the public about the\npotential joys of adoption. Dave believes that no child is \"unadoptable\" and\nevery child deserves a home and a loving family.\nDave has been a leader in the campaign to encourage corporations to\nextend maternity benefits to adoptive parents. Within his own company,\nadoption benefits such as paid leave and financial assistance with adoption costs\nare available to employees who have been with the company for at least one\nyear.\nDave will be followed at the podium by The Reverend Wayne Thompson,\npresident of One Church - One Child. One Church-One Child is one of the\nmany community organizations that are raising awareness about the thousands\nof children waiting to be adopted. Through the Reverend's work, thousands of\nAfrican-American children have found loving homes and supportive church\ncongregations.\nYou will also be hearing from Dwayne and Sandra Marshall, the proud\nparents of seven year-old Terizabeth [rhymes with Elizabeth] and two year-old\nKayla. The Marshalls have experienced so much love and happiness with their\ntwo daughters that they have spent considerable time promoting adoption in\ntheir own community. In fact, they are the family featured in the posters\nsupporting adoption that appear in Wendy's Restaurants around the world.\nDeanna [DE-ANNA] Moppin will be our last speaker. She is thirteen,\nand lived in a foster home for seven years before moving into a group home in\nTopeka, Kansas. Though she no longer lives with her two foster sisters, she is\nstill close them. Deanna is a cheerleader, an avid reader and a budding poet.\n###"
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