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Presidential Directive
FRadio Address
The White House
Issuing Directive
Office of the Press Secretary
$ Clips, fyi
For Immediate Release
December 14, 1996
Radio Address By The President
The Oval Office
10:06 A.M. EST
Good morning. Today we're taking important new
steps to make adoption easier and to move children out of foster
care faster. These efforts will help to give even more children
what every child needs and deserves, loving parents, and a strong
and stable home.
I'm delighted to be joined in the Oval Office today by a
remarkable group of children and parents who know firsthand the
tremendous possibilities of adoption; and by the First Lady who has
worked SO long and hard on this issue and whose efforts have made
today possible.
I'm especially pleased to be able to take this action now, in
this season of hope and light. The holidays we celebrate this month
teach us that through faith and love we can truly repair the world.
I can think of no better way to fulfill the promise of this season
than to bring a child into a family and a family to a child.
There are more than 450,000 children in the nation's foster
care system. They are placed there because of abuse, neglect or a
home life that is neither safe, nor secure. While most of these
children eventually return to their original homes, nearly 100,000
of them simply don't have that option. Those children wait far too
long, typically three years or more, to find permanent homes and
families to love them.
Promoting adoption has been at the heart of our
administration's efforts to protect our children and strengthen our
families. Earlier this year I was proud to sign a $5,000 tax credit
to help families adopt children. We put an end to racial
preferences for adoption. No longer can laws keep children of one
race from nurturing arms of adoptive parents of another. This is a
good start, but we must do more.
That is why I have just signed a presidential directive with a
clear goal: We will double the number of children we move from
foster care to permanent homes, from 27,000 a year today, to 54,000
a year by the year 2002. With this effort we're saying no child
should be trapped in the limbo of foster care; no child should be
uncertain about what the word `family'' or "parents" or "home''
mean, particularly when there are open arms waiting to welcome
these children into safe and strong households where they can build
good, caring lives.
As part of this initiative, I'm directing the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala, who is also with us
today, to launch an extensive effort to determine what steps we
must take to meet our goal. I want the Secretary to report back to
me with her recommendations in 60 days. This report must tell us
how we can help states set and meet urgent new adoption targets. It
must describe how we can improve coordination among local, state
and federal authorities so that every community has access to the
best ways to encourage adoption. And it must outline what sensible
financial incentives we can provide states to raise adoption rates.
I also want the Secretary to determine what additional changes
we can make in federal laws and regulations to ensure that children
won't get trapped in foster care. And I want to know if there are
any new provisions we can put in place to move children through the
system faster and to protect them when they leave.
There are other steps we are taking immediately. I'm
instructing the Departments of Treasury, Labor, Commerce, and
Health and Human Services to launch an all-out effort to heighten
public awareness about adoption and to recognize those in the
private sector who are committing themselves to this important
cause.
Let me also say how grateful I am to those in Congress of both
parties who are working SO hard to make adoption a reality for
America's most vulnerable children. I want to thank especially
Senators Rockefeller and DeWine, and Representatives Kennelly and
Camp for their efforts.
The fact that we are commemorating the birth of a child that
began life in a manger and became the Prince of Peace should remind
us that the promise of God has been placed in every child. We must
work tirelessly to make sure that every boy and girl in America who
is up for adoption has a family waiting up to reach him or her. No
child should be in foster care for one day longer than he or she
needs to be.
This is a season of miracles, and perhaps there is no greater
miracle than finding a loving home for a child who needs one.
Thanks for listening.
Text of Presidential Directive on Adoption
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ Following is a memorandum
from President Clinton to the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Commerce and
the director of the Office of Personnel Management :
During this Holiday Season, as we reflect on the importance of
family in our own lives, let us remember the tens of thousands of
our Nation's children in the public child welfare system who live
without permanent and caring families. Foster care provides
temporary shelter and relief for children who have been abused or
neglected.
I am committed to giving the children waiting in our Nation's
foster care system what every child in America deserves --loving
parents and a healthy, stable home. The goal for every child in our
Nation's public welfare system is permanency in a safe and stable
home, whether it be returning home, adoption, legal guardianship,
or another permanent placement. While the great majority of
children in foster care will return home, for about one in five,
returning home is not an option, and they will need another home,
one that is caring and safe. These children wait far too long
typically over 3 years, but for many children much longer -- to be
placed in permanent homes. Each year, State child welfare agencies
secure homes for less than one-third of the children whose goal is
adoption or an alternate permanent placement. I know we can do
better.
I believe we should increase the number of children who are
adopted or permanently placed from the public foster care system
each year toward the goal of at least doubling that number by the
year 2002. Returning home is not an option for about 100,000 of the
over 450,000 children in the Nation's foster care system, yet only
approximately 20,000 were adopted last year and approximately 7,000
were permanently placed in legal guardianships. While the number of
adoptions each year has been constant for many years, I believe
that by working with States to identify and break down barriers to
permanent placements, setting annual numerical targets, rewarding
successful performance, and raising public awareness, we can meet
the target of at least 54,000 children adopted or permanently
placed from the public foster care system by the year 2002.
Today, therefore, I direct the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, in consultation with State and civic leaders, to report
to me within 60 days on actions to be taken to move children more
rapidly from foster care to permanent homes and at least to double,
by the year 2002, the number of children in foster care who are
adopted or permanently placed out of the public foster care system.
I. To increase the number of children who are adopted or permanently
placed each year, this report should include, but should not necessarily
be limited to, recommendations in the following areas:
(a) Plans to work with States on setting and reaching
State specific numerical targets, using the
technical assistance of the Department of Health
and Human Services National Resource Centers to
make information on best practices available to
States and to engage community leaders, parents,
and the business and faith communities;
(b) Proposals to provide per child financial
incentives to States for increases in the
number of adoptions from the public welfare
system. Options considered should have little
to no net costs, as increases in the number of
adoptions from the public system will reduce
foster care costs, thereby offsetting much if
not all of the incentive payments;
(c) A proposal to ensure continued aggressive
implementation of the Multi-ethnic Placement
Act, as amended by the Inter-ethnic Adoption
Provision of the Small Business Job Protection
Act;
(d) Plans to compile and publish an annual
State-by-State report on success in meeting the
numerical targets; and
(e) Plans to recognize successful States.
II. To move children more rapidly from foster care to permanent
homes, the report shall also recommend changes to Federal law and
regulations and other actions needed to emphasize the importance of
planning for permanency as soon as a child enters the foster care
system. The Secretary's report should include, but should not
necessarily be limited to, recommendations in the following areas:
(a) Plans to provide States with funding to identify
barriers to permanency and to develop targeted
strategies to find permanent homes for children
who have been in foster care a particularly long
time;
(b) Proposals to shorten the period of time between
a child's placement in foster care and his or
her initial hearing at which a permanency
determination is made;
(c) A proposal to clarify that the purpose of
''dispositional hearings'' is to plan for
permanency and, as appropriate, to consider
referrals for family mediation, termination of
parental rights, adoption, legal guardianship,
or other permanent placements;
(d) A proposal to clarify the reasonable efforts''
requirement and other Federal policy as it
relates to permanency and safety;
(e) Plans to ensure that States give appropriate
weight to permanency planning by establishing
standards for securing permanency through
adoption or guardianship, once a decision has
been made that a child cannot be returned home;
and
(f) Plans to examine alternative permanency
arrangements, such as guardianship, when adoption
is not possible.
Last month, I signed a proclamation designating November as
National Adoption Month a time to increase awareness about the
tens of thousands of children waiting for families and to encourage
all Americans to consider the rewards and responsibilities of
adoption. However, adoption must be a national concern throughout
the year. Therefore, I direct:
(a) The Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop
and lead a public awareness effort, including use of
public service announcements, print materials, and the
Internet;
(b) The Secretaries of Health and Human Services and
the Treasury in consultation with State, civic, and
private sector leaders to develop and disseminate
information about the new adoption tax credits and
other adoption benefits;
(c) The Secretaries of Labor and Commerce, in
consultation with State and civic leaders, to
identify and recognize companies in the private
sector with model policies to encourage and ease
adoption among employees; and
(d) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management
to direct all Federal agencies to provide information
and support to Federal employees who are prospective
adoptive parents.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
Nicole R. Rabner
11/04/97 12:53:04 PM
Record Type:
Record
To:
Jennifer L. Klein/OPD/EOP
CC:
Subject: Proclamation: National Adoption Month
Forwarded by Nicole R. Rabner/WHO/EOP on 11/04/97 12:55 PM
THE
Elizabeth R. Newman
11/04/97 12:20:39 PM
Record Type:
Record
To:
See the distribution list at the bottom of this message
cc:
Subject: Proclamation: National Adoption Month
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
November 4, 1997
NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH, 1997
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
A PROCLAMATION
Most American children are blessed with loving, stable families. But, tragically, in our
country today there are too many children whose parents are unwilling or unable to care for
them. While foster care offers these children a safe and nurturing temporary haven in their
time of greatest need, as many as 100,000 foster care kids will need permanent homes in the
next few years. Many of these children have special needs and require the security and
stability of an adoptive family to develop their full potential. Adoption allows these and other
children to have the permanent homes they deserve, and it enables many dedicated adults to
experience the joys and rewards of parenting.
My Administration is working hard to find ways to help encourage adoption. On
December 14, 1996, I issued a Memorandum to the Secretaries of Health and Human Services,
the Treasury, Labor, and Commerce and to the Director of the Office of Personnel
Management, directing them to promote efforts to both increase the number of children who
are adopted or permanently placed each year and to move children more rapidly from foster
care to permanent homes. I also urged them to increase public awareness about the children
waiting for permanent families and to encourage all Americans to consider the rewards of
adoption.
I challenged the members of my Administration to work with States, communities, and
civic leaders to create a plan for doubling the number of adoptions and permanent placements
for children to 54,000 by the year 2002. And on February 14, 1997, the Adoption 2002
report, outlining changes in policies and practices necessary to reach this goal, was released.
Since then, we have been actively implementing the recommen-dations included in the report,
and States are reviewing data and submitting numerical targets for adoption and guardianships
to be completed by the year 2002. The Office of Personnel Management has published a guide
for Federal workers interested in adopting, and the Department of Health and Human Services
is preparing to make the first annual Adoption 2002 Excellence awards later this year.
Finally, the Congress is considering historic legislation that would provide the resources and
statutory authority for financial incentives, technical assistance, and improved judicial
decision-making for children in foster care.
As a Nation, we have before us an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of
our most vulnerable children. We must continue to promote public awareness of the need for
adoptive families and to help families make the choice to provide loving, permanent homes for
the many children who otherwise must continue to wait. We must also strengthen our
more
(OVER)
2
support of those families who do choose to adopt. As we observe National Adoption Month,
we reaffirm our commitment to adoption as a new beginning for thousands of children, and we
celebrate the many American families who have embraced these children by accepting the
rewards and responsibilities of adoption.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby
proclaim November 1997 as National Adoption Month. I urge all Americans to observe this
month with appropriate programs and activities to honor adoptive families and to participate in
efforts to find permanent homes for waiting children.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
third day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-second.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
###
Message Sent To:
Text of Presidential Directive on Adoption
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ Following is a memorandum
from President Clinton to the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Commerce and
the director of the Office of Personnel Management:
During this Holiday Season, as we reflect on the importance of
family in our own lives, let us remember the tens of thousands of
our Nation's children in the public child welfare system who live
without permanent and caring families. Foster care provides
temporary shelter and relief for children who have been abused or
neglected.
I am committed to giving the children waiting in our Nation's
foster care system what every child in America deserves -loving
parents and a healthy, stable home. The goal for every child in our
Nation's public welfare system is permanency in a safe and stable
home, whether it be returning home, adoption, legal guardianship,
or another permanent placement. While the great majority of
children in foster care will return home, for about one in five,
returning home is not an option, and they will need another home,
one that is caring and safe. These children wait far too long - -
typically over 3 years, but for many children much longer to be
placed in permanent homes. Each year, State child welfare agencies
secure homes for less than one-third of the children whose goal is
adoption or an alternate permanent placement. I know we can do
better.
I believe we should increase the number of children who are
adopted or permanently placed from the public foster care system
each year toward the goal of at least doubling that number by the
year 2002. Returning home is not an option for about 100,000 of the
over 450,000 children in the Nation's foster care system, yet only
approximately 20,000 were adopted last year and approximately 7,000
were permanently placed in legal guardianships. While the number of
adoptions each year has been constant for many years, I believe
that by working with States to identify and break down barriers to
permanent placements, setting annual numerical targets, rewarding
successful performance, and raising public awareness, we can meet
the target of at least 54,000 children adopted or permanently
placed from the public foster care system by the year 2002.
Today, therefore, I direct the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, in consultation with State and civic leaders, to report
to me within 60 days on actions to be taken to move children more
rapidly from foster care to permanent homes and at least to double,
by the year 2002, the number of children in foster care who are
adopted or permanently placed out of the public foster care system.
I. To increase the number of children who are adopted or permanently
placed each year, this report should include, but should not necessarily
be limited to, recommendations in the following areas:
(a) Plans to work with States on setting and reaching
State specific numerical targets, using the
technical assistance of the Department of Health
and Human Services National Resource Centers to
make information on best practices available to
States and to engage community leaders, parents,
and the business and faith communities;
(b) Proposals to provide per child financial
incentives to States for increases in the
number of adoptions from the public welfare
system. Options considered should have little
to no net costs, as increases in the number of
adoptions from the public system will reduce
foster care costs, thereby offsetting much if
not all of the incentive payments;
(c) A proposal to ensure continued aggressive
implementation of the Multi-ethnic Placement
Act, as amended by the Inter-ethnic Adoption
Provision of the Small Business Job Protection
Act;
(d) Plans to compile and publish an annual
State-by-State report on success in meeting the
numerical targets; and
(e) Plans to recognize successful States.
II. To move children more rapidly from foster care to permanent
homes, the report shall also recommend changes to Federal law and
regulations and other actions needed to emphasize the importance of
planning for permanency as soon as a child enters the foster care
system. The Secretary's report should include, but should not
necessarily be limited to, recommendations in the following areas:
(a) Plans to provide States with funding to identify
barriers to permanency and to develop targeted
strategies to find permanent homes for children
who have been in foster care a particularly long
time;
(b) Proposals to shorten the period of time between
a child's placement in foster care and his or
her initial hearing at which a permanency
determination is made;
(c) A proposal to clarify that the purpose of
'dispositional hearings'' is to plan for
permanency and, as appropriate, to consider
referrals for family mediation, termination of
parental rights, adoption, legal guardianship,
or other permanent placements;
(d) A proposal to clarify the '"reasonable efforts''
requirement and other Federal policy as it
relates to permanency and safety;
(e) Plans to ensure that States give appropriate
weight to permanency planning by establishing
standards for securing permanency through
adoption or guardianship, once a decision has
been made that a child cannot be returned home;
and
(f) Plans to examine alternative permanency
arrangements, such as guardianship, when adoption
is not possible.
Last month, I signed a proclamation designating November as
National Adoption Month a time to increase awareness about the
tens of thousands of children waiting for families and to encourage
all Americans to consider the rewards and responsibilities of
adoption. However, adoption must be a national concern throughout
the year. Therefore, I direct:
(a) The Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop
and lead a public awareness effort, including use of
public service announcements, print materials, and the
Internet;
(b) The Secretaries of Health and Human Services and
the Treasury in consultation with State, civic, and
private sector leaders to develop and disseminate
information about the new adoption tax credits and
other adoption benefits;
(c) The Secretaries of Labor and Commerce, in
consultation with State and civic leaders, to
identify and recognize companies in the private
sector with model policies to encourage and ease
adoption among employees; and
(d) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management
to direct all Federal agencies to provide information
and support to Federal employees who are prospective
adoptive parents.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
December 14, 1996
Radio Address By The President
The Oval Office
10:06 A.M. EST
Good morning. Today we're taking important new
steps to make adoption easier and to move children out of foster
care faster. These efforts will help to give even more children
what every child needs and deserves, loving parents, and a strong
and stable home.
I'm delighted to be joined in the Oval Office today by a
remarkable group of children and parents who know firsthand the
tremendous possibilities of adoption; and by the First Lady who has
worked SO long and hard on this issue and whose efforts have made
today possible.
I'm especially pleased to be able to take this action now, in
this season of hope and light. The holidays we celebrate this month
teach us that through faith and love we can truly repair the world.
I can think of no better way to fulfill the promise of this season
than to bring a child into a family and a family to a child.
There are more than 450,000 children in the nation's foster
care system. They are placed there because of abuse, neglect or a
home life that is neither safe, nor secure. While most of these
children eventually return to their original homes, nearly 100,00
of them simply don't have that option. Those children wait far too
long, typically three years or more, to find permanent homes and
families to love them.
Promoting adoption has been at the heart of our
administration's efforts to protect our children and strengthen our
families. Earlier this year I was proud to sign a $5,000 tax credit
to help families adopt children. We put an end to racial
preferences for adoption. No longer can laws keep children of one
race from nurturing arms of adoptive parents of another. This is a
good start, but we must do more.
That is why I have just signed a presidential directive with a
clear goal: We will double the number of children we move from
foster care to permanent homes, from 27,000 a year today, to 54,000
a year by the year 2002. With this effort we're saying no child
should be trapped in the limbo of foster care; no child should be
uncertain about what the word 'family'' or 'parents' or home
mean, particularly when there are open arms waiting to welcome
these children into safe and strong households where they can build
good, caring lives.
As part of this initiative, I'm directing the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala, who is also with us
today, to launch an extensive effort to determine what steps we
must take to meet our goal. I want the Secretary to report back to
me with her recommendations in 60 days. This report must tell us
how we can help states set and meet urgent new adoption targets. It
must describe how we can improve coordination among local, state
and federal authorities SO that every community has access to the
best ways to encourage adoption. And it must outline what sensible
financial incentives we can provide states to raise adoption rates.
I also want the Secretary to determine what additional changes
we can make in federal laws and regulations to ensure that children
won't get trapped in foster care. And I want to know if there are
any new provisions we can put in place to move children through the
system faster and to protect them when they leave.
There are other steps we are taking immediately. I'm
instructing the Departments of Treasury, Labor, Commerce, and
Health and Human Services to launch an all-out effort to heighten
public awareness about adoption and to recognize those in the
private sector who are committing themselves to this important
cause.
Let me also say how grateful I am to those in Congress of both
parties who are working SO hard to make adoption a reality for
America's most vulnerable children. I want to thank especially
Senators Rockefeller and DeWine, and Representatives Kennelly and
Camp for their efforts.
The fact that we are commemorating the birth of a child that
began life in a manger and became the Prince of Peace should remind
us that the promise of God has been placed in every child. We must
work tirelessly to make sure that every boy and girl in America who
is up for adoption has a family waiting up to reach him or her. No
child should be in foster care for one day longer than he or she
needs to be.
This is a season of miracles, and perhaps there is no greater
miracle than finding a loving home for a child who needs one.
Thanks for listening.
Todd
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
UNClEAREd
October 24, 1996
MEMORANDUM FOR:
FIRST LADY'S STAFF (MELANNE VERVEER)
TODD STERN (PHIL CAPLAN)
JACK QUINN (KATHLEEN WALLMAN)
KITTY HIGGINS
JOHN HILLEY
CAROL RASCO
DOUG SOSNIK
ALEXIS HERMAN
JODIE TORKELSON
ANNE HAWLEY/STEPHANIE STREETT - FYI
FROM:
Lana Dickey/Reuben Musgrave
for JIM DORSKIND
SUBJECT:
(Draft Proclamation)
National Adoption Month
Attached for your review is the above-mentioned proclamation
designating November 1996, as "National Adoption Month.
It was drafted and edited/revised by the Presidential Letters and
Messages Office.
IMMEDIATE ATTENTION REQUIRED. Written or oral response required
by no later than 5:00 p.m., Friday, October 25, 1996. IF WE HAVE
NOT HEARD FROM YOU BY 5:00 P.M., WE WILL ASSUME THAT THE DRAFT IS
ACCEPTABLE TO YOU.
For questions, discussion, or routine clearance, contact Lana
Dickey, extension 67487, or Reuben Musgrave, extension 65518,
via phone or interoffice mail, in room 91. Thank you.
J-
CC: Tim Saunders
Looll) OR nov.
OR with you?
ml
NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH, 1996
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Thousands of American children have never known what it is
like to belong to a family -- to grow up with the comfort and
security that most of us take for granted. They are children
whose parents, for a variety of reasons, are unable or unwilling
to care for them. Instead, these children often find themselves
drifting from home to home in foster care. They live every day
without mothers or fathers to guide them, nurture them, and tell
them that they are special.
Adoption is a commonsense solution that places children
in permanent homes with parents who will offer them love and
security. National Adoption Month is a time for all Americans
to reflect on the rewards of joining children who need families
with adults who want the responsibility and joys of parenthood.
This Month is an opportunity to celebrate family, especially
families formed by adoptions.
Our Nation has no greater responsibility than to ensure
that every child has the chance to live up to his or her
God-given potential. We can help meet that challenge by
identifying a permanent, loving family for every child
waiting in the foster care system.
Among the approximately 86,000 children who will await
adoption within the next few years are tens of thousands with
special needs. Many of these, through no fault of their own,
wait years for adoption. Yet these children can bring the same
joy, affection, and respect to their adoptive families that
other children show when they are accepted into loving family
environments.
2
In recent years, we have made important strides in
encouraging parents to adopt. I have signed legislation to
help facilitate adoptions by prohibiting discrimination based
on race or ethnicity, increasing the recruitment of adoptive
parents, and providing a tax credit to families who adopt
children.
Much remains to be done, however. As a Nation, we must
continue to work to remove obstacles to adoption, to recruit
new adoptive families, to offer financial incentives for
placements, and to provide support to parents adopting children
with special needs. Nothing should stand in the way of
providing every boy and girl in America the permanent, loving
home each of them so deserves. Children are, after all, our
country's most precious resource and our most important
responsibility.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested
in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do
hereby proclaim November 1996 as National Adoption Month. I
urge the people of the United States to observe this month
with appropriate activities and programs and to participate
in efforts to find permanent homes for waiting children.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
day of
, in the year of our
Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-first.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
Internal Transcript
October 1, 1995
In case you
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN CATHOLIC ROUNDTABLE
haven't per
The Cabinet Room
12:15 P.M. EDT
Well, welcome. I'm glad to see you.
Q
Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: I know you have a lot of questions, so I want
to get right into it.
But before we start, I thought I'd like to just say a couple
of things.
First of all, I'm happy to tell you that when the Pope comes
here next month, I will have the opportunity to meet with him up in
New Jersey; I'm looking forward to that. I think it will our third
meeting; the first in Denver and the second at the Vatican. I'm
very, very happy about that.
As you know, we're having a lot of interesting budget
discussions here in Washington today, and a lot of you because of
your particular interests are deeply familiar with the various
issues in play. But I would like to just make a couple of
observations.
First, I think when the history of this era is written, people
will look back on it and say it was the period of most profound
economic and social change since the industrial revolution came to
America 100 years ago.
And when we became an industrial and more urbanized society,
moving out of a rural, more agricultural society, it took us about
20 years, from more or less the end of the 1890s to the beginning
of the end of the teens -- 1916 to 1919, to work out what we
thought the responsibility of our nation's government was and what
our common responsibilities were to deal with that. Now, that was
defined all the way up and through the Great Depression and then
after World War II. But essentially, the pattern was set in that
20 years.
But I did believe that unless the world community
said that there has to be a limit to the slaughter of
innocent civilians and we have recognized this government
and we're not going to let them be dismembered anymore, that
we cannot make peace.
On the other hand, I also thought it was very
important that in the first security crisis in Europe after
the end of the Cold War that the Europeans be supported, be
permitted to take the lead, as they asked to do before I
became President, and that we had to preserve our ability to
work with the United Nations and with NATO for the long run,
even beyond Bosnia -- there will be other issues and other
days, and we're trying to make the U.N work for the first
time. And at the end of the Cold War, we've really got a
chance to make it work in important ways, and it has in
Cambodia -- the U.N. has played an important role in Angola
and a lot of other places.
So there were times where I had to sit and watch
things occur in Bosnia that I thought were wrong, that I
thought more aggressive policy might prevent. But I knew
that the French and the British were on the ground there
with the Dutch and others, and I knew they were feeding
people who would be dying otherwise. I knew that the very
presence of the U.N. forces there were keeping people alive
who would not have been alive otherwise.
And so I had to live in a kind of political
purgatory for some weeks and months when things were going
on that I didn't agree with because of the utter competing
and offsetting --- where there seemed to be two moralities
and two practicalities and two sets of facts that were
completely at loggerheads with each other. Those are the
most difficult decisions for me --- not the ones that are
clearly unpopular or clearly likely to provoke a terrible
reaction, but when there really are these competing
considérations which cannot be easily sorted on one side or
the other.
Q Mr. President, we've talked tangentially
about the issue of abortion as one that many Catholics are
very concerned about. You've said that you would like
abortion to be safe, legal and rare. But many people see
your administration as having consistently moved in the
direction of making abortion more accessible in the
direction of more funding for abortion as being, quite
frankly, pro-abortion in various ways.
Could you point to some things that your
administration has done, or could do, to make abortion rare?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, we've
maintained what I think was basically the present policy
with regard to the operation of the Medicaid program, except
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I thought -- I do believe that we should -- for a while, we
had a rape and incest addition to the life of the mother
exception, and we repealed the Mexico City policy because I
thought it was inconsistent with what the law was in this
country and, therefore, what our policy ought to be.
The best example of it is the work I've done to
try to increase the number of adoptions, and I hope to do
more of that, and to try to remove the barriers to
cross-racial adoptions, which I think are a pivotal factor
in succeeding in getting America into a situation where we
can do that.
I think we also need to do more than we have
done, but I want to do more to speed up the process of
adoptions, to move them so that we can begin then to hold
out to young people who aren't married but who do get
pregnant the possibility of having adoption as a real and
viable, immediate alternative that we can push and
publicize.
Hillary wrote a column --- interestingly, Hillary
wrote one of her newspaper columns about what we wanted to
do in adoption and about what we were trying to do to strip
away the barriers to cross-racial adoptions. And it got a
bigger response than all of the newspaper columns that she's
written by far, since she started writing the column; the
adoption column got way the biggest response. So I think
that there is out there in the country a kind of a yearning
for doing something about this, and maybe a lot of people
who haven't thought about it before would be willing to take
responsibility for some of these children if they were
brought into the world, and my own view is that that is
something we could do that would -- I think has the
potential to substantially reduce the abortion rate, because
people thought -- began to focus on and see adoption as a
real, viable alternative, and to see an American system that
has some integrity and speed to it -- I mean, appropriate
speed, not just throwing these kids in any kind of
situation.
But I think the whole adoption process in America
has been overly bureaucratized and is also somewhat
arbitrary in terms of who is successful or not in getting a
child, and I would like to see this thing moved very
rapidly.
I think it is an area where the government and
the Catholic Church, and even a lot of people who would
otherwise never support us on anything might come together
and find a common ground. And I would very much like to see
it done.
Q Mr. President, there is a thought in some
members of the Catholic community that with regard to some
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
November 1, 1995
NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH
1995
Background
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
For many people across the United States, adoption provides
a means for building and strengthening families. It places
children into loving, permanent homes where they can flourish
and grow up to become happy, healthy, productive members of our
national community. Adoption also enables adults to experience
the unique joys of parenthood.
As many as 70,000 children in America's foster care system
may need adoptive families in the next few years -- young people
of all ages and backgrounds who, for whatever reason, cannot
return to their original homes. Many, but not all, are children
with special needs. These young people long for the same
affection, security, and stability that most of us take for
granted, yet too many have waited -- and will continue to
wait -- for years to be adopted.
My Administration has taken important actions to encourage
adoption and to support the wonderful families that choose to
open their hearts and homes to waiting children. The
Multiethnic Placement Act, which I signed into law in October
1994, helps to facilitate adoption for all children and
families, regardless of their race or ethnic origin. We will
continue to champion and improve programs that break down
barriers to adoption through aggressive recruitment of families,
financial aid to support placements, and technical assistance to
agencies committed to special needs adoption.
As we observe National Adoption Month, we celebrate these
achievements and recognize the rewards of adoption, but we must
also remember that much work remains to be done. Citizens from
all communities and organizations from the public and private
sectors must join together to renew our commitment to finding
permanent homes for each one of America's children.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in
me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby
proclaim November 1995, as National Adoption Month. I urge the
people of the United States to observe this month with
appropriate activities and programs and to participate in
efforts to find permanent homes for waiting children.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
first day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred
and ninety-five, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the two hundred and twentieth.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
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