adopt043008
On the homepage
Sunday's paper
Out There
Music
Travel
Home | Politically Connected | National Politics | U.S. Senate
State's senators urge Guatemalan president to allow completion of adoptions in progress
Print this story
E-mail this story
Save to del.icio.us
Share on Facebook
Share on Digg
WASHINGTON - Minnesota couples hoping to adopt a child from Guatemala may have been apprehensive about a new law that took effect in the Central American country Jan. 1 tightening adoption rules.
The concern affected about 3,000 American families -- an estimated 50 to 100 in Minnesota -- who already were matched with a Guatemalan child when the new law went into effect.
On Tuesday, both of Minnesota's U.S. senators, Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar, met with Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom and Francisco Villagran, the country's ambassador to the United States, to discuss those pending adoptions.
Both senators said they wanted to ensure that the new Guatemalan law -- intended to bring the country into compliance with an international treaty -- would not prevent Minnesota families caught in limbo from losing the child they hope to adopt.
Said Coleman: "I think the news out of this gathering is that this issue has the attention of the [Guatemalan] president, has the commitment of the first lady, and I think that bodes well for families in the middle of this process."
"This is not just about helping families in America who want to adopt," Klobuchar said in a statement. "It's also about protecting Guatemala's children in need who deserve a permanent, nurturing family."
Guatemala's adoption policy was out of compliance with The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions. Although not all the procedures are in place yet, the new law established a National Adoption Council in order to comply with the provisions.
Coleman, co-chairman of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, traveled to Guatemala in November, where he urged government officials to pass the new law, while also allowing pending adoptions to go through.
Conrad Wilson • 202-408-2723
- Only in your Sunday Star Tribune
- At last, a second senator for Minnesota
- Minn. lawmakers examine US Senate recount
- Now an ex-senator, Coleman gets bipartisan sendoff
- Bill Clinton to raise money for NY Dem challenger
- Burris out of 2010 run, Ill. Senate race wide open
- Bachmann won't fill out all of census; she says it's private
Overdraft fees, the bane of Whistleblower readers, are big money for banks, USA Today reports
Maybe I’m naive, but Whistleblower was astonished to read that overdraft fees of the sort that tormented Katie Trottier and numerous other readers are a major profit center for banks, USA Today reporter Kathy Chu reported this week. I guess I labored under the impression that the fees still reflected some actual cost on the [...]
Recent posts
  Buy Foreclosed PropertiesSearch 8500 pre-foreclosure, auction and bank-owned properties in the metro area. Start now! Open positions!A new career awaits. Look through thousands of listings to find your new job. Start now! |
Win passes to an advanced screening 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' on July 13.Vita.mn presents an advanced screening 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' on July 13. |
Comment on this story | Be the first to comment | Hide reader comments