A bipartisan group of more than 100 lawmakers is urging President Donald Trump to push communist China to resolve pending adoption cases involving Chinese children.
They said Trump should work on behalf of “hundreds of children and American families who have been devastated by” China’s decision to terminate its international adoption program.
“We request that you act in the best interest of these children and engage the Chinese government to finalize these pending adoption cases,” the lawmakers wrote. “The safety of adopted children and hundreds of would-be adoptees is our top priority.”
The lawmakers said China’s sudden termination had “exacerbated” their concerns about the well-being of adopted children and would-be adoptees.
“Many of these children have special health care needs, and some will soon age out of care systems without the support of a permanent family,” the lawmakers wrote. “It is particularly critical that these children have access to the care and support that they need—which hundreds of American families approved for adoption are willing to provide.”
The U.S. State Department is currently “working on behalf of these families and seeking clarity on the Chinese government’s decision,” the letter reads.
The lawmakers said Trump should “elevate this engagement and press the Chinese government to finalize pending adoption cases so these children may finally be united with their adoptive families in the United States.”
Consignees of the letter include several members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including ranking member Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Curtis (R-Utah), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-lll.).
Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Mark Green (R-Tenn.), Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), and Julie Johnson (D-Texas) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee also signed the letter.
In December 2024, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee led a bipartisan group of 33 governors in a letter to outgoing President Joe Biden, asking him to take diplomatic action to press China into honoring pending adoptions.
“Dozens of families, including twelve Tennessee families, are ready and willing to open their homes to these children with medical and emotional needs, and most have waited nearly five years to complete the adoption process,” Lee said in a statement at the time.
Lee was joined in the letter by governors from Alabama, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.