Tuesday, January 15, 2013

ACTION ALERT: Russia: Contact your member of Congress today!

Opportunity for Members of Congress to Sign Letters to Presidents Putin and Obama

Members of Congress have a short window of opportunity to sign on to two letters regarding Russia’s recent decision to ban adoptions to the United States.  The first letter is to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and the second is to President Obama.  Both letters appeal to each leader to recognize the basic human rights of these children and all children in Russia to a family and to work to resolve the pending cases of children who were in the adoption process prior to the January 1, 2013 ban.

Senator Roy Blunt and Congressional Coalition on Adoption Co-Chairs Senator Landrieu, Senator Inhofe, Representative Bachmann and Representative Karen Bass are currently circulating these letters for signature by their colleagues, with a deadline to sign on to these letters of tomorrow, Wednesday, January 16 at 12pm EST.  Please contact your Senators and Representative today and urge them to sign on to these letters and lend their support to Russia’s children.  Offices interested in signing on should contact Libby Whitbeck in Senator Landrieu’s office or Kristina Weger in Senator Blunt’s office.
  • You can find your Senators’ phone numbers and email address at www.senate.gov
  • You can find your Representatives’ phone numbers and email address at www.house.gov
Please distribute this information widely to your friend and family, requesting they also contact their Members of Congress prior to Wednesday, January 16 at 12pm EST.

Our Thanks to Senator Roy Blunt and Congressional Coalition on Adoption Co-Chairs Senator Landrieu, Senator Inhofe, Representative Bachmann and Representative Karen Bass and the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute for their continued leadership on this issue.

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Joint Council reminds those families who are in the process of adopting from Russia of the U.S. Dept. of State’s requests that families currently in the process of adopting a child from Russia email the Department of State at russiaadoption@state.gov.  Families should state the stage and status of their adoption and use “Intercountry Adoption in Russia – Family Update” in the subject line of the email

Joint Council will continue to engage in collaborative efforts with and through US and Russian government officials, the Department of State, Congressional offices, Joint Council Partners, NGOs and advocates in both countries.  We will provide updates on this situation as they become available.  To receive Joint Council updates regarding Russia, individuals are urged to sign up for our Russia email alerts, which can be done by clicking here (Select “Country and Issue Specific Information” and then select “Russia”).

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