U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe bill may ease rules for adoption

WASHINGTON — Sen. Jim Inhofe introduced legislation this week intended to ease the bureaucracy for Americans adopting children in other countries.

Under the legislation, co-authored with Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., the children would automatically become American citizens, eliminating the need for the parents to get U.S. immigrant visas for the children.

Inhofe, R-Tulsa, who has a grandchild adopted from Africa, said there are an estimated 143 million orphans in the world.

"Inter-country adoption permits American families the opportunity to love and care for these children while providing them with hope and a future,” Inhofe said.

According to Inhofe’s office, the bill would afford the same treatment to parents adopting foreign children as the law now gives biological parents to whom a child is born abroad. They would take their proof of citizenship and the child’s birth certificate to the U.S. Embassy and apply for a U.S. passport and a Consular Report of Birth.

Inhofe is co-sponsoring a separate bill that would allow U.S. parents to bring the child into the United States if they certified the child would receive the necessary immunizations within 30 days. That bill would also allow Americans to adopt multiple children who are siblings, even if one is between the ages of 16 and 18.