US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

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[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 42USC14901]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                   CHAPTER 143--INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS
 
Sec. 14901. Findings and purposes


(a) Findings

    Congress recognizes--
        (1) the international character of the Convention on Protection 
    of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption 
    (done at The Hague on May 29, 1993); and
        (2) the need for uniform interpretation and implementation of 
    the Convention in the United States and abroad,

and therefore finds that enactment of a Federal law governing adoptions 
and prospective adoptions subject to the Convention involving United 
States residents is essential.

(b) Purposes

    The purposes of this chapter are--
        (1) to provide for implementation by the United States of the 
    Convention;
        (2) to protect the rights of, and prevent abuses against, 
    children, birth families, and adoptive parents involved in adoptions 
    (or prospective adoptions) subject to the Convention, and to ensure 
    that such adoptions are in the children's best interests; and
        (3) to improve the ability of the Federal Government to assist 
    United States citizens seeking to adopt children from abroad and 
    residents of other countries party to the Convention seeking to 
    adopt children from the United States.

(Pub. L. 106-279, Sec. 2, Oct. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 825.)

                       References in Text

    This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original ``this 
Act'', meaning Pub. L. 106-279, Oct. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 825, which is 
classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of 
this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out below and Tables.


                    Effective Dates; Transition Rule

    Pub. L. 106-279, title V, Sec. 505, Oct. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 844, 
provided that:
    ``(a) Effective Dates.--
        ``(1) Provisions effective upon enactment.--Sections 2, 3, 101 
    through 103, 202 through 205, 401(a), 403, 503, and 505(a) [enacting 
    this section and sections 14902, 14911 to 14913, 14922 to 14924, 
    14941(a), 14943, and 14953 of this title and amending section 622 of 
    this title] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
    Act [Oct. 6, 2000].
        ``(2) Provisions effective upon the entry into force of the 
    convention.--Subject to subsection (b), the provisions of this Act 
    not specified in paragraph (1) [enacting sections 14914, 14921, 
    14931, 14932, 14941(b), (c), 14942, 14944, 14951, 14952, and 14954 
    of this title, amending sections 1101 and 1154 of Title 8, Aliens 
    and Nationality, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this 
    section] shall take effect upon the entry into force of the 
    Convention for the United States pursuant to Article 46(2)(a) of the 
    Convention.
    ``(b) Transition Rule.--The Convention and this Act [see Short Title 
note below] shall not apply--
        ``(1) in the case of a child immigrating to the United States, 
    if the application for advance processing of an orphan petition or 
    petition to classify an orphan as an immediate relative for the 
    child is filed before the effective date described in subsection 
    (a)(2); or
        ``(2) in the case of a child emigrating from the United States, 
    if the prospective adoptive parents of the child initiated the 
    adoption process in their country of residence with the filing of an 
    appropriate application before the effective date described in 
    subsection (a)(2).''


                               Short Title

    Pub. L. 106-279, Sec. 1(a), Oct. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 825, provided 
that: ``This Act [enacting this chapter and amending section 622 of this 
title and sections 1101 and 1154 of Title 8, Aliens and Nationality] may 
be cited as the `Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000'.''