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Floor Speech

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Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam President, our great country was founded on the idea that freedom leads to prosperity, which is better known as the American dream.

I have always said this country owes you only one thing, and that is an opportunity to succeed. This country gives you the opportunity to live the life you dream of because, with hard work, anything is possible. For a couple, the American dream may look like saving enough to buy their first home. For a small family business, it might look like opening its doors for the first time. For a first-generation college graduate, it might be walking across the stage, and for a soldier, returning from war with the hopes of starting a family. The American dream takes on many unique forms reflective of the opportunity that countless generations have strived to realize.

At the core of the American dream, you will find the American family because for centuries, the American dream has been rooted in the idea of family and freedom. Strong families are the foundation of strong communities. That is why we need to uplift the American family rather than to continue to rip it apart.

But recently, we have seen policies from the Democrats that inject politics into parenting, that insert the heavy hand of the Federal Government into the American home and stop at nothing to tell parents: We know best when it comes to raising your children.

Threats to the American family are knocking on the front doors of homes across the Nation as the left becomes focused on telling the American people what they want rather than listening to what they need. A prime example is the Democrats' socialist spending spree, designed to create a cradle-to-grave welfare system that does more to tear the American family down than to build it up. Just look at the child tax credit--a once bipartisan policy initiative that has now been weaponized to benefit some families at the expense of others. If you are a working-class, married couple with children, you drew the short end of the stick. Then there is the Democrats' Federal childcare program. It is more focused on perpetuating government dependency than giving low-income families the means to stand on their own two feet.

With these proposals in their reckless tax-and-spend spree, the Democrats are picking winners and losers, and the losers are the American family. Anti-family policies like these grow the size of the government while chipping away at American freedom. We should focus on pro-family policies that put families first, policies that make achieving the American dream a reality, not something to feel shameful about.

If you are born with two parents in this country, you hit the lottery. So many children don't have the stable family that some have; they grow up with one parent or are raised by another family member. Then there are children who grow up with no parents, thrown into the foster system. It is a shame because we know stable families can provide foundations that children need to seize the American opportunities.

As we talk about supporting the American family, I want to focus on an important issue to many families across the country; that is, adoption.

November is National Adoption Month in the United States. In the United States, over 400,000 children a year don't have a safe place to call home or a loving family to care for them. The idea that children have a safe and stable home, with a family who loves them, should be something we should all agree on.

In my career, I have traveled across the country for 40 years. People from all walks of life welcomed me into their homes. I have seen firsthand the immeasurable impact that family can have on a child's life. I have seen parents who provide stable foundations, who instill the belief that with hard work, grit, and determination, anything is possible.

Success stories can be found across my State of Alabama. In fact, in 2019, Alabama had 731 adoptions--the highest number in Alabama's history.

One of those is Katie, who was adopted through the Heart Gallery of Alabama. Katie's parents adopted her at the age of 12, after years spent in and out of foster care. Her forever family provided her with the secure foundation she needed to jump-start her future. Now, Katie just completed her first year at Yale University.

Like Katie, children in our foster care systems have endless potential but need the stability that having a family brings to unlock it. While we celebrate the heartwarming stories of families being made whole, we cannot forget about the children waiting for their forever home. Those are the stories of kids who deserve these families and families who deserve kids.

As a Christian, I believe life begins at conception, but too often, when discussing pro-life issues, we often refer to that life as the child's time in the womb. We should, however, be focusing on the life of a child after they are born, and that philosophy should apply to children all around the world.

Many other countries don't place the same value on life as we do here in the United States. In some countries, parents may choose to abort babies who might have disabilities, and if a child is born with a disability, they are put up for adoption at much higher rates.

China is one of these countries. Right now, there are several hundred American families who have been matched with or have begun the process of adoption with children in China, but the pandemic has indefinitely halted most of the adoptions from China moving forward.

Back in May, I sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking for the State Department to have diplomatic discussions with China so these kids could go home to their new families, but here we are in November, and I have yet to receive a response from the State Department.

Over 400 children are still stuck in China, with their families unable to bring them home. Most of these children have some type of medical or special need and are currently living in Chinese orphanages.

One such child is Cherry. She is stuck in China while her forever family is waiting with open arms here in the United States. Cherry has Down syndrome and needs medical attention, which is currently being delayed.

When speaking about Cherry, her forever family said:

The sooner we can get little Cherry into our home, the sooner we can give her all the attention, therapy, and love to bring out her fullest potential in life.

Cora Lee has lived in an orphanage for 3\1/2\ years, ever since she was an infant. Cora Lee has a medical condition that needs to be treated or could eventually lead to blindness. Here in the United States, there are parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, and a church family who are waiting for her to come home so they can help provide help in the future.

Then there is Charlie, who recently had a fourth birthday. He has a family in Alabama who cannot wait to welcome him home. The first several years of Charlie's life have been tough. He needs specialized care that only a loving family can provide.

Given that the Biden administration just reopened our borders to so many international travelers and that one of our COVID vaccines for children age 5 through 11 has just been authorized, I believe it is past time for us to get these children home to the families who have been waiting years to love them and care for them.

Adoption is the gift that keeps on giving by providing children the opportunity to rise above difficult circumstances. We need to work together towards policies that make this gift more attainable for all who can provide a stable home. After all, family is the heartbeat of the American dream.

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