{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-china-should-not-go-back-on-the-promises-it-made-to-children-and-families", "Grassley: China Should Not Go Back on the Promises It Made to Children and Families", "2024-09-18", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "Senate", "IA", "Chuck Grassley", "G000386", "www.grassley.senate.gov", "grassley", "https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is seeking information on China\u2019s August 28, 2024, decision to end intercountry adoptions. In letters to the State Department and the Chinese Ambassador, he notes China\u2019s announcement has jeopardized adoption prospects for many American families \u2013 including in Iowa \u2013 who have been stuck in the final stages of the process.\n\nGrassley wrote, in part:\n\n\u201cParents have been left without instruction or clarity on if the children they have been paired with, named, and are growing a connection with will ever actually get placed in their home. I understand this decision to halt intercountry adoptions is within the [People\u2019s Republic of China]\u2019s purview. That said, China should not go back on the promises made to children and families and instead ought to allow for adoptions that have already been in the works to be finalized. Families should be united and children who were paired with a loving home should not be deceived and left in orphanages away from their adoptive parents.\u201d\n\nRead his full letters to the State Department and the Chinese Ambassador at the corresponding links. Click HERE to download broadcast-quality video of Grassley discussing this effort.\n\nBackground:\n\nGrassley co-chairs the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth and is a longtime adoption advocate. When China continued to suspend its intercountry adoption program following the COVID-19 pandemic, despite opening its borders for business and other activities, Grassley called out the inconsistency. He advocated for stalled adoption processes to resume, so children and families could finally unite.\n\n*Note: To protect Iowans\u2019 privacy, the enclosures transmitted with the letters are not publicly available.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-china-should-not-go-back-on-the-promises-it-made-to-children-and-families"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5904461033642292, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}