{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/2026/9/senator-rick-scott-fights-to-end-birth-tourism-from-communist-china-but-democrats-block-legislation", "Senator Rick Scott Fights to End Birth Tourism from Communist China, but Democrats Block Legislation", "2026-09-23", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "Senate", "FL", "Rick Scott", "S001217", "www.rickscott.senate.gov", "rickscott", "https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/press-releases/", "page_html", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Last night on the Senate Floor, U.S. Senator Rick Scott tried to pass his Stopping Adversarial Foreign Exploitation of Kids in Domestic Surrogacy (SAFE KIDS) Act by unanimous consent.\n\nSenate Democrats blocked the bill despite a series of recent legacy media headlines highlighting exploitation of birth tourism by citizens of America\u2019s enemies \u2013 specifically Communist China.\n\nWatch Senator Scott\u2019s full speech by clicking HERE or on the image above.\n\nSenator Rick Scott said, \u201cIn July, I came to the floor and warned about Chinese birth tourism based on a story in my home state of Florida. It was a real story hurting one of my constituents, and I wanted to raise the alarm. I warned this body months ago of this national security threat. Here's what has happened since: this story from my state, and others like it, have made national headlines. The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, and CBS News have all run major stories about birth tourism since I last brought this to the floor. We can\u2019t ignore it anymore, and we know it is not a conspiracy theory.\u201d\n\n\u201cAmerican citizenship is not for sale, and our enemies cannot be allowed to buy it. This country, its sovereignty, and its future are worth protecting. Everyone in this chamber should believe that and support this bill.\u201d\n\nThis is the second time this year Senate Democrats have blocked Senator Scott\u2019s bill.\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nThe SAFE Kids Act prevents adversarial nations, including Communist China, from using American surrogates to obtain U.S. citizenship for their children and traffic infants abroad. It is the first bill of its kind to curb this practice and establish accountability for brokers who facilitate commercial surrogacy contracts with America\u2019s foreign adversaries: Communist China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea.\n\nInternational commercial surrogacy raises serious national security and human trafficking concerns, but there are currently no U.S. laws on the books to address these issues. The SAFE KIDS Act addresses a gap in U.S. surrogacy law by:\n\nInvalidating any commercial surrogacy agreement that is entered into with citizens of a foreign adversarial nation; and\n\nCreating a misdemeanor for brokers\u2014not surrogates\u2014who knowingly or recklessly facilitate a prohibited commercial surrogacy agreement with citizens of a foreign adversarial nation.\n\nRead more about Communist China\u2019s birth tourism in America:\n\nThe Wall Street Journal: A Florida Surrogate, a Father in China, and the Babies Caught Between\n\nCBS News: \"Who do we hand the baby to?\" Loopholes and shady practices taint U.S. surrogacy industry\n\nNew York Magazine: Whose Babies are these?\n\nThe New York Post: Meet the US Army vet running a California baby factory for Chinese nationals to have American kids\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-24T09:44:48Z", "2026-09-24T09:45:52Z"]], "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.rickscott.senate.gov/2026/9/senator-rick-scott-fights-to-end-birth-tourism-from-communist-china-but-democrats-block-legislation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.732912914827466, "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"}