S.Res. 190 — Introduced in Senate

III 113th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 190 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 27, 2013 Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Ms. Landrieu) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Senate that foreign assistance for child welfare should adhere to the goals of the United States Government Action Plan on Children in Adversity. Whereas, as of 2013, there are at least 153,000,000 children in the world who have lost at least 1 parent, and of those children, approximately 17,800,000 have lost both parents; Whereas more than 400,000,000 children in developing countries are living in extreme poverty; Whereas more than 115,000,000 children are engaged in hazardous work and more than 5,500,000 children are in situations of forced labor; Whereas 36 percent of girls and 29 percent of boys around the world have been sexually abused; Whereas at least 2,000,000, and probably many more, children are raised in institutional care; Whereas millions of children throughout the world live under conditions of serious deprivation or danger, and children who experience violence or are exploited, abandoned, abused, or severely neglected also face significant threats to their survival and well-being, as well as profound risks that have an impact on their human, social, and economic development; Whereas children in the most dire circumstances, including children without protective family care, or who are living in abusive households, on the streets, or in institutions, trafficked, participating in armed groups, or exploited for their labor, face a multitude of risks posed by extreme poverty, disease, disability, conflict, and disaster; Whereas family reunification, kinship care, and domestic and intercountry adoption promote permanency and stability to a far greater degree than long-term institutionalization; Whereas permanent family care, transitioning children from institutions into protective family care, and preventing violence within households and in schools are associated with reduced infant and child mortality, decreased grade repetition, decreased future criminal activity, decreased drug use and abuse, fewer teen pregnancies, and higher economic earning potential; Whereas past efforts by the United States to assist vulnerable children in low- and middle-income countries have not always been coordinated among the Federal agencies responsible for foreign assistance, and that lack of coordination has sometimes resulted in a fragmented response; Whereas, with the increasing number of children in need, limitations on Federal funding, and multiple Federal agencies involved in efforts to assist children in need, it is more important than ever to improve the coordination and coherence of those efforts in order to maximize the effect on children; Whereas the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–95; 119 Stat. 2111), which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 415 to 9 and passed the Senate by unanimous consent, called for a comprehensive, coordinated, and effective response on the part of the Government of the United States to assist the most vulnerable children in the world; Whereas the Special Advisor for Assistance for Orphans and Vulnerable Children appointed under section 135(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152f(e)), in coordination with 7 Federal agencies, released the United States Government Action Plan on Children in Adversity as the first-ever whole-of-government strategic guidance for foreign assistance for children provided by the United States; and Whereas the United States Government Action Plan on Children in Adversity seeks to ensure that all activities of the Government of the United States are coordinated among appropriate Federal agencies and integrated into relevant foreign policy initiatives of the United States, with the goal of promoting permanent family care and integrating evidence-based practices that are in the best interest of children: Now, therefore, be it That it is the sense of the Senate that— (1) a comprehensive action plan for addressing the needs of children living in adversity should be sanctioned by the highest level of the Government of the United States; (2) Federal funding that currently goes toward projects and research benefitting children in low- and middle-income countries should be coordinated among the Federal agencies that receive it with the goals of— (A) promoting permanent family care for the most vulnerable children in the world; (B) reducing the number of children who experience violence, exploitation, or abuse; and (C) eliminating unnecessary duplication and contradictory approaches within the Government of the United States; and (3) the United States Government Action Plan on Children in Adversity has the potential to realize those goals and create a more effective and efficient response by the Government of the United States to assisting the most vulnerable children in the world.