Read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Apr 29, 1993
Fairness for Adopted Children Act - Establishes the National Advisory Council on Adoption (the Council), to be appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995. Terminates such Council after three years. Directs the Secretary of HHS to: (1) report to the Congress, within 30 days, on the status of the implementation of the adoption data collection system required under specified provisions of the Social Security Act; (2) report monthly to the Congress on the progress made in implementing such system; and (3) consult with the Council in developing regulations to carry out such reporting requirements. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary to award grants to States to enable them to establish programs to provide maternal health certificates to eligible pregnant women who are residents of a maternity home, or on a waiting list or receiving out-patient services from a maternity home. Limits such women's income to 175 percent of the State poverty level, not including support received from parents, guardians, or the father of the child. Sets forth eligibility requirements for the maternity home, including that it have the capability to serve at least four pregnant women concurrently. Requires the use of certificates to pay the reasonable costs associated with residence in, or services of, the maternity home. Allows the use of certificates to cover expenses incurred during a period that ends not later than one month after the birth of the child. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to establish a program of fellowships for graduate study in social work, in innovative programs concerning the effects of adoption on the adopted children, their adoptive families, and their biological parents who make an adoption plan. Authorizes of appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995. Directs the Secretary of Education, within one year after enactment of this Act, to make grants to States to carry out adoption education programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to prohibit discrimination by insurance companies in the writing or executing of insurance policies on the basis of whether a child is adopted. Makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against an employee with respect to a term or condition of any leave benefit on the basis of the fact that a child of an employee is not a biological child. Amends the Social Security Act to provide payments to States for expenses incurred in placing a child with special needs in adoptive homes if the child is placed within three months of becoming available for adoption. Expresses the sense of the Congress that each State should adopt and enforce specified types of adoption laws, rules, or regulations.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 26, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.844 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.844 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.844 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.844 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.