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The intercountry adoption process is a long, tedious process for American citizens seeking to adopt a foreign born child. Paperwork includes home studies, finger printing and criminal checks. The process can take up to three years to complete. At the completion of the adoption, the child must be approved for a U.S. immigrant visa in order to enter the U.S. and gain citizenship. The immigrant visa is required despite the fact that the “immigrant” is the child of a U.S. citizen. The U.S. is one of the few developed countries in the world that requires internationally adopted children of citizens to immigrate in order to join their new families.
Most countries recognize internationally adopted children as citizens upon the finalization of their adoption. The Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act (FACE Act) would recognize that internationally adopted children deserve to be treated as children of American citizens and accorded the same citizenship process as children born abroad to American citizens.
Under the FACE Act, Adoptive parents would apply for a U.S. passport and Consular Report of Birth instead of a visa. These documents provide adoptive parents with immediate proof of citizenship for their adopted child and provide immediate proof of U.S. citizenship.
2. Support the Families for Orphans Act 
UNICEF estimates that there are 143 million orphans in the world today. Research such as the Bucharest Early Intervention Study conducted by respected researchers at Harvard University, Maryland University, and other universities has shown that keeping an orphaned child in a permanent and loving family is the best way to ensure that they have love, attention, and care needed to survive, and better yet, to thrive.
Although the U.S. Government has programs related to vulnerable children, very little of the focus and funding is going toward finding permanent families for children in need of parental care.
Developing countries where millions of orphans live lack the resources and expertise necessary to develop sound systems to provide for the care of the rising number of children living outside of permanent parental care.
3. The Effect of Smoking On Teens
July 17, 2006
Teen smoking rates - which plummeted dramatically over the past eight years - now appear to be leveling off, a trend that concerns many public health experts.
They're worried not just about the diminishing numbers of teens who are choosing to quit, but also about what may be in store for the 1 million plus new smokers who are succumbing to the habit each year.
Cigarette smoking during childhood and adolescence produces significant health problems among young people, including cough and phlegm production, an increase in the number and severity of respiratory illnesses, decreased physical fitness, an unfavorable lipid profile and potential retardation in the rate of lung growth and the level of maximum lung function.
An estimated 440,000 Americans die each year from diseases caused by smoking.
Each day, nearly 6,000 children under 18 years of age start smoking; of these, nearly 2,000 will become regular smokers. That is almost 800,000 annually.
It is estimated that at least 4.5 million U.S. adolescents are cigarette smokers.
Approximately 90 percent of smokers begin smoking before the age of 21.
If current tobacco use patterns persist, an estimated 6.4 million children will die prematurely from a smoking-related disease.
According to a 2001 national survey of high school students, the overall prevalence of current cigarette use was 28 percent.
Nearly graders and 5.5 percent of 8th graders smoke cigarettes daily.
Adolescents who smoke regularly can have just as hard a time quitting as long-time smokers.
Of adolescents who have smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime, most of them report that they would like to quit, but are not able to do so.
Cigarette advertisements tend to emphasize youthful vigor, sexual attraction and independence themes, which appeal to teenagers and young adults struggling with these issues.
Tobacco use in adolescence is associated with a range of health-compromising behaviors, including being involved in fights, carrying weapons, engaging in high-risk sexual behavior and using alcohol and other drugs.
