McConnell Meets with Kentucky Family Adopting Children from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Press Release

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell met today with Glen and Renee Dreher of Shelbyville, Kentucky in his office in the U.S. Capitol. The meeting occurred just days after they learned their two adopted children have been approved to leave the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and head to their new home in the U.S. The Dreher children are two of the 159 children who were adopted by American families that were recently approved to receive exit permits. The Dreher's were in Washington, DC, today, along with dozens of other adoptive parents, advocating for adopted children to be released from the DRC. Despite the good news this recent list brought, there are still believed to be anywhere from 100-250 American adoptive families whose children did not make the most recent list.

The Dreher's have been unable to bring their two children home due to the ongoing suspensions of exit permits imposed by the DRC government. Senator McConnell has worked over the years to assist more than 20 Kentucky families, including the Dreher's, who have successfully adopted children from the DRC. However, due to the DRC government's years-long suspension of exit permits, several of these families have been unable to bring their adopted children home to the United States.

Last year, Congress passed and the President signed into law a bill Senator McConnell co-sponsored, the Adoptive Family Relief Act, which provided meaningful financial relief by granting the State Department authority to waive the fees for multiple visa renewals in these and other extraordinary adoption circumstances. The legislation builds on Senator McConnell's efforts on the adoption issue, including his amendment to last year's budget resolution to encourage a solution to the situation, numerous bipartisan congressional letters sent to Congolese officials, and conversations and meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry and the DRC Ambassador on the issue.

"I enjoyed meeting with the Dreher family from Shelbyville today and seeing the joy on their faces as they talked about how happy they are that their children have been approved to come home from the DRC," Senator McConnell said. "However, our work is not done until the children are safely home. I have been grateful to work with this and other Kentucky families and will continue to do all I can to help unify these children with their adoptive parents."

"This adoption process has been a challenging experience for us and many other Kentucky families. We are encouraged by the recent news that the DRC has approved 159 cases, and are thankful that we are one of those cases, but hope that the DRC follows through with this commitment. Throughout this process, we have been grateful for Senator McConnell's efforts to help bring our children home from the DRC, and we look forward to the day when we are finally united with them," the Dreher's said. "We will continue to work until all the remaining legally adopted children are allowed to leave to come home to their forever families."

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