The following is a letter I just received from one of my yahoo groups. It's about important legislation that would increase the adoption tax credit from $10,000 per child to $15,000.
If you care at all about adoption, whether as an adoptive or prospective adoptive parent, as a family member of adoption or a friend, this is important legislation we can't let die just because some legislators don't understand the real issues.
- Nimitz' Lady
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As you all know, the adoption tax credit is currently $10,000 per child. The “Childhood Adoption Act of 2005”, H.R. 1561 has been introduced and is currently pending before the House Committee on Ways and Means. The Committee has not yet taken any action on the bill, which would increase the adoption tax credit from $10,000 to 15,000.
My wife and I wrote to our Georgia Representative, John Linder, to urge him to support the bill. Shortly thereafter we received a reply, in which Congressman Linder stated that families who choose to adopt children provide those children with “stable and financially secure homes.” He expressed hesitation to support a bill that “creates additional benefits for selected taxpayers” and makes our tax system even more complicated than it is. My wife and I were not only insulted by the implication that paying for an adoption is some sort of luxury problem for people who are so “financially secure” that they don’t need any help. It’s one thing to pass the home study and show that you can put food on the child’s table; it’s another to come up with the means to pay for the adoption itself. An already strained family economy, perhaps after years of infertility treatments, could use all the help it can get. Our communication with our Representative will continue.
I would like to urge everyone on this message board to consider contacting your Congressman and inquire about where he or she stands on this issue. Your representative in congress is just that – your representative. They are dependent on your vote and should be open to the views of their constituency. If you have concerns about the passing of the bill in Congress, please make your voice heard. An e-mail, or a letter and a stamp, is all it takes. I also suggest you express your concern not only to your own Representative but also to others. As a community we can become the big squeaky wheel.
I suggest the following:
1. Write to your Representative and find out if he or she plans to support the adoption tax credit bill.
2. If the answer is yes, express your appreciation. If the answer is no, or wishy-washy, express your concern and explain why it would be important to you and your family to see a $5,000 increase in the adoption tax credit.
3. Share names and addresses with the members of this message board of those Representative not in favor of the bill and urge your fellow adoptive parents to copy and paste their own letters to send to other Representatives as well.
At last count there were 435 Representatives. If our grass roots lobbying can change the minds of just a few of these people then that might make a difference come bill voting time. While you’re at it, send an e-mail or letter to Georgia Representative John Linder, who does not think you should have an increased adoption tax credit:
Thomas & Shannon
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Here's where to go to find your representative.
--Nimitz' Lady
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