Crisco requests resolution be delivered to Russian president

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Joseph Crisco
Joseph Crisco

HARTFORD — State Sen. Joseph Crisco, Jr. (D-17) has made a formal request of Secretary of State John Kerry to deliver to Russian President Vladimir Putin a copy of Senate Resolution 15, “A Resolution Memorializing President Putin to Allow American Adoptions of Russian Children in Process to Proceed.”

Last winter President Putin permanently banned the adoption of Russian children by United States citizens, said Crisco, the Senate’s federal relations liaison, in a press release. Hundreds of families throughout the United States remain in limbo as a result, according to the release.  

“If President Putin remains determined to deny adoptions of orphaned Russian children by willing and qualified American families he’ll have to live with that decision, but we are eager for him at the very least to allow all those adoption proceedings already underway to go forward,” Crisco said in the press release. “In our letter to Secretary of State Kerry a formal request is made to ensure delivery of this Senate Resolution to underscore our intent.”

The letter is co-signed by Crisco and state Sen. Anthony Musto (D-22), co-chair of the legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee. It reads, in part: “We respectfully request that this Resolution be delivered to President Putin.” The resolution was adopted unanimously by senators in the GAE committee and then again by the full Senate.

“This Senate initiative cites recognition by the United Nations and the Hague Conference on Private International Law, among other experts, of a child’s right to a family as a basic human right, worthy of protection, and I am eager to remind President Putin of that fact,” Crisco said. “It is our hope that delivery of our resolution by Secretary Kerry will help President Putin grant this right to Russian children and these American families alike.”

The Ministry of Science and Education of Russia reports that approximately 110,000 Russian children live in state institutions, but in 2011 just 7,400 of them were adopted by Russian families, according to the press release. Another 3,400 were adopted by families in other countries, Crisco said.

“This request is made on humanitarian grounds, simply to match more Russian children with permanent families here in the United States,” Senator Crisco added.