WASHINGTON, May 23, 2011 — Freshman senator, Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, has blocked President Obama’s nominee for ambassador to Vietnam.
Jr. Senator Mark Rubio (R-FL) has thrown a block in front of President Obama's nomination of David Shear as the next US Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Image: Associated Press)
Rubio’s hold on the nomination of David Shear, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, who since 2009 has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State, is the first hold for the Obama administration.
Shear was expected to sail through the Foreign Relations Committee, as all other ambassador-designates have, but troubling developments at the Department of State, led adoption advocates and adoptive families to mount a challenge to Shear’s nomination.
David Shear, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affair, has been nominated by President Obama to the position of US Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Image: Valparaiso University)
Last week Senator Rubio placed a hold on the nomination in an effort to get assistance for American families whose children are stranded in orphanages in Vietnam. His hold follows that of Senator Dick Lugar, Republican from Indiana, who initially placed a hold on Shear nomination last month amid concerns.
"Senator Lugar placed a temporary hold on Ambassador-designate Shear’s nomination in an effort to secure information about the status of assistance to American families with pending adoption cases in Vietnam,” explains Andy Fisher, a senior aide to Lugar. “This included responses to requests made by the families to obtain copies of their respective adoption files from the Departments of State and Homeland Security. Unfortunately, the families had encountered innumerable roadblocks in this regard.”
American families who received referrals for orphans in Vietnam more than three years ago are in limbo as the United States rethinks its international adoption policy. Known as “pipeline families,” these U.S. citizens were matched with orphan children, their paperwork processed in the U.S and in Vietnam.
Nate
Then, requirements in both countries began to change. These children and their families have been caught in a cycle of shifting regulations.
For the past three years, the families have grown to known their children through visits. These American families provided medical care, emotional support, toys, books and clothing for their children while they are being raised in an orphanage overseas.
Adoption advocates asked that that these adoptions be grandfathered in under the rules in which these adoptions were originally processed.
They urge that the subsequent DNA matches, relinquishment records from birth mothers and other paperwork be accepted so that these children can be reunited with their families while the United States and Vietnam work out the final details of inter-country adoptions going forward,
“Senator Lugar and Senator Rubio should be commended for their efforts on behalf of their constituents and these children. For years, the Department of State has been unable to provide complete or consistent answers about these cases, and has been unwilling to help solve the problem,” says Kelly Ensslin, the Raleigh, North Carolina-based attorney for two of the pipeline families whose children are awaiting finalization of their adoption.
Lori LeRoy with Nate at Bac Lieu i 2009/Image: LeRoy
“These children are suffering and need homes urgently. I've seen their condition with my own eyes. I believe the hold on Ambassador Designate Shear will instill a sense of urgency and help the Department of State focus on resolving these cases immediately,” Ensslin continued.
For the families, the hold on Ambassador-delegate Shear represents hope that the United States government will take seriously their pleas to reunited their families and bring the children home.
“We are incredibly appreciative of Senator Lugar’s efforts, and now Senator Rubio’s, to bring attention to the fact that our children have been trapped in an orphanage for more than three years, and that we need to find a solution to get them home to the U.S. Senator Lugar’s ardent support and assistance has been our lifeline to our son,” says Lori LeRoy, an Indiana resident and adoptive mother of Nate, who was born in Vietnam and is currently living in an orphanage, waiting for the U.S. State Department’s assistance in bringing him home.
Andrea is an adoptive mother and a journalist. She is at work on a book, "The Red Thread," a collection of stories told by families united through adoption. She is also owner of Media Branding International, a public relations/media consulting firm.
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