Mr. Speaker. on behalf of hundreds of American families who are separated from their children with no sense of certainty or knowing when they will be allowed to see their children again or to know when their children will be home for good. That is because. in September of 2013. now more than 2 years ago. the Democratic Republic of the Congo. or the DRC. ceased issuing exit visas. including visas for the more than 350 children who had been fully legally adopted by American families. These families had fully complied with international adoption laws in both the United States and the DRC. had already spent months or years going through the tedious intercountry adoption process. and some of them had already arrived in the DRC with the belief that they would be bringing their adoptive children home at last to their forever families in America. Despite significant. ongoing efforts by both Congress and the State Department to alleviate any of the DRC Governments concerns and resolve the exit permit process.