The word ‘family’ holds a special meaning in my heart and the ties that bind our families together provide a nurturing environment for our children to grow and succeed.

With November designated as National Adoption Month and November 22 deemed National Adoption Day, I wanted to raise awareness about adoptions and foster youth across the nation.

In the United States, there are 397,122 children living without permanent families in the foster care system and around the world there are an estimated 17,900,000 orphans. Additionally, according to the U.S. State Department, United States families adopted more than 7,000 children in 2012. Americans adopted the highest amount of children from China then followed by Ethiopia, Ukraine, Haiti, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I’m a lifelong believer in the right to life and I believe our society should support organizations that provide alternative options to women who cannot provide for a child or may not be ready to be a mother. These same organizations also support abandoned children who want and need the opportunity to be in a safe and loving family.

The House of Representatives has been very active in raising awareness and supporting our nation’s foster youth and adoption. I’m proud to be a member of two congressional organizations – the Foster Youth Caucus and the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. The Foster Youth Caucus works to protect and promote the welfare of all children in foster care and those who have “aged out” of the system. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption is dedicated to raising awareness about the millions of children in need of permanent, safe and loving homes, and to eliminating the barriers that hinder these children from realizing their basic need of a family.

I have also cosponsored H.Res. 409, which expresses support for the goals of National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month by promoting national awareness of adoption and the children awaiting families and celebrating children and families that are involved in adoption. This resolution also encourages Americans to secure safety, permanency, and the well-being for all children.

And most recently I signed a letter to the leaders of the Senate and National Assembly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) urging legislative action on adoption reform which has been halted in the DRC since September 2013. This letter is similar to another letter I signed on to earlier this year to support legislation and government effort to follow up on the well-being of Congolese children adopted by U.S. citizens and to work together to ensure that intercountry adoptions between our countries continue.

I am hopeful these efforts will raise awareness of the issues surrounding our foster care and adoption systems. We should all focus more time and energy to ensure the continued advancement of these systems in order to protect our nation’s children and promote the idea that every child has a right to life.