Congressman Denny Rehberg

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, met with officials from the State Department and the Agency for International Development this week to continue fighting to streamline the process for Haitian orphans waiting to be adopted by families in Montana and elsewhere in the Untied States. Approximately 40 Haitian children are already in the process of being adopted, and Rehberg is requesting federal assistance in clearing the final hurdles and arranging safe passage out of the earthquake-torn country.

“These orphans are not only going to be American citizens, but Montanans as well, and I’m working with the State Department and USAID to help ensure their safety,” said Rehberg, a member of the House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee. “There is understandably fear and frustration on part of the families who want to get their children home. I’m asking the State Department to speed up the paperwork, and that USAID use its resources to unite these orphans with their adoptive parents.”

Rehberg met this week with Ambassador Craig Kelly, of the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator Designate with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Rehberg noted there are around 140 humanitarian flights into Haiti on a daily basis, and is asking the agencies to look into the possibility of using those departing planes as an emergency means of transportation to the U.S. for the orphans. In a letter to Dr. Shah, Rehberg also asked the organization to do whatever is necessary to see that these parents have access to USAID flights into Haiti to assist in the rescue.