U.S. Senator and Salvadoran First Lady and other government officials Discuss Child Welfare Issues and Adoption
September 07, 2004

Louisiana Senator Mary L. Landrieu visited El Salvador on September 3, heading a delegation of the Congressional Coalition on Adoptions. The delegation met with various agencies and NGOs involved in child welfare to discuss child welfare, how adoptions fit into a holistic child welfare system, and how it might be streamlined.

In her discussions, the Senator emphasized the U.S. commitment to the priority given to child welfare options, as stipulated in the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions: return to natural parents, adoption by relatives, domestic adoption, international adoption, with long-term foster care and institutionalization being last resorts.

During her visit, the Senator met with Solicitor General Marcos Gregorio Sanchez Trejo (photo), as well as with Salvadoran First Lady Ana Ligia de Saca. The delegation also visited an orphanage and the Benjamin Bloom Hospital for Children.