A Political Action Rookie Hits A Home Run
By Daria Dato
A Political Action Rookie Hits A Home Run
By Daria Dato
Before February 17, I had almost NO experience with politics. Sure I vote most of the time, and I got some signatures on the petitions we've been working on here in Texas, but that's it.
I was really nervous about going down to the Texas Legislature yesterday, but did it for two reasons -- I figured it would be a very educational day (especially for my daughter, Jenna), and because the proposed Texas adoptee rights bill (and adoption reform in general) is quite important to me. The timing just happened to work out well also - Jenna had a school holiday, which meant I was off of work as well (I keep after-schoolers in my home). I tell you all this in case there is someone else out there who is scared to get involved because they don't know what they're doing, or because they think they're not "somebody important"and therefore can't make a difference -- the most important thing I learned is that I can make a difference, even when I don't necessarily know what it is I'm supposed to be doing!
There were two state representatives I felt comfortable visiting -- Rep. Fred Hill, because he is my "adopted"lawmaker and I had already had some favorable response from him when I sent my letter; and Rep. Tony Goolsby (because he is MY representative in my district), so in my mind he was approachable. That covered two of the representatives, but I was pretty scared of facing the other 148!
After lunch, Robert (my husband who is a reunited adoptee), my 12-year-old daughter Jenna and I headed for Rep. Goolsby's office first. I took a deep breath, gathered all my courage, gulped a time or two, opened the door, asked to see my representative97 and he wasn't there. I left my name and address, said I was visiting from Dallas and wanted to speak with him, was told he was running in and out and would be back shortly. I decided it was probably most important to make sure somebody knew why I was there, so I told my story to Spencer, a wonderful young man who works in Rep. Goolsby's office. He listened to me, shared some anecdotes of his (about a couple of girlfriends that had been adopted) and asked one question that fortunately I was prepared to answer -- "What about pregnant women who think they will not want to be found, will they choose abortion instead?" I had the answer that Bill Betzen, who was in Austin with us, provided somewhere along the line -- that Kansas and Alaska (the two open records states) have two of the highest adoption and lowest abortion rates in the states. I was extremely embarrassed to realize that I did not even have a copy of TxCARE92s proposed bill with me so I got the fax number and promised to send it the next day.
So much has happened since then that I really can't remember for sure, but I think we just left it at that - once he had a copy, Tony would look at supporting the bill. Spencer did mention at one point that Tony MIGHT be interested in sponsoring, but did not tell me why. When I tried to pin him down to that a few minutes later, asking "So you think that Tony would possibly be interested in sponsoring this for us?", he backtracked quickly and told me not to quit looking for a sponsor since he couldn't guarantee anything, but he would talk to Tony about it.
We next headed for Rep. Fred Hill's office. He also was not in, so I was running 0 for 2. I told his aide that I had faxed Rep. Hill a letter the week before, had gotten a positive message on my answering machine from him, and I had made this trip to Austin in part to thank him in person for making the effort to help me so quickly. The aide told me that Rep. Hill would most likely want to see me, was currently in a meeting but would be in later and could I come back? I said I would, and also gave her my cell phone number and turned on my cell phone so that she could call me if he got in. I realized later that since I was out of my area, her call would not reach me. Oops. Right around this time I remembered I had a copy of the bill in Bill's Previa. I sent Robert out to the van (fortunately we had the keys!!) to get it. He also grabbed our camera.
We headed back for Rep. Goolsby's office, with the bill in hand. This time Spencer was gone, but Rep. Goolsby was there. We waited for a few minutes because he was on the phone. Another aide went in to tell him we were there - I could hear something about "the lady from Dallas"and "adoption". A minute later Tony came out, said he could not invite us into his office but would speak to us in the waiting area.
My heart sank a little - I thought maybe he was trying to avoid wasting much time on me. Then he had us all sit down, but he stood so I had to look up at him while we spoke - I was afraid this was another way of intimidating me and shuffling me out quickly. I could not have been more wrong. He didn't invite us into his office because someone was already in there, as it turned out. And he stood because we took up all his chairs.
I will go on record right now as saying that as far as I am concerned, Tony Goolsby has a heart of gold. He listened to me, took the copy of the bill and read it and smiled down at me. Then he dropped the bombshell. He said, "I'm going to sponsor your bill". He told us that he was adopted not a typical infant adoption, but he had been orphaned at age four and was adopted by a sister who was 18 years older than he was. So he was lucky enough to grow up knowing his history, and he obviously realized that most adoptees are not that lucky.
While we were sitting there, he handed the proposed bill to an aide and had him/her (I can't even remember, I was so shocked by that point!) run it out the door that minute to the Legislative Council so they could officially write the bill. He said that Diane Wanger (Tarrant County adoptee and attorney) did a great job writing our bill, but he wanted to make sure that it would not end up dying because of some technicality. He then told me that since we are in such a time crunch, he will get it back and file it immediately, and send me a copy of it at the same time. Then I am to let him know if our group wants to make any changes or if we disagree with anything - he said it would be easy to amend it later, after it is filed. And that was that.
I asked him again if he meant to actually SPONSOR it and not just support it.- (I kept thinking there had to be a catch somewhere.) He told me again he would sponsor. I hugged him, he hugged me back, he hugged Jenna. We then got a picture of all of us together in his office, and he asked me to send him a copy when I get them developed.
By this time I was dying to get back to Bill and tell him the news, but it was time to head back to Fred Hill's. This time he was in his office, too, and his aide had briefed him, and he was eager to talk to me since I was from Dallas. He did not remember which bill I had sent to him, so we went back over that. And of course at that time I told him that Tony Goolsby had agreed to sponsor it (which I still kind of didn't believe, but I said it anyway). He reiterated his support of the bill.
We also talked for awhile about the Richardson Schools (a very important issue for both of us), and when he found out Jenna was in Texas History this year at Richardson Junior High, he asked if we had a few minutes free2E We certainly did.We spent the next half hour with Rep. Hill - taking a tour of the house floor. He really made history come to life for Jenna and for us - we were absolutely in awe. We visited his seat on the house floor and took pictures. He allowed Jenna to use his desk phone to call his office. He explained how he votes on bills, which buttons he pushes. This was definitely the highlight of the day for Jenna.
Editor's Note: At press time, five other Texas Representatives have agreed to co-sponsor this important bill and others have indicated their support. See the full text of this proposed bill on page 6. TxCARE has organized an Adopt A Texas Lawmaker program to educate lawmakers about this bill...volunteers are still needed!
Daria's Adopt A Lawmaker Letter Excerpts:
On behalf of TxCARE, I circulated a petition supporting the rights of adult adoptees to access their original birth certificates within the Richardson, Plano and Lake Highlands areas and at my neighborhood elementary school. Out of the 100 people I asked to sign the petition, only one refused to do so. Those who signed include the principal at Richland Elementary (Jane Olsen, who has since been promoted within the RISD and now oversees Berkner and Lake Highlands area elementary schools), the counselor, librarian and many of the teachers at Richland, and many of the residents of Richland Park and Richland Park East. The one person who refused to sign stated as her reason that she has an adopted niece -- she did not want the child to grow up and be able to locate her birth information. I'm sure you'll agree that once a child has reached majority, she is more qualified than her adoptive aunt to make a decision regarding her genetic heritage.
Those of us who feel that adopted adults should be able to make their own decision regarding their original birth certificates find ourselves in good company -- both the Adoptive Families of America and the North American Council on Adopted Children have formally endorsed adoptees having access to their birth records.93I'd like to share with you how my family has been touched by adoption.
My husband was adopted as an infant in Indiana in 1962. He spent several years searching in vain for his birth family. Finally, in 1993, the laws in Indiana changed to allow adopted persons' access to their records. After an expensive court process, his birth information was finally released to him in 1994. Upon reuniting with his maternal birth family, my husband received important medical information that could someday save his life. As his wife, I feel relief that we now have this information (regarding cancer). We both would prefer that this aspect of the family medical history not belong to him, but, as it may become his legacy, we certainly prefer to be informed.
My husband and I have been affected by adoption in another way. If we choose not to go through invasive, ethically questionable fertility treatments, adoption will be our only choice for continuing to build our family. As a potential near-future adoptive mother, I would like to go on record as saying that I want any adopted children I may raise to have full access to their heritage and their birthright, preferably throughout their lives (if possible), but certainly upon the age of majority. I would not ask for anything less for any child of mine.
Last updated March 12, 1997