WASHINGTON — The Adoptive Family Relief Act, legislation sponsored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), was approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The bill, approved by the Senate in July, now goes to the president for his signature.

The Adoptive Family Relief Act would allow the State Department to waive visa renewal fees for families adopting children from abroad when children are unable to immigrate to the United States in a timely manner.

Cosponsors of the bill are Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Deb Fisher (R-Neb.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.). The State Department also supports the bill.

“I am grateful the Adoptive Families Relief Act was passed by Congress today. Uniting these children with their new families is long overdue,” said Sen. Johnson. “There is no reason for our federal government to add hundreds of dollars of unnecessary costs in repeated visa renewal fees as they wait. This common-sense legislation is the least we can do, yet it means so much to waiting families.”

“Adoption should be one of the happiest experiences of a parent’s life, so it’s heartbreaking that families are stuck in political limbo when all they want is to bring their child home,” said Sen. Feinstein. “The financial burden these families face will now be reduced as we work to resolve this situation and finally unite parents with their children."

The Adoptive Family Relief Act would immediately assist American families who have adopted children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has refused to issue exit permits to legally adopted children since September 2013. This suspension has affected more than 350 American families, including at least six in Wisconsin.

Under current law, a U.S. immigrant visa for an adoptee expires if it is not used within six months and costs $325 to renew. Under the bill, the State Department could waive the renewal fee for visas issued on or after March 23, 2013, and refund visa renewal fees that have already been paid since that time.

In one case, a Chino Hills, Calif., family has spent nearly $1,000 to repeatedly renew the visa for their adoptive child, who remains unable to leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Congolese authorities have provided a number of excuses for halting the issuance of exit permits for children legally adopted by foreign parents. In July 2014, the government announced that it would not issue exit permits until new adoption laws were passed, but there has been little progress to date despite the efforts of the Congress and the State Department to address the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s concerns.

Members of Congress, including Sens. Johnson and Feinstein, have written letters to President Obama and Congolese President Joseph Kabila, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s parliament, to spur action to resolve the problem.