er than May 6, 2004. The Board plans to meet as near as possible to that date so that selection can take place at the earliest date possible. Only after selection can countries that fall just short of qualifying for the MCA be identified and a program initiated to assist them.

In addition to its ongoing assistance programs in a broad range of developing countries, USAID will provide targeted assistance to countries that just miss qualifying for the MCA and demonstrate a commitment to policy reform. In those countries, USAID will support development through programs under the MCA rubric of ruling justly, investing in people and encouraging economic freedom, with particular attention to areas of weakness in qualifying for the MCA. The aim will be to promote economic growth and development and encourage policy improvements that will eventually enable the country to qualify for the MCA.

Funding for such programs could come from USAID and/or the Millennium Challenge Corporation. The Millennium Challenge Act authorizes the Board of the MCC to provide not more than 10% of appropriated assistance to countries for the purposes of assisting them to qualify for the MCA, but the Board has not yet addressed this issue. Both the MCC and USAID will encourage countries to take the needed steps to qualify for MCA funding and to create the conditions for lasting development progress.

Question 10a. I have a general concern regarding U.S. citizen services at our embassies. My staff tells me of general problems in having phone calls and faxes returned promptly. I know our consular officers are extremely busy, and I expect they would return more phone calls from my staff if they were not. My question, then, is whether we have enough consular staff to respond to the needs of U.S. citizens. Answer. The State Department has sufficient consular staff to respond to the needs of U.S. citizens overseas. Since consular staff usually interacts with the public in the morning, most posts accept only emergency calls during this time, and generally establish hours for phone calls in the afternoon. Posts make every effort to respond to congressional inquiries within 72 hours as prescribed by Department of State regulation. Our experience has shown that email is the most efficient and reliable form of communication and encourage congressional staff to use this medium rather than fax. If your staff is experiencing difficulty with any particular posts, they should contact the Consular Officer assigned to the Department of State's Congressional Liaison Office for assistance.

Question 10b. I would follow up with specific concerns about adoption cases. My office works with hundreds of families in the process of completing international adoptions. The parents tend to come to my office because they do not feel adequately helped by Embassy staff; they feel an undue emphasis has been placed on preventing illegal adoptions-which is a goal we all share without adequate attention to facilitating legal adoptions. (A big exception to this issue, I might add, has been our very positive experience with the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala.) I am wondering if there are ways we can do more to help prospective parents, rather than simply focusing on stopping improper adoptions?

Answer. The Department of State's highest priority is the welfare and protection of American citizens, including Americans adopting children internationally. In FY 2003, Americans adopted over 21,000 children from overseas. We believe intercountry adoption is an excellent means of providing a loving, permanent family placement for children who would otherwise not have one. To support this goal we provide a number of services for American prospective adoptive parents.

The Office of Children's Issues in the Bureau of Consular Affairs was created in 1994 in recognition of the growing prominence of children's issues in foreign policy. The Adoption Unit in that office is devoted to working with parents seeking to adopt children from overseas:

• Adoption officers are available to respond to general and specific inquiries from prospective adoptive parents;

• We maintain a Web site with over 100 information flyers on the adoption process in individual countries, as well as general information on the immigrant visa process, citizenship for adopted children, and safeguards for children and adoptive parents;

• While we cannot direct that a visa be issued, we can and do inquire of the U.S. consular section abroad regarding the status of a particular case.

We take every opportunity to discuss adoptions with foreign interlocutors, both overseas and in the U.S. In these discussions, we express our strong support for transparent, consistently applied adoption procedures that place the interests of children first. In this vein, while we are not equipped to locate children for parents

to adopt, act as an agent for an adoptive family, or order that a foreign authority grant an adoption, we can and do monitor the procedures of foreign governments to ensure that they do not discriminate against U.S. citizens in the adoption process. We provide training for our staff in the importance of facilitating intercountry adoptions for American adoptive parents as a reflection of U.S. Government policy. We include training on intercountry adoptions in the initial instruction provided to every consular officer before his or her first tour overseas. We include adoption visa service issues in the continuing training seminars provided to officers and Foreign Service National staff working in American Citizens Services and Immigrant Visa sections in embassies and consulates around the world. We discuss adoption policy and customer service values at regional conferences for post leadership and management. For example, in 2002, the Office of Children's Issues organized a Consular Conference on International Adoptions for consular officers serving at U.S. embassies with significant adoption workloads or adoption related concerns highlighting the importance of managing the orphan visa system to assist American citizen adoptive parents to receive orphan visas as quickly as possible. We continue to seek opportunities for training.

Adoptive parents often seek assistance with the visa application process. The Department recognizes the special needs and considerations of adoptive parents and their children. As stated in the Foreign Affairs Manual (9 FAM 42.21 N11), it is the general policy of the Department that consular sections should provide expeditious assistance in handling orphan visa cases, and that orphan visa appointments should be given priority over other cases. As a result, most posts will give orphan visa applications the first available opening, often within a few days of the parents declaring themselves documentarily qualified.

Unfortunately, not all orphan visa cases can be expeditiously processed if there are constraints that preclude setting an appointment. The Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regulations, for example, prohibit a consular officer from issuing an orphan immigrant visa unless the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has already approved the I-600A advanced processing application. U.S. immigration law requires an immigrant visa applicant to collect certain required documents, and under standard Department practice, an immigrant visa interview is not scheduled unless the applicant has gathered all the necessary documents. There may be other factors that preclude prompt appointment scheduling, including the necessity to resolve certain legal, procedural, or factual issues before holding an interview would be fruitful. Whenever possible in such cases, consular officers work with the adoptive parents or their agents to try and resolve the problems in a timely and transparent fashion.

The Department of State is committed to the twin goals of rapid processing of international adoptions and the safeguarding of an adoption system free of fraud and baby selling. We believe that international adoption practices and procedures will be ameliorated as countries accede to and implement the Hague Adoption Convention. In addition to legitimizing the principle that intercountry adoption is superior to institutionalization for orphans, the aim of the Convention is to ensure that such adoptions take place when they are in the child's best interests and that the abduction of and trafficking in children and other abuses are prevented. The Department is committed to the Convention's principles and is working diligently to implement it for the United States. Once implemented, the Convention will be a valuable tool to help American citizens who seek to build their families through intercountry adoption.

Question 10c. Much has been written about the drop-off in student visas issuedas well as the drop in student visa applications. While I believe it is entirely appropriate to exercise vigilance in the student visa process to prevent the entry of those who wish to harm Americans, I am concerned that we are being a bit too strict in our procedures. There is also a timeliness issue here—some students are not receiving their visas until after classes have begun. Is this a staffing question? Do you need more resources from the Congress in order to fulfill these duties in a timely manner?

Answer. While there has been a decline in the number of student visa applications over the last two years, the refusal rate for this class of visa has increased only slightly during this period of time. Proportionally, the decline in student visa applications is less than the overall decline in applications for nonimmigrant visas generally.

Levels of student visa applications are affected by a number of factors, including worldwide economic trends and general reluctance to travel after 9/11. There was also a general belief that it was more difficult to obtain a visa to the United States. The standards under which consular officers adjudicate visas based on immigration

law and regulations have not changed, however. Consular officers continue to grant visas to persons who can demonstrate that they are bona fide nonimmigrants coming to the United States to study.

The elimination of the personal appearance waiver for students and the need to collect biometric information from visa applicants has obliged students from a number of countries who previously did not need to come to an Embassy or Consulate to apply for their visas in person. Embassies and Consulates have been encouraged to set up special expedited appointments for students and exchange visitors in order to facilitate their visa applications in a timely manner.

Most student visa cases are adjudicated by consular officers the same day as the visa interview and biometric collection. Only a small number, are submitted to Washington for interagency review. The clearing agencies generally give priority to student visa applications. Most of these cases are concluded in less than 30 calendar days. The Visa Office identifies cases that remain pending for the other clearing agencies to ensure that cases do not get overlooked.

Question 10d. Moreover, in some large countries such as Sweden, I am told of students having to travel long distances to the U.S. Embassy in the capital city to engage in a three-minute interview for a visa. Are these types of procedures really necessary for countries like Sweden where we have a visa waiver program in place? Answer. Our focus is on the statutory requirement to issue visas with biometric identifiers. In order to collect biometrics at the time of the visa application, the applicants must appear in person. The visa interview requirement is designed to complement the biometric requirement.

Students of all nationalities require a visa. The Congress has authorized the visa waiver program only for tourists and business visitors coming to the United States for short periods of stay. We recognize that some individuals travel long distances to reach our consular offices overseas. Most of those offices have appointment systems in part to permit those who do need to travel the assurance that a consular officer will be available to provide the appropriate services.

RESPONSE OF HON. COLIN L. POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE, TO AN ADDITIONAL QUESTION FOR THE RECORD SUBMITTED BY SENATOR BILL NELSON

Question 1. Recently, the State Department publicly denounced the human rights record of the Government of Uzbekistan. It has come to my attention that several relatives of Americans have been wrongly imprisoned in Uzbekistan for personal political motives and been denied any visitation due process. In addition, Uzbekistan has arbitrarily put individuals on the Interpol red notice list based on what Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Jones has publicly characterized as political motives. What is the State Department doing to remedy these matters? At what point will the U.S. Government back up its expressed concern about human rights in Uzbekistan and other parts of central Asia with concrete steps?

Answer. The United States has been proactive in addressing human rights issues in Uzbekistan and Central Asia. We have a hard-hitting public and private dialogue with the Government of Uzbekistan which focuses on a wide range of issues, among those the need to respect human rights, institute democratic reforms, and safeguard religious freedoms.

In December, the State Department took the step of denying Uzbekistan certification for Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) money on human rights grounds. Secretary Powell did recommend to the President, and he agreed, to approve a national security waiver because the reduction of weapons of mass destruction is in our interests. Further, FY04 assistance to the central government of Uzbekistan is dependent on our certification that Uzbekistan is making progress on our Strategic Partnership Framework signed in 2002. This Framework commits Uzbekistan to take steps in developing civil society and respecting human rights, among others.

As part of our commitment to support the Government of Uzbekistan in making these reforms, we also engage in direct government-to-government human rights training and legal reform assistance, support to local human rights NGOs, and active collaboration with Uzbek human rights activists.

Nonetheless, the United States has made it clear to Uzbekistan that the continued development of our bilateral relationship is dependent on progress on all these fronts.

With regards to Red Notices, the fact that a Red Notice for an individual has been issued by Interpol at the request of a member country does not obligate the United

States to arrest that person. Indeed, under U.S. law, a Red Notice alone is insufficient to arrest a person for purposes of extradition.

Though not specified in the question, the reference to arrested relatives of American citizens is related to three relatives of the Maqsudi family, former owners of the ROZ Trading company. We have actively urged Uzbekistan to release the three. The Government of Uzbekistan has assured us that they are conducting the dispute against ROZ Trading in accordance with Uzbek law. They have also confirmed that they have provided the Maqsudi relatives with access to their lawyers.