"Die Hard's" New Mission.
Bruce Willis will work for the adoption of orphaned children. Yesterday president Bush attended a presentation of a commercial reel in which Bruce Willis, the star of the "Die Hard" movies, and first lady Laura Bush called out to American parents to adopt orphans.
By Eugene Bay (Izvestya, July 25th, 2002).
"We all know Bruce as a hard-core man", Bush said. "But at the same time he has a very tender and loving heart especially in regards to children."
Bruce Willis, usually a man of few words, gave a heart-felt speech. Willis urged Americans to "be heroes and begin the process of adoption right now!" "Very many adopted children go on to live extremely successful lives", Willis said.
It recently came to light that Willis offered to be a leader in the international adoption program over a year ago. The ceremony which took place in the Eastern wing of the White House continued with Bush's speech. During the oration, Willis constantly winked and made gestures at his daughters who were sitting in the front row with their mother, Willis' ex-wife, actress Demi Moore. Among the guests at the ceremony there were those who have already adopted children. Chief economic advisor of the White House, Larry Lindsey (who has three adopted children) and Bush's cousin Georgia Bush Margaret (who, along with her husband Marvin, recently adopted a baby girl) were both introduced by the President.
The United States has approximately 565,000 adopted children living with new families. Another 130,000 currently await adoption. In the last decade adoptions in the United States increased by over 75 percent. Most of the rise took place after the collapse of the Soviet Union which allowed potential parents to search for children in Russia as well as other former Soviet Nations.
In the United States the adoption of Russian kids by American parents is the responsibility of the Russian consulates. One of these numerous responsibilities is the introduction to Moscow of documents and recommendations concerning American adoption agencies.
According to research conducted by "Izvestya", many of such agencies, which deal with adoption in Russia, are rejected by the consulates.
"As a whole we consider the adoption process a positive aspect of our job since it provides thousands of Russian children with a chance for a better life" - a representative of the Russian consulate in Washington DC told "Izvestya". But sometimes we witness malicious and even criminal stories which we have to untangle with the help of the American authorities.
One such story occurred a short time ago in the state of Florida. A Russian immigrant named Constantine Borisov, a resident of Florida, was stripped of his rights as a parent. Meanwhile, his two year-old son Anthony and his step-daughter Julie were given to an African-American foster family. A while later the Russian Consulate received a letter from Julie complaining about the beastly treatment that she and Anthony were enduring at the hands of their new mother and father. The diplomats were especially shocked by the following details. When the two year-old toddler was upset and began crying he was immediately locked in the attic; often, when they were intoxicated, the foster parents blew marijuana smoke into the child's face. After the Russian consulate learned of these events they contacted the state's authorities. The child was immediately transferred into another family and his older sister got married so as to escape from any future foster homes.
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