In 2000 the Child Citizenship Act was passed which granted automatic US citizenship to children who were adopted abroad. Unfortunately the Act did not apply retroactively and therefore children who were already 18 when the Act went into effect would not obtain automatic US citizenship. This had many negative effects and as such Senators Jeff Merkley (D-RN) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have co-sponsored an amendment to the Child Citizenship Act to grant such automatic US citizenship retroactively.