WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Congressman John Conyers will be introducing the Federal Amer Act Bill in Washington this week. The bill was originated by Ahmed and Rehab Amer, two local Dearborn residents who were estranged from their children after they were put in foster care by Child Protective Services, following the accidential death of their two-year-old son Samier, who fell in the family’s bathtub and fractured his skull in 1985.

The bill, which was already passed in Michigan in 2010, will allow children who are taken away by Child Protective Services the right to live with other family members, instead of being exposed to different environments that could differ from their upbringing. Another highlight of the bill includes keeping the children within the same religious enivornment that their parents had practiced as well.

Unfortunetly the children of Ahmed and Rehab Amer did not have these options when they were taken away from their parents. Two of their children were placed in Clarkston, Michigan with Christian Evangelists. Rehab was also pregnant with her fouth child, Zinabe, who was taken away by the state only one day after she was born.

The family claims that years of neglect, estrangement and abuse by the foster parents and state officials resulted in the children completely losing touch with their family, as well as their culture and religious backgrounds. The parents eventually proved their innocence over the death of their two year old son after autospy reports revealed he suffered from brittle bone disease years later. 

“We are thankful to God for all of his mighty mercies that has gotten the cries of our beloved son Samier from the Grave to be heard in Washington to have a federal law that will further protect all families fundamental rights of all faiths nationwide,” Ahmed and Rehab Amer stated. “For over two decades we became our kids’ cries to be heard and now we are the voice for each voiceless child who’s cries haven’t been heard or forgotten.”

The bill being introduced still doesn’t have an official name however. One option is for it to be something generally descriptive of the bill, like the “Federal Foster Care Improvement Act of 2012.”  Another option would be something that recognizes the Amers, in particular their deceased child, like the “Samier Amer Foster Care Improvement Act of 2012.”  The family has suggested either that or “Rehab and Ahmed Amer Foster Care Improvement Act of 2012.”