On October 10, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved, by voice vote, the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act (H.R. 3212). On May 15, the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations approved a related measure (H.R. 1951) that would require the secretary of State to enter into memoranda of understanding (MOU) with countries that are not parties to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Convention) to ensure the prompt return of children abducted to such countries. (see The Source, 5/17/13).
Sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), H.R. 3212 seeks to protect children who live in the United States from being abducted to foreign countries and to help left-behind parents obtain access to their abducted child. The measure would provide left-behind parents, judges, and their advocates with information necessary to resolve abduction cases through established legal procedures.
The secretary of State would be required to compile an annual report that detailed, among other things, a list that identifies countries that have one or more abductions as Convention countries, MOU countries, or nonparty countries. Such countries with more than five abductions would be subject to additional reporting requirements. The annual report also would include the number of abducted children who have been returned to the United States from Convention, MOU, or nonparty countries, as well as a list of countries that fail to comply with the Convention or demonstrate a “pattern of noncooperation.”
The legislation would require the president to take diplomatic action against countries that do not comply with the Convention or exhibit a pattern of noncooperation.
During consideration of H.R. 3212, the committee approved, by voice vote, an amendment by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) to strengthen the bill’s reporting requirements, require notification of unresolved abduction cases by congressional district, and to give the president the discretion to withhold economic assistance from countries that do not comply with the Convention.
