On June 24, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved, by voice vote, the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction and Return Act, as amended (H.R. 3212). The House approved the legislation on December 11 (see The Source, 12/13/13).
The bill would direct the secretary of State to report annually on the number of international child abductions and to ensure that US diplomatic and consular missions monitor cases of child abduction in their country of location. In order to help resolve cases of international child abduction, the measure would require the State Department to enter memoranda of understanding (MOU) with every country that is not party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The bill also would direct the president to take diplomatic action against countries that fail to cooperate in such cases.
