[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 293 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.Con.Res.293
                                         Agreed to June 23, 2000        

                       One Hundred Sixth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
             the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand


                          Concurrent Resolution

Whereas the Department of State reports that at any given time there 
  are 1,000 open cases of American children either abducted from the 
  United States or wrongfully retained in a foreign country;

Whereas many more cases of international child abductions are not 
  reported to the Department of State;

Whereas the situation has worsened since 1993, when Congress estimated 
  the number of American children abducted from the United States and 
  wrongfully retained in foreign countries to be more than 10,000;

Whereas Congress has recognized the gravity of international child 
  abduction in enacting the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act 
  of 1993 (18 U.S.C. 1204), the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (28 
  U.S.C. 1738a), and substantial reform and reporting requirements for 
  the Department of State in the fiscal years 1998-1999 and 2000-2001 
  Foreign Relations Authorization Acts;

Whereas the United States became a contracting party in 1988 to the 
  Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
  Abduction (in this concurrent resolution referred to as the ``Hague 
  Convention'') and adopted effective implementing legislation in the 
  International Child Abduction Remedies Act (42 U.S.C. 11601 et seq.);

Whereas the Hague Convention establishes mutual rights and duties 
  between and among its contracting states to expedite the return of 
  children to the state of their habitual residence, as well as to 
  ensure that rights of custody and of access under the laws of one 
  contracting state are effectively respected in other contracting 
  states, without consideration of the merits of any underlying child 
  custody dispute;

Whereas article 13 of the Hague Convention provides a narrow exception 
  to the requirement for prompt return of children, which exception 
  releases the requested state from its obligation to return a child to 
  the country of the child's habitual residence if it is established 
  that there is a ``grave risk'' that the return would expose the child 
  to ``physical or psychological harm or otherwise place the child in 
  an intolerable situation'' or ``if the child objects to being 
  returned and has attained an age and degree of maturity at which it 
  is appropriate to take account of the child's views'';

Whereas some contracting states, for example Germany, routinely invoke 
  article 13 as a justification for nonreturn, rather than resorting to 
  it in a small number of wholly exceptional cases;

Whereas the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), 
  the only institution of its kind, was established in the United 
  States for the purpose of assisting parents in recovering their 
  missing children;

Whereas article 21 of the Hague Convention provides that the central 
  authorities of all parties to the Convention are obligated to 
  cooperate with each other in order to promote the peaceful enjoyment 
  of parental access rights and the fulfillment of any conditions to 
  which the exercise of such rights may be subject, and to remove, as 
  far as possible, all obstacles to the exercise of such rights;

Whereas some contracting states fail to order or enforce normal 
  visitation rights for parents of abducted or wrongfully retained 
  children who have not been returned under the terms of the Hague 
  Convention; and

Whereas the routine invocation of the article 13 exception, denial of 
  parental visitation of children, and the failure by several 
  contracting parties, most notably Austria, Germany, Honduras, Mexico, 
  and Sweden, to fully implement the Convention deprives the Hague 
  Convention of the spirit of mutual confidence upon which its success 
  depends: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress urges--
        (1) all contracting parties to the Hague Convention, 
    particularly European civil law countries that consistently violate 
    the Hague Convention such as Austria, Germany and Sweden, to comply 
    fully with both the letter and spirit of their international legal 
    obligations under the Convention;
        (2) all contracting parties to the Hague Convention to ensure 
    their compliance with the Hague Convention by enacting effective 
    implementing legislation and educating their judicial and law 
    enforcement authorities;
        (3) all contracting parties to the Hague Convention to honor 
    their commitments and return abducted or wrongfully retained 
    children to their place of habitual residence without reaching the 
    merits of any underlying custody dispute and ensure parental access 
    rights by removing obstacles to the exercise of such rights;
        (4) the Secretary of State to disseminate to all Federal and 
    State courts the Department of State's annual report to Congress on 
    Hague Convention compliance and related matters; and
        (5) each contracting party to the Hague Convention to further 
    educate its central authority and local law enforcement authorities 
    regarding the Hague Convention, the severity of the problem of 
    international child abduction, and the need for immediate action 
    when a parent of an abducted child seeks their assistance.
  Attest:

                                 Clerk of the House of Representatives.

  Attest:

                                               Secretary of the Senate.