[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2688 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2688

 To amend title 28, United States Code, to give district courts of the 
United States jurisdiction over competing State custody determinations, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 2001

  Mr. Lampson (for himself, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Frost, Mrs. 
    Mink of Hawaii, Mr. Stark, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Grucci, Mr. 
Underwood, Ms. Brown of Florida, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Sandlin, 
 Mr. Kanjorski, Mr. Ose, Mr. Greenwood, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Smith of New 
 Jersey, Ms. Hart, Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania, Mr. Green of Wisconsin, 
Mr. Gordon, Mr. King, Mr. Borski, Mr. Holden, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Chabot, 
  Mr. Hoeffel, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Kind, Mr. Wynn, Mr. 
  Traficant, Mrs. Thurman, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Clement, Mr. Pomeroy, Mrs. 
  Meek of Florida, Mr. Baldacci, Mr. Manzullo, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. 
   Mascara, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Israel, Mr. Rothman, Mr. 
 Berman, Mr. Weiner, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. Berkley, 
 Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Shows, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Rush, 
   Mr. Carson of Oklahoma, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. John, Mr. 
Tierney, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Rodriguez, Ms. Lee, Mrs. Jones 
 of Ohio, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Olver, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Barrett 
  of Wisconsin, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Berry, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Maloney of 
   Connecticut, Mr. Bentsen, Mr. Farr of California, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. 
 Sherman, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Ramstad, Ms. Hooley of Oregon, Ms. Sanchez, 
  Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Smith of Michigan, Mr. Thompson of 
 California, Mr. Costello, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mr. Doggett, Ms. 
 Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Levin, Mr. Sawyer, Mr. Holt, Mr. 
 Baca, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Eshoo, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Mrs. Capps, 
 Mr. Moore, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Blagojevich, Mr. Ford, 
  Mr. Barcia, and Mr. Baird) introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 
 Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 28, United States Code, to give district courts of the 
United States jurisdiction over competing State custody determinations, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bring Our Children Home Act''.

SEC. 2. JURISDICTION OVER COMPETING STATE CUSTODY ORDERS.

    Section 1738A of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(i) If a court of one State makes a child custody determination 
in accordance with subsection (c) and if that determination is in 
conflict with a determination made by another State in accordance with 
subsection (c), a contestant for whom such a determination was made may 
bring an action in the district court of the United States the district 
of which includes the resident of such contestant to determine, on the 
basis of the best interests of the child involved, which determination 
shall prevail.''.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL REGISTRY OF CUSTODY ORDERS.

    The Attorney General shall establish a registry for all custody 
orders entered by State courts. In establishing the registry, the 
Attorney General shall inform the attorney general of each State of the 
registry and shall provide such assistance as may be necessary for the 
cooperation of the courts of each State in providing custody orders for 
the registry.

SEC. 4. DETENTION OF CHILDREN LISTED AS MISSING.

    Law enforcement officers of any State or local government may hold, 
for not more than 24 hours, any child listed as missing by the National 
Crime Information Center for the proper disposition of the child in 
accordance with the latest valid custody determination applicable to 
the child.

SEC. 5. REPORTS RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION.

    (a) Report on Progress in Negotiating Bilateral Treaties With Non-
Hague Convention Countries.--The Secretary of State shall prepare and 
submit to the Congress an annual report on progress made by the United 
States in negotiating and entering into bilateral treaties (or other 
international agreements) relating to international child abduction 
with countries that are not contracting parties to the Hague Convention 
on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
    (b) Report on Human Rights Practices.--(1) Section 116(d) of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) is amended--
            (A) in paragraph (7), by striking ``and'' at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon;
            (B) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) the status of efforts in each country to prohibit 
        international child abduction, including--
                    ``(A) efforts to expedite the return of children to 
                the country of their habitual residence; and
                    ``(B) the extent to which the country respects the 
                rights of custody and of access under the laws of other 
                countries.''.
    (2) Section 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2304(b)) is amended by inserting after the sixth sentence the 
following: ``Each report under this section shall include information 
on the status of efforts in each country to prohibit international 
child abduction, including efforts to expedite the return of children 
to the country of their habitual residence and the extent to which the 
country respects the rights of custody and of access under the laws of 
other countries.''.
    (c) Report on Enforcement of Section 1204 of Title 18, United 
States Code.--The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary 
of State, shall prepare and submit to the Congress an annual report 
that contains a description of the status of each case involving a 
request during the preceding year for extradition to the United States 
of an individual alleged to have violated section 1204 of title 18, 
United States Code.
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