[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 821 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                          October 7 (legislative day, October 6), 2004.
Whereas Dylan Benwell, a 9-year-old lawful permanent resident with an 
        application pending for United States citizenship, was taken from his 
        home in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, on July 22, 2004, by his maternal 
        grandparents, Timothy and Ethel Blake, both of whom are citizens of 
        Ireland;
Whereas Dylan and his mother once lived in Ireland with his maternal 
        grandparents;
Whereas Dylan has legally remained in the sole custody of his mother Serena 
        Benwell, and adoptive father, John Benwell, after a Virginia juvenile 
        district court ruled on December 14, 2001, that Dylan should remain in 
        the custody of his mother and stepfather;
Whereas Dylan and 3 of his siblings have been adopted by John Benwell, a United 
        States citizen;
Whereas Dylan and his 5 brothers and sisters are a part of a caring and loving 
        family;
Whereas Ethel Blake attempted to kidnap Dylan in 1999 from his kindergarten 
        class in Virginia, and was charged with domestic battery upon John 
        Benwell;
Whereas on July 16, 2001, Dylan told a Virginia social worker that he did not 
        want to live in Ireland again with his grandparents and that he wished 
        to live in the United States with his immediate family;
Whereas on November 29, 2001, Dylan told a social worker with Winthrop Harbor 
        Schools, in Illinois, that he wanted to live with his mother, 
        stepfather, and siblings and he also expressed worries that his 
        grandparents might try to take him away again;
Whereas on December 6, 2001, after an individual session with Dylan, a social 
        worker with the Great Lakes Naval Hospital reported to the Virginia 
        juvenile district court that Dylan feared his grandparents after the 
        first kidnapping attempt, after explaining that he did not wish to live 
        with his grandparents because he had no friends to play with in Ireland, 
        and implying that his grandparents spent a large part of their time 
        drinking beer;
Whereas in recorded telephone conversations in the possession of the police 
        department of Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, Dylan told Timothy Blake that 
        he did not want to live with the Blakes in Ireland;
Whereas in 2001, a petition for the return of Dylan from the United States to 
        Ireland, filed by Timothy and Ethel Blake in accordance with the Hague 
        Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, signed 
        at The Hague on October 25, 1980 (TIAS 11670) (``Hague Convention''), 
        was rejected by a United States court which held that the Blakes had no 
        custodial rights to Dylan upon relocation of the child's mother to the 
        United States with her American husband;
Whereas Timothy and Ethel Blake succeeded in kidnapping Dylan from his home in 
        Illinois 5 years after the initial attempt in Virginia, and have shown 
        little concern for the trauma that the abduction of Dylan has caused 
        their other grandchildren;
Whereas warrants for the arrest of Timothy and Ethel Blake on charges of 
        aggravated kidnapping, a felony, have been issued by the State of 
        Illinois and United States officials have filed a Hague Convention 
        petition for custody of Dylan on behalf of the Benwell family;
Whereas the Congress, in 1932, enacted the first Federal kidnapping statute, in 
        response to the kidnapping and murder of the infant son of Charles 
        Lindbergh;
Whereas the Congress recognizes the gravity of international child abduction and 
        enacted the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act of 1993 (adding 
        section 1204 to title 18, United States Code), the Parental Kidnapping 
        Prevention Act of 1980 (adding section 1738A to title 28, United States 
        Code, and section 463 to the Social Security Act), and substantial 
        reform and reporting requirements for the Department of State through 
        foreign relations authorization Acts for the fiscal years 1998 through 
        2001;
Whereas the United States is a contracting party to the Hague Convention, and 
        adopted effective implementing legislation in the International Child 
        Abduction Remedies Act (42 U.S.C. 11601 et seq.);
Whereas Ireland is a contracting party to the Hague Convention and adopted 
        legislation for the implementation of the Act under the Child Abduction 
        and Enforcement of Custody Orders Act (S.I. No. 235/1991); and
Whereas the Hague Convention establishes reciprocal rights and duties between 
        and among its contracting states to expedite the return of abducted 
        children to their states of habitual residence, and to ensure that the 
        custodial and parental access rights of one contracting state are 
        effectively respected in other contracting states: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the abduction of Dylan Benwell from his home in the 
        United States, the country of his custodial mother's domicile;
            (2) commends the actions taken by the Office of Children's Issues of 
        the Department of State and the United States Embassy in Dublin, 
        Ireland;
            (3) commends the hard work and dedication of the police department 
        of Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, especially that of Detective Sergeant Tim 
        Borowski;
            (4) calls on the Government of Ireland to recognize that the safety 
        and welfare of Dylan are the foremost concern;
            (5) urges the Government of Ireland to recognize the decision of the 
        Virginia juvenile district court;
            (6) calls upon the Government of Ireland to recognize that this 
        matter does not pertain to the custodial rights of Dylan's maternal 
        grandparents, a matter already decided by the courts, and instead 
        relates to a violation of United States law and the Hague Convention on 
        the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, signed at The Hague 
        on October 25, 1980 (TIAS 11670) (``Hague Convention'');
            (7) urges the Government of Ireland not to reward or condone the 
        unlawful action of Timothy and Ethel Blake, two Irish nationals, by 
        keeping Dylan from his family; and
            (8) urges the Government of Ireland to recognize that as a matter of 
        international law under Article 1 of the Hague Convention, the 
        Government of Ireland is required to secure the prompt return of Dylan, 
        on the basis that Dylan was wrongfully removed from his home in the 
        United States, a contracting state to the Convention.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.