[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 125 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 125
Calling on the central authority of Brazil to immediately discharge all
its duties under the Hague Convention by facilitating and supporting
Federal judicial proceedings as a matter of extreme urgency to obtain
the return of Sean Goldman to his father, David Goldman, for immediate
return to the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 4, 2009
Mr. Smith of New Jersey submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Calling on the central authority of Brazil to immediately discharge all
its duties under the Hague Convention by facilitating and supporting
Federal judicial proceedings as a matter of extreme urgency to obtain
the return of Sean Goldman to his father, David Goldman, for immediate
return to the United States.
Whereas, on May 25, 2000, Sean Goldman was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, the son
of David Goldman and Bruna Bianchi Ribeiro Goldman who were married in
New Jersey in 1999;
Whereas Sean Goldman lived with his parents the first four years of his life in
Tinton Falls, New Jersey;
Whereas, on June 16, 2004, Sean and his mother Mrs. Goldman left together with
Mrs. Goldman's parents for a planned vacation to Mrs. Goldman's parents'
home in Brazil;
Whereas upon her arrival in Brazil, Mrs. Goldman called Mr. Goldman to advise
him that their marriage was over and that she would not be returning
Sean to his home in New Jersey;
Whereas Mr. Goldman has been trying unsuccessfully since June 17, 2004, to
secure the return of his son from Brazil;
Whereas, on August 26, 2004, the Superior Court of New Jersey awarded custody to
Mr. Goldman, ordered Mrs. Goldman and her parents to immediately return
Sean to the United States, and indicated to Mrs. Goldman and her parents
that their continued behavior under United States law constituted
parental kidnapping;
Whereas, on September 3, 2004, Mr. Goldman filed an application for the
immediate return of Sean to the United States under the 1980 Hague
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the
``Hague Convention'');
Whereas the Federal Republic of Brazil acceded to the Hague Convention on
October 19, 1999, and the Hague Convention entered into force between
Brazil and the United States on December 1, 2003;
Whereas, pursuant to article 12 of the Hague Convention, the judicial authority
of Brazil was required to order Sean's return to the United States
``forthwith,'' customarily defined under international law as within six
weeks after an application for return has been filed;
Whereas, on October 13, 2005, the Brazilian court refused to return Sean in
contravention of Brazil's obligations under the Hague Convention even
though it found that Sean was a habitual resident of the United States
and, pursuant to international law, had been wrongfully removed and
retained in Brazil;
Whereas, on August 19, 2005, the Superior Court of New Jersey found both Mrs.
Goldman and her parents to be in willful contempt of the court's orders
and further found Mrs. Goldman's continued retention of Sean actionable
under the International Parental Kidnapping and Crime Act of 1993 as
well as New Jersey's criminal statutes;
Whereas the contempt of Ms. Goldman and her family continued after the court's
August 19, 2005, order and Mr. Goldman was afforded no contact with his
son;
Whereas Mrs. Goldman obtained a divorce from Mr. Goldman without notice through
the Brazilian courts and soon thereafter married Joao Paulo Lins e
Silva;
Whereas, on August 22, 2008, Mrs. Goldman tragically passed away during
childbirth leaving Sean without a mother and separated from his
biological father in the United States;
Whereas in September 2008, Mr. Goldman traveled to Brazil to visit and
rightfully reclaim full custody of his son, Sean;
Whereas, upon his arrival, Mr. Goldman learned that Mr. Lins e Silva had
petitioned the Brazilian courts for custody rights over Sean and also
had secretly petitioned the Brazilian courts to replace Mr. Goldman's
name with his own name on a new birth certificate to be issued to Sean
Goldman, despite the fact that Mr. Goldman, not Mr. Lins e Silva, is
Sean's biological father;
Whereas in October 2008, Mr. Lins e Silva failed to make Sean available for a
visitation ordered by the Brazilian Federal Court with his father, and
absconded with Sean for the duration of the scheduled visitation;
Whereas Brazilian law enforcement did not provide Mr. Goldman with Sean's
location during the visitation ordered by the Brazilian court and did
not enforce the visitation order, even though they were informed about
Mr. Lins e Silva's failure to make Sean available for the visitation;
Whereas, the Government of Brazil, through the Hague Convention, is obligated to
``take all appropriate measures to secure within [its territory] the
implementation of the objects of the Convention,'' and ``to use the most
expeditious procedures available'';
Whereas the judicial authority of Brazil has failed to comply with its
obligations under article 11 of the Hague Convention to expeditiously
order the return of Sean to the United States;
Whereas, the United States and Brazil, through the Hague Convention, have
expressed the firm conviction that ``the interests of children are of
paramount importance in matters relating to their custody'';
Whereas, furthermore, the United States and Brazil have expressed their desire,
through the Hague Convention, ``to protect children internationally from
the harmful effects of their wrongful removal or retention and to
establish procedures to ensure their prompt return to the State of their
habitual residence'';
Whereas the U.S. State Department determined in its 2008 Compliance Report to
Congress for the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction, as required under Public Law 105-277,
section 2803 (the ``Hague Convention Compliance Report''), that Brazil
``continued to demonstrate patterns of noncompliance with the Convention
in its judicial performance'';
Whereas it is reported that there are nearly 50 cases in which children who were
habitual residents of the United States have been wrongfully abducted to
Brazil and have not been returned to the United States as required under
the Hague Convention; and
Whereas Sean is being deprived of his rightful opportunity to live and be raised
by his biological father, Sean could suffer developmental and
psychological consequences because of this unjust separation, and it is
consistent with international law to be reunited with his father in New
Jersey following the death of his mother: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) the House of Representatives--
(A) calls on the central authority of Brazil to
immediately discharge all its duties under the Hague
Convention by facilitating and supporting Federal
judicial proceedings as a matter of extreme urgency to
obtain the return of Sean Goldman to his father, David
Goldman, for immediate return to the United States; and
(B) calls upon the Brazilian government to fulfill
its obligation under international law to take all
other appropriate measures to secure within its
territory the implementation of the objects of the
Hague Convention, and to use the most expeditious
procedures available, pursuant to article 2 of the
Convention, in the case of Sean Goldman as well as all
other children from the United States whose rights are
not being respected under the Convention; and
(2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that
the United States should--
(A) make the determination, through the United
States Department of State in its 2009 Hague Convention
Compliance Report, that Brazil is a ``Country Not
Compliant with the Convention'', given that Brazil
failed in all three performance areas of central
authority performance, judicial performance, and law
enforcement performance for fiscal year 2008;
(B) review its diplomatic procedures and the
operations available to United States citizens through
its central authority under the Hague Convention to
ensure that effective assistance is provided to Mr.
Goldman and other United States citizens in obtaining
the expeditious return of their children from Brazil
and other countries that have entered into the
reciprocal obligations with the United States under the
Hague Convention; and
(C) take any and all other appropriate measures to
ensure that Hague Convention partners return abducted
children to the United States in compliance with the
Hague Convention's provisions.
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