[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 193 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 193

  Calling on the new Government of Egypt to honor the rule of law and 
     immediately return Noor and Ramsay Bower to the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 31, 2011

 Mr. Frank of Massachusetts (for himself and Mr. Smith of New Jersey) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Calling on the new Government of Egypt to honor the rule of law and 
     immediately return Noor and Ramsay Bower to the United States.

Whereas Colin Bower has been trying unsuccessfully since August 11, 2009, to 
        secure the return of his children Noor and Ramsay to the United States, 
        where Noor and Ramsay maintained their habitual residence from 2005 
        until their mother, Mirvat el Nady, wrongfully removed them to Egypt;
Whereas Noor William Noble Bower, age 10, and Ramsay Maclean Bower, age 8, are 
        lawful citizens of the United States of America;
Whereas on December 1, 2008, prior to the abduction of Noor and Ramsay, the 
        Probate and Family Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts awarded 
        sole legal custody of Noor and Ramsay to Colin Bower, and joint physical 
        custody with Mirvat el Nady, which ruling stipulated Mirvat el Nady was 
        not to remove Noor and Ramsay from the Commonwealth;
Whereas such custody ruling was informed by independent psychological and 
        physical evaluations which outlined Mirvat el Nady's prolonged abuse and 
        addiction to Schedule II narcotics including oxycodone, hydromorphone, 
        and methadone, and which indicated a profound maladaptive character 
        pathology;
Whereas it was the conclusion of the guardian ad litem and two evaluators 
        appointed to conduct Mirvat el Nady's psychological assessment that 
        these factors indicated an inability to provide structure and consistent 
        oversight for young children, to consider her children's needs ahead of 
        her own, to make reasoned judgments or observations, and to respond to 
        others in a reasonable fashion;
Whereas it was the recommendation of the lead court evaluator that Mirvat el 
        Nady enter into a period of observation in a secure psychiatric 
        inpatient facility, followed by an extensive addiction and mental health 
        treatment program, and that the Court undertake oversight of her 
        compliance with that program;
Whereas on August 11, 2009, Noor and Ramsay Bower were abducted to Egypt by 
        Mirvat el Nady and granted entry to Egypt without prior issuance of 
        United States visas;
Whereas Mirvat el Nady unlawfully secured Egyptian passports for Noor and Ramsay 
        Bower under the fraudulent names of ``Noor Power'' and ``Ramsay Power'';
Whereas Mirvat el Nady entered Egypt on August 11, 2009, using a British 
        passport which falsely indicated her name as ``Mirvat Nady'';
Whereas EgyptAir, a company owned by the Egyptian State, accepted a cash payment 
        of $10,000 from Mirvat el Nady for tickets for herself, Noor and Ramsay 
        despite the fact that the children's surnames on their fraudulent 
        passports did not match the surname of the accompanying adult, Mirvat el 
        Nady;
Whereas in August of 2009, following this violation of the Probate Court's 
        ruling, the Massachusetts Trial Court granted sole physical custody of 
        Noor and Ramsay to their father, Colin Bower;
Whereas in August 2009, local and Federal warrants were issued for the arrest of 
        Mirvat el Nady on charges of kidnapping;
Whereas in April of 2010, a red notice was issued by Interpol for the same 
        purpose internationally;
Whereas in March of 2008, Mirvat el Nady fraudulently and without Colin Bower's 
        knowledge filed for physical custody of Noor and Ramsay through the 
        Egyptian court system by falsely claiming the children and Colin Bower 
        were Egyptian residents;
Whereas in December 2009, Mirvat el Nady obtained by deception an order from the 
        Egyptian court granting her custody of Noor and Ramsay;
Whereas in November 2010, Colin Bower successfully appealed the custody ruling 
        through the Egyptian court system, and the order giving Mirvat el Nady 
        custody over Noor and Ramsay was thereby revoked;
Whereas despite visitation rights being granted to Colin Bower by the Egyptian 
        Court allowing him to see Noor and Ramsay twice per month during the 
        period of the custody dispute, Mirvat el Nady had denied him 13 of 16 
        court ordered visits with his sons, and during the three visits that 
        occurred, the children were surrounded by Egyptian security forces at 
        all times and Colin Bower was physically intimidated;
Whereas the State Security Forces of Egypt concealed and protected Mirvat el 
        Nady from prosecution;
Whereas despite repeated appeals to Egyptian political and security officials by 
        members of the United States Department of State, the revocation of 
        Mirvat el Nady's custody in Egypt, and the subsequent lack of custody 
        determination for the children existing in Egypt, no action has been 
        taken by the Egyptian government to facilitate the return of Noor and 
        Ramsay to their father who continues to be the only legal custodian of 
        the children;
Whereas the Egyptian government has failed to recognize the valid custody order 
        of the court of competent jurisdiction, the Probate and Family Court of 
        the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and has allowed Mirvat el Nady to 
        continue the unlawful retention of American citizen children, Noor and 
        Ramsay Bower;
Whereas furthermore, the People of Egypt has undertaken to reform their 
        Government to ensure the protection of human rights and the democratic 
        rule of law;
Whereas the United States has expressed its desire, through the Hague Convention 
        on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, ``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 according to the Department of State's April 2010 Report on Compliance 
        with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
        Abduction, ``parental child abduction jeopardizes the child and has 
        substantial long-term consequences for both the child and the left-
        behind parent'';
Whereas according to the Department of State, there are 31 ongoing cases 
        involving 48 children wrongfully removed from the United States to 
        Egypt;
Whereas the Department of State's Office of Children's Issues, while not always 
        notified of international child abductions, opened 1,080 cases of 
        parental child abduction to other countries involving more than 1,501 
        children just last year; and
Whereas the incidence of reported child abduction cases has more than doubled 
        since 2007: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the House of Representatives--
                    (A) calls on Egypt to, in accordance with its goals 
                of promoting human rights and democratic rule of law, 
                bring about the safe return of Noor and Ramsay Bower to 
                their father, Colin Bower, in the United States;
                    (B) calls on Egypt to immediately stop using its 
                own security forces in aiding and abetting the 
                continued unlawful retention of United States citizens 
                Noor and Ramsay Bower; and
                    (C) urges Egypt and all other nations to join and 
                fully participate in the Hague Convention on the Civil 
                Aspects of International Child Abduction, and to 
                establish procedures to promptly and equitably address 
                the tragedy of child abductions, given the serious 
                consequences to children of not expeditiously resolving 
                these cases and of denying them access to a parent; and
            (2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
        the United States should--
                    (A) urge other nations like Egypt to become parties 
                to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of 
                International Child Abduction and establish systems to 
                effectively discharge their reciprocal responsibilities 
                under the Convention;
                    (B) take other appropriate measures to ensure that 
                Hague Convention partners return abducted children to 
                the United States in compliance with the Hague 
                Convention's provisions;
                    (C) continue to work aggressively for the return of 
                children abducted from the United States to countries 
                that are not Hague Convention Partners and for 
                visitation rights for left-behind parents while return 
                is negotiated, establishing memorandums of 
                understanding where necessary for the expeditious 
                return of children; and
                    (D) pursue criminal extradition of abducting 
                parents where resolution of the abduction is not 
                otherwise obtainable.
                                 <all>