[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 34 (Thursday, March 23, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1684-S1685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 98--URGING COMPLIANCE WITH THE HAGUE 
    CONVENTION ON THE CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION

  Mr. DeWINE (for himself, Mr. Helms, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Warner, Mr. 
Rockefeller, Mr. Robb, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Dodd, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Hatch, 
and Mr. Stevens) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 98

       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 abducted and wrongfully 
     retained American children 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 reciprocal 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 Senate (the House of Representatives 
     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.

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a resolution urging 
compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of 
International Child Abduction. Joining me in introducing this 
resolution are Senators Helms, Warner, Thurmond, Robb, Rockefeller, 
Thomas, Dodd, Landrieu, and Hatch. Congressmen Nick Lampson of Texas 
and Steve Chabot of Ohio have introduced a similar measure in the 
House.
  The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction sets forth the legal mechanism for returning internationally 
abducted children to their countries of habitual residence, where 
custody can then be decided. Fifty-four countries, including the United 
States are signatories to the Convention.
  According to the State Department, each year the United States sends 
an estimated 90% of kidnapped children back to foreign countries. But, 
the rate at which other nations belonging to the Convention return 
American children is much lower. A State Department report singles out 
several countries for their noncompliance with the accord, including 
Austria, Honduras, Mauritius, Mexico and Sweden. Notably absent from 
the report, however, was Germany, which also has established a 
disturbing pattern of noncompliance. According to ``Insight Magazine,'' 
State Department records show that of the 243 Hague cases filed in 
Germany, there were only 40 court-ordered returns.
  Last fall, the General Accounting Office (GAO) testified before the 
House International Relations Committee on their preliminary review of 
the federal government's response to international parental child 
abduction. They cited noncompliance with the Hague Convention on the 
part of other countries as one of the problems with our federal 
government's response to international parental kidnappings. According 
to GAO's testimony: ``The State Department acknowledges that more 
systematic and aggressive diplomatic efforts are needed to address 
problems with the Hague Convention.'' The GAO also noted that while 
increased diplomatic efforts are needed, recommendations developed by 
the State Department and Department of Justice to rectify the 
noncompliance problem ``seek to review, study, and explore Hague 
implementation issues, but fail to identify how these activities will 
actually help solve Hague implementation problems.''
  What we have to remember in any case where a parent abducts a child 
is that each of these cases involves the

[[Page S1685]]

destruction of a family. A good illustration of this is what happened 
to Tom Sylvester of Cincinnati, the father of a little girl named 
Carina, whom he has seldom seen since his ex-wife abducted her from 
Michigan in 1995, and took her to Austria. The day after the 
kidnapping, Mr. Sylvester filed a complaint with the State Department 
and started legal proceedings under the terms of the Hague Convention. 
An Austrian court heard his complaint, and the court ordered the return 
of Carina to Mr. Sylvester. However, this court order was never 
enforced and Carina's mother took the child into hiding. Eventually, 
though, when Carina's mother surfaced with the child, the Austrian 
courts reversed their decision on returning Carina to her father, 
finding that Carina had ``resettled into her new environment''--a 
decision clearly contrary to the terms of the Hague Convention.

  While the State Department recently has indicated some willingness to 
work more aggressively through diplomatic channels in individual cases, 
like that of Tom Sylvester, we must do more to improve compliance with 
the Hague Convention overall. The resolution we are introducing today 
encourages all of the contracting parties, particularly those countries 
that consistently violate the Convention--namely Austria, Germany and 
Sweden--to comply fully with both the letter and the spirit of their 
obligations under the Convention. In order to improve compliance rates, 
the resolution urges all Hague signatories to educate their judges and 
law enforcement personnel about the Convention. And, finally, this 
resolution urges countries to return children under the Convention, 
without reaching the underlying custody dispute, and to remove barriers 
to parental visitations.
  Mr. President, as a parent and grandparent, I cannot begin to imagine 
the nightmare that so many American parents face when their children 
are kidnapped by a current or former spouse and taken abroad. But, 
tragically, this is a very real and daily nightmare for hundreds of 
parents right here in this country. That's why the resolution I have 
introduced is critical to encouraging the safe return of children to 
the United States. It gives us an opportunity to help make a positive 
difference in the lives of children and their families. I urge my 
colleagues to support it with their cosponsorship.

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