[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 39 (Thursday, March 22, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H1087-H1088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENSE OF CONGRESS ON HAGUE CONVENTION ON CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL 
                            CHILD ABDUCTION

  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on International Relations be discharged from further consideration of 
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 69) expressing the sense of the 
Congress on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International 
Child Abduction and urging all contracting states to the Convention to 
recommend the production of practice guides, and ask for its immediate 
consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the concurrent resolution, as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 69

       Whereas 20 years ago, the Hague Convention on the Civil 
     Aspects of International Child Abduction was a bold step 
     forward to provide a uniform process for resolving 
     international child abduction cases;
       Whereas over the past 2 decades, the Convention has had 
     increasingly important and positive effects and has grown in 
     terms of the number of Contracting States and the level of 
     interest of other nations;
       Whereas there has been an increase of multinational 
     marriages and a corresponding increase of international 
     abductions of children by parents;
       Whereas as travel becomes faster and easier, and as 
     multinational marriages become more common, the Convention is 
     more significant than ever;
       Whereas on 2 occasions, the International Centre for 
     Missing and Exploited Children and the National Center for 
     Missing and Exploited Children have convened professionals 
     and experts in international child abduction to examine their 
     experiences with the Convention;
       Whereas on both occasions, the participants affirmed their 
     overwhelming commitment to the Convention, but were also 
     unified in the conclusion that there are serious shortcomings 
     in its implementation;
       Whereas the shortcomings include--
       (1) a lack of awareness by policy makers and the general 
     public of the Convention and of the problem of international 
     child abduction, making the successful resolution of cases 
     more difficult;
       (2) the fact that, in too many instances, the process for 
     resolving an international child abduction is too slow;
       (3) a lack of uniformity in the interpretation of the 
     Convention from nation to nation;
       (4) the fact that key exceptions provided in the Convention 
     to ensure reason and common sense have in some cases ceased 
     to be viewed as exceptions, have instead become the rule, and 
     are frequently used as justifications for not returning 
     abducted children;
       (5) the increasing difficulty of enforcing access rights 
     for parents under Article 21 of the Convention;
       (6) the need of parents for significant personal financial 
     resources to obtain legal representation and proceed under 
     the Convention and, in many places, the lack of assistance 
     for parents who do not have such resources;
       (7) a serious lack of training, knowledge, and experience 
     for judges in international child abduction cases, because 
     there are too many courts hearing these cases and in most 
     instances few such cases for each court; and
       (8) in many instances, the lack of enforcement of court 
     orders for the return of children; and

       Whereas the International Centre for Missing and Exploited 
     Children has promised to support an effort to produce 
     practice guides to provide a framework for applying the 
     Convention: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That--
       (1) it is the sense of the Congress that--
       (A) the original intent of the Hague Convention on the 
     Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction--to provide a 
     uniform process for resolving international child abduction 
     cases--is more important than ever;
       (B) practice guides should be developed for the Convention 
     that build on recognized best practices under the Convention 
     and provide a framework for applying the Convention;
       (C) the Convention itself need not be modified;
       (D) the practices identified and included in the practice 
     guides should not be legally binding on Contracting States to 
     the Convention and should be based on research and the advice 
     of experts to help ensure the most effective process 
     possible;
       (E) the practice guides should be developed in 3 stages: 
     comparative research and consultations, meetings of expert 
     committees to develop drafts, and consideration of the drafts 
     by a future Special Commission; and
       (F) the Permanent Bureau of The Hague should organize the 
     process of developing the practice guides; and
       (2) the Congress urges all Contracting States to the 
     Convention to adopt a resolution recommending that--
       (A) the Permanent Bureau of The Hague produce and promote 
     practice guides to assist in the implementation and operation 
     of the Convention; and
       (B) such a proposal to produce practice guides be adopted 
     by the Fourth Special Commission at The Hague in March 2001.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the distinguished chairman of the 
Committee on International Relations, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Hyde), for making it possible for the House to consider this resolution 
on the eve of the Fourth Special Commission on the Hague Convention on 
the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
  I want to commend the author of the resolution, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Lampson), with whom I have worked very closely on this 
issue. He has been a real leader, working on behalf of stolen American 
children and their left-behind parents.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a principal Republican cosponsor on 
this important bipartisan legislation, and I look forward to traveling 
to The Hague next week to present this resolution to the 60 member 
countries represented at the Commission.
  H. Con. Res. 69 expresses the sense of the Congress on the Hague 
Convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction and 
urges all contracting states to the convention to recommend the 
production of practice guides.
  The resolution stresses that providing a uniform process for 
resolving international child abduction cases is more important than 
ever, and urges that practice guides be developed for the convention 
that build on recognized best practices under the convention. Adoption 
of this resolution today, I believe, will send a strong message to 
representatives of those Hague Convention signatories who will be 
meeting over the next several days that the United States Government is 
serious about insisting that all contracting parties to the Hague 
Convention comply fully with both the letter and the spirit of their 
international obligations under the convention. By adopting the 
practice guides suggested in the resolution, Hague countries can create 
a better environment for the eventual safe return of abducted children 
to their custodial parent. The Hague Convention provides for a child 
that has been abducted to or retained in a country other than his or 
her country of habitual residence to be speedily returned to the 
country of habitual residence.

                              {time}  1430

  Sadly, the process has not always worked well. The State Department 
reports that there are at any given time more than 1,000 open cases of 
American children either abducted or wrongfully retained in a foreign 
country. Thousands more are thought to go unreported. The National 
Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that there are 
165,000 parental kidnapping cases each year and that approximately 10 
percent involve a parent who has taken a child abroad without 
permission.
  Mr. Speaker, the production and promotion of practice guides as 
proposed in this thoughtful resolution can provide great assistance in 
the implementation and operation of The Hague Convention. Last year 
this House adopted a resolution that I authored with the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Lampson) that urged noncomplying countries to take the 
necessary measures to bring themselves into compliance with The Hague 
Convention. Let us take another step today to help these stolen 
children and their left-behind parents. Let us adopt this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Lampson). I also want to

[[Page H1088]]

 again thank him for his leadership in this very important area of the 
law.
  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio not only 
for his work on this, which was a yeoman's effort to bring up, but all 
the work that he has done on behalf of missing and exploited children. 
The Congressional Caucus is very proud to have him as one of its 
members; and many other Members, about 147 of us, have worked 
diligently to bring this issue to the absolute forefront of the 
American people. We are making progress.
  As the gentleman said, he and I will be attending the Fourth Special 
Commission on The Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International 
Child Abduction. It is imperative that we demonstrate a level of 
commitment by the United States House of Representatives on this issue. 
Should this resolution pass, the gentleman from Ohio and I will present 
it to the 60 member countries represented at The Hague and urge their 
delegations to support a best-practices guide.
  This resolution urges that all contracting states to The Hague 
Convention adopt a resolution drafted by the International Centre for 
Missing and Exploited Children as well as the National Center for 
Missing and Exploited Children that would recommend that the Permanent 
Bureau of The Hague produce and promote practice guides to assist in 
the implementation and operation of the Convention.
  As travel becomes faster and easier and as multinational marriages 
become more frequent, The Hague Convention is more significant today 
than ever before. The International Centre for Missing and Exploited 
Children and the National Center have convened professionals and 
experts in international child abduction to examine their experiences 
with The Hague Convention.
  Participants in both of these forums affirmed their overwhelming 
commitment to the Convention but were also unified in the conclusion 
that there are serious shortcomings in its implementation, including 
the lack of awareness of the Convention and the problem of 
international child abduction by policymakers and the general public. 
In too many instances, the processes are too slow; there is a lack of 
uniformity from country to country; there is growing concern that key 
exceptions provided within the treaty to ensure reason and common sense 
have in some cases ceased to be viewed as exceptions and instead have 
become the rule; there is great concern about the growing difficulty 
involved with enforcing access rights for parents; and in many 
instances, even where courts order returns, the enforcement of those 
orders is lacking or nonexistent.
  We do not believe that the treaty itself should be modified, but 
practice guides would build upon recognized best practices under the 
Convention and provide a framework for applying the Convention. The 
practices identified and included in the guides would not be legally 
binding upon signatory countries but would serve as guidance to 
countries based upon research and the advice of experts in order to 
help ensure the most effective process possible.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the Members of the House of Representatives to 
vote for H. Con. Res. 69.
  I want to also recognize and thank so very much those Members who 
signed on to this resolution as a cosponsor when we needed them. I 
introduced the bill on Tuesday with the hope that my colleagues would 
recognize the importance of this statement and rush it to the floor by 
the end of the week. My colleagues stepped up to the plate.
  I want to especially recognize those Members of Congress and staff 
who worked to move this along. After the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Chabot) obviously, it is the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Lantos), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Armey), Tom Mooney, David Abramowitz, Dan Turton, Tim 
Friedman, Kirk Boyle, Nisha Desai and Hillel Weinberg.
  I know it was not easy, but I sincerely appreciate the efforts put 
forth by Members and staff on both sides of the aisle to bring this to 
the floor. It is indeed a nonpartisan issue and one that we can all 
embrace.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.


                    Amendment Offered by Mr. Chabot

  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Amendment offered by Mr. Chabot:
       In the text after the resolving clause, in paragraph (1)(F) 
     and paragraph (2)(A), insert ``Conference on Private 
     International Law'' after ``The Hague''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ferguson). The question is on the 
amendment offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot).
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the concurrent 
resolution, as amended.
  The concurrent resolution, as amended, was agreed to.


            Amendment to the Preamble Offered by Mr. Chabot

  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment to the preamble.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Amendment to the preamble offered by Mr. Chabot:
       In the preamble, at the end of paragraph (8) of the seventh 
     clause, strike ``and'' and insert after such clause the 
     following new clause:
       Whereas the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on 
     Private International Law has made significant contributions 
     to the implementation of the Convention but recognizes that 
     more needs to be done; and

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the amendment to the 
preamble offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot).
  The amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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