[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1810-E1811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CALLING ON JAPAN TO ADDRESS CHILD ABDUCTION CASES

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                               speech of

                          HON. XAVIER BECERRA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 28, 2010

  Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1326, a 
resolution calling on the Government of Japan to immediately address 
the urgent problem involving United States citizen children who are 
abducted by one parent and unlawfully taken to Japan without 
intervention by the Japanese Government.
  This resolution urges the Government of Japan to work closely with 
the United States Government to return American children to their 
custodial parent in the United States and to adopt the 1980 Hague 
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
  As a father of three beautiful daughters, I have cherished every 
moment I have spent watching them grow up and I look forward to seeing 
them continue to develop into confident, young women. Sadly, not all 
parents have been as fortunate as me.
  Since 1994, the State Department's Office of Children's Issues had 
opened 194 cases involving 214 American children taken to Japan. As of 
March 25, 2010, there were 95 open

[[Page E1811]]

cases involving 136 American children abducted or wrongfully retained 
in Japan. One of those cases is that of Melissa Braden, the daughter of 
one of my constituents, Patrick Braden.
  In the midst of a custody dispute in 2006, Melissa was taken to Japan 
by her mother in violation of a court order giving both parents access 
to the child and prohibiting either parent from taking Melissa outside 
of the United States. Melissa has been in Japan ever since. Despite an 
arrest warrant issued by the FBI for her mother, Japanese authorities 
have refused to act on this case. Japanese courts give no recognition 
to the parental rights of the non-Japanese parent, and the Japanese 
government refuses to enforce U.S. court orders related to child 
custody or visitation.
  I have tried for the past 3 years to help secure the return of 
Melissa or at the very least reunite Mr. Braden with his daughter in 
Japan. Unfortunately, Japan is not a signatory to the 1980 Hague 
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
Parties to the Hague Abduction Convention agree to promptly return a 
child who is living in one Convention country and who has been removed 
to or retained in another Convention country in violation of a left-
behind parent's custodial rights. I spoke about Melissa's case before 
this body last year, but it is important that I continue to speak about 
her case so that other parents do not have to live through what Mr. 
Braden is still experiencing today.
  As my mother once told me: there is nothing worse than losing your 
own child, especially when your child is still alive. I thank Chairman 
Berman for his support of this issue and Mr. Moran of Virginia and Mr. 
Smith of New Jersey for standing up for America's parents and children.
  I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution to secure 
action on behalf of our American families with children retained in 
Japan.

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