[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H7506-H7508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   REQUESTING EGYPT RETURN NOOR AND RAMSAY BOWER TO THE UNITED STATES

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree 
to the resolution (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, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 193

       Whereas Colin Bower's 2 young sons, Noor and Ramsay Bower, 
     were illegally abducted from the United States by their 
     mother in August 2009 and taken to Egypt;
       Whereas Noor William Noble Bower, age 11, and Ramsay 
     Maclean Bower, age 9, are 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 of 
     Massachusetts;
       Whereas, in August of 2009, following a 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 Colin Bower has been granted only 4 visitations 
     with his sons in the more than 3 years since the abduction;
       Whereas the United States has expressed its commitment, 
     through the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of 
     International Child Abduction, done at the Hague October 25, 
     1980, ``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''; and

[[Page H7507]]

       Whereas the United States and 69 other countries that are 
     partners to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of 
     International Child Abduction have agreed, and encourage all 
     other countries to concur, that the appropriate court for 
     determining the best interests of children in custody matters 
     is the court in the country of their habitual residence: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives calls on 
     government officials and competent courts in Egypt to assist 
     in the safe and immediate return of Noor and Ramsay Bower to 
     the United States.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and to insert extraneous material into the Record on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, 3\1/2\ years ago, Colin Bower's two sons, Noor and 
Ramsay, were abducted from the United States by their mother in 
violation of the custody ruling given by the courts of the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts. The boys' mother used forged passports to remove the 
boys from the United States and take them to her native land of Egypt, 
despite the fact that a court ruling stipulated that she was not to 
remove them from Massachusetts. Last I checked, Egypt was not in Red 
Sox country.
  One of the objectives of the Hague Convention, Mr. Speaker, on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction--of which Egypt and the 
United States are members--is to ensure that custody rights and access 
under the law of one contracting state are respected in the others. 
That means helping to bring Noor and Ramsay home to their father.
  The resolution is not calling for anything extraordinary. We are 
simply appealing to the Egyptian Government to uphold its 
responsibilities and return these two boys to their rightful home.
  I would like to thank my colleague from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for 
working so diligently to secure the safe and speedy return of these 
boys to their dad. This bipartisan measure deserves our unanimous 
support.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1300

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 193 and 
yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  This resolution calls on the new Government of Egypt to immediately 
return two kidnapped American children to their father in the United 
States.
  In August of 2009, Colin Bower of Wellesley, Massachusetts, received 
a terrifying phone call that his two children--Noor and Ramsay, ages 9 
and 7 at the time--had been abducted to Egypt by his ex-wife, Mirvat el 
Nady. Mr. Bower was granted sole legal custody of the children after 
his divorce.
  El Nady lost custody over the children because the Massachusetts 
courts found her to have a drug addiction which put the safety of the 
boys at risk. She utilized falsified Egyptian passports to smuggle the 
children out of the country on an Egypt Air flight and is now wanted by 
Federal and local officials on charges of kidnapping.
  The facts of this case are heartbreaking, and I want to thank my good 
friend and colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), for 
working so hard on this resolution and trying to reunite Mr. Bower with 
his children.
  The resolution before us asks for three simple things: first, that 
Egypt bring about the safe return of Noor and Ramsay Bower to their 
father, Colin Bower, in the United States; secondly, that Egypt 
immediately stop using its own security forces to aid and abet the 
continued unlawful retention of these two United States citizens; and, 
thirdly and finally, it 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.
  During this holiday season, we are reminded that children are our 
most important and cherished resource, and it is a tragedy for everyone 
involved when they are taken away and denied access to one of their 
parents.
  Egypt's Government must do better. What the Mubarak and now Morsi 
governments have done is actively work to make sure Mr. Bower is not 
part of his children's lives. This is unjust, illegal, tragic, and 
unacceptable; and sadly, Mr. Speaker, this is but one of 31 separate 
cases involving American children wrongfully removed from the United 
States to Egypt.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that all my colleagues join me in supporting this 
important resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, my thanks go to the chair of 
the committee, the gentlewoman from Florida, the ranking member from 
California (Mr. Berman), and the new ranking member from New York (Mr. 
Engel) for giving us a chance to try to achieve not just justice but 
love, the love of a father for children for whom he grieves daily 
because they were illegally and abusively kidnapped.
  As the gentlewoman from Florida pointed out, this kidnapping was in 
violation of a decision by the family court in Massachusetts giving 
full custody to the father. Members will not be surprised to learn that 
there have been very few complaints, that I've ever heard of, of there 
being a bias in favor of fathers in those courts. Some say there's a 
bias in favor of mothers. There is certainly a presumption, as I 
understand it, in favor of mothers. So for a court to say unequivocally 
that the father gets sole control is a strong indication of the 
unfitness of the mother.
  And so the case is very clear; but I want in my remarks, Mr. Speaker, 
to address the Government of Egypt. There's a new government in Egypt. 
There are points of friction between Egypt and the United States. We 
have a great interest in a good relationship. The foundation of peace 
in the Middle East began in 1979 with the Camp David Accords. America 
has consistently provided Egypt with more foreign assistance than all 
but a handful of nations. And in this current period when there are 
issues that could arise that could divide us, I urge the Egyptian 
Government not to put or keep in place a serious problem, not an 
irritant. It's more than an irritant when a loving father who has been 
given custody of his children because of the court's decision that the 
mother is unfit by virtue of a drug addiction, when he is denied the 
ability to have his paternal instincts honored, to be able to honor and 
protect his children. And I urge the Government of Egypt: do not 
minimize the extent to which this will be an obstacle.
  I will not be here in a week, Mr. Speaker. I didn't think I'd be here 
this week. But I know that my successor in Congress, Mr. Kennedy, and 
my colleagues, the chair of the committee and the ranking member, will 
not forget this. The Government of Egypt will be seeking from this 
House support of measures, and there are a lot of reasons why we want 
to work together. I plead with them, do not allow what to us is a very 
serious issue--perhaps to some in Egypt it appears minor--but to have a 
father's children taken away from him and kidnapped with the implicit 
cooperation of the prior Egyptian Government is a grave problem. If the 
current Egyptian Government does not correct this situation, it will be 
an obstacle to the kind of cooperation that is in our mutual interest.
  I hope we get a very large, indeed unanimous, vote for this 
resolution and the Egyptian Government understands that it is not just 
justice but its best interests that call for compliance.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute to again reiterate 
the fact that I support this bill very strongly and also, since Mr. 
Frank spoke before me, I want to, as I mentioned before with some of 
the other people, tell him

[[Page H7508]]

how much I appreciate being his colleague through the years and how 
much not only I will miss him and the Congress will miss him but that 
the country will miss him. It's been wonderful to call him a colleague, 
even better for me to call him a friend, and I wish him the best in all 
future endeavors. Thank you very much, Barney.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I also will miss Mr. Frank for his 
friendship and his great insight on many of the issues, and I thank him 
so much for caring deeply about constituents in his district, and we 
will continue to fight on their behalf.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of our time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. 
Res. 193, calling on the new government of Egypt to honor the rule of 
law and immediately return American citizens Noor and Ramsey Bower to 
the United States. It is absolutely appalling and inexcusable that more 
than three years after a textbook abduction, the new government of 
Egypt has yet to right the terrible wrong that has been perpetrated 
upon Noor and Ramsey, as well as upon their father, Colin Bower.
  Noor and Ramsey were abducted and hidden with the assistance of the 
previous Egyptian government August 2009. The boys' mother had lost 
custody of the children in the United States because of her drug use 
and psychological problems. Their father, Mr. Bower, was their primary 
caregiver.
  For the last three years, Colin Bower has been doing everything in 
his power to find out if his sons are safe and to be reunited with 
them. In July of 2011, he testified before my subcommittee on Africa, 
Global Health, and Human Rights--and conveyed his frustration over the 
lack of priority abduction cases receive in U.S. foreign policy.
  This sentiment is shared by the thousands of American parents whose 
American children have been abducted to foreign jurisdictions, often in 
violation of valid U.S. court orders. Every year, more than a thousand 
additional families are anguished by an abduction. We are losing our 
children and are not bringing them home.
  At that same hearing, we heard from Michael Elias, an Iraqi veteran 
from New Jersey, who told this committee of his anguish after his ex-
wife used her Japanese consulate connections to abduct Jade and Michael 
Jr., after the New Jersey court had ordered surrender of passports and 
joint custody.
  His ex-wife flagrantly disregarded those valid court orders telling 
Michael Elias, ``My country [Japan] will protect me.'' She was right. 
Both the U.S. embassy personnel and Mr. Elias have been unable to even 
see the American citizen children since 2008--much less return them to 
their home.
  The U.S. talks about the problem with Japan, and talks, and talks--
but Japan has yet to issue and enforce a court order to return a single 
American child.
  In the case of Egypt, we have provided more than $4 billion in aid 
and debt relief since the abduction of Noor and Ramsey in 2009--despite 
the fact that Egypt has continued to flagrantly violate valid U.S. 
court orders, prevent Mr. Bower from seeing his sons, and otherwise aid 
and abet a kidnapping.
  The United States can and must do more to demand that our would-be 
allies respect the rule of law and return our abducted children. H. 
Res. 193 is a step in the right direction. Specifically, H. Res. 193 
``urges Egypt and all other nations--such as Japan--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.''
  H. Res. 193 also urges the House of Representatives to 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--and 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.
  Mr. Speaker, it may soon be time for this body to consider additional 
steps if we do not see immediate cooperation from our would-be allies 
in the return of American children. H. Res. 193 is ample warning to 
Egypt, Japan, and other nations that American patience with abductions 
has run out. I strongly support the passage of H. Res. 193--and the 
passage of additional steps if the warning is not heeded.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 193, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  The title of the resolution was amended so as to read: ``Calling for 
the safe and immediate return of Noor and Ramsay Bower to the United 
States.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________