[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.
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