[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 22352]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION

  (Mr. LAMPSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, on April 30, 2000, Maya and Omar Murad, 
ages 3 and 5, were forcibly abducted by their father, Ruwayn Murad, who 
had resided in the United States for nearly 20 years but retained dual 
citizenship in Lebanon. The children, who had spent only 2 weeks of 
their lives on Lebanese soil, were spirited to Lebanon where they have 
now been held for nearly 6 months. Their exact whereabouts are 
presently unknown.
  Prior to the abduction, the children's mother, Elizabeth Henry Murad, 
had been informed by a colleague of her husband that Mr. Murad was 
planning the abduction. After a judge in New York family court failed 
to take emergency action, a divorce action had been commenced by Mr. 
Murad, who ultimately abducted the children after having been granted 
an adjournment in the case. In advance of his flight, Mr. Murad also 
wired all the family's liquid assets from their accounts in the U.S. to 
Lebanon.
  Elizabeth Henry Murad, the custodial parent of Maya and Omar, is now 
waging a desperate battle for the return of her children to New York, 
the only home they have ever known.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time now to assist Mrs. Murad and others like her 
to bring our children home.

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