[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2317]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    INTERNATIONAL ABDUCTION DAY FOUR

  (Mr. LAMPSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LAMPSON. Madam Speaker, today I rise to talk about another of the 
10,000 American children who have been abducted to foreign countries, 
Amanda Johnson.
  Amanda was abducted from her father, Thomas Johnson, who is an 
attorney with the United States State Department, to Sweden by her 
mother, Anne Franzen, in 1994. Amanda continues to be wrongfully 
withheld from her father, the rest of her American family, her home and 
her familiar environment, and her country, by her mother and the 
government of Sweden.

                              {time}  1015

  Between December 1995 and June 1999, Amanda saw her father only on 
five occasions for a total of about 15 hours. Every element of joint 
custody has been violated. No school or medical records, no 
photographs, no information on activities or general welfare have been 
provided to Mr. Johnson.
  Mr. Johnson and parents like him need our help. Madam Speaker, we 
must show respect and concern for the most sacred of bonds, the bond 
between a parent and a child.
  When we look at a globe we see boundaries, but when it comes to 
reuniting families we must know no boundaries. We must bring our 
children home.

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