[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4488]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



        HELP BRING OUR CHILDREN HOME BY PASSING H. CON. RES. 298

  (Mr. LAMPSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to tell the House about Joseph 
Cook and his children Daniel and Michelle. Their story is one of the 
most heartwrenching I have ever heard. In 1992, Joseph's ex-wife took 
his children to Germany on what was supposed to be a brief visit. 
Shortly after they left, he was told by Christiane that she was not 
coming back and that he would not see his children again. Christiane 
had been suffering from depression, had checked herself into a clinic, 
and placed Daniel and Michelle into the German foster care system. The 
German foster care system made no attempt to contact Joseph.
  In 1993, Christiane returned to the United States but left Danny and 
Michelle in German foster care. Mr. Cook went to Germany with a full 
custody order in 1994, but the German courts have refused to return his 
children and the foster family has been extremely uncooperative.
  Mr. Speaker, Danny and Michelle are being left to languish in a 
foster care system when they have a father who loves them and 
desperately wants to be with them.
  Joseph Cook served in the United States Army, and I am urging this 
House to serve him in return. Pass H. Con. Res. 298 and help bring our 
children home.

                          ____________________