[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5059]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



           INTERNATIONAL ABDUCTION--KENNETH AND JODI CARLSEN

  (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 a story of Kenneth and 
Jodi Carlsen, the father and stepmother of one of the 10,000 American 
children who have been abducted internationally.
  The United States court system awarded Mr. Carlsen custody of his 
daughter and gave visitation rights to the mother. In September of 
1993, her mother and her boyfriend picked up Mr. Carlsen's daughter 
from school and abducted her to Germany.
  When Mr. Carlsen filed for a court hearing in Germany, he was asked 
by the German authorities to pay 1,400 to initiate proceedings. 
Fourteen months later, he got a hearing and the German Youth Authority 
testified that his daughter was settled in her new environment and 
objected to being returned to the United States. The Youth Authority 
never interviewed Mr. Carlsen and the lower court in Germany denied the 
return of his daughter.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Carlsen's daughter was 8 when she was abducted and 
now is 15 years old. Since then, she has seen her father only twice and 
both times were under strict supervision of the German Youth Authority.
  Mr. Speaker, this House has the responsibility and the duty to help 
American parents bring their children home. I urge my colleagues to 
support H. Con. Res. 293, American children need our help.

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