[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7905]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        INTERNATIONAL ABDUCTION

  (Mr. LAMPSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to tell about Yona Gelernter, 
whose three children were abducted to Israel by their mother, Anat 
Gelernter. On April 17, 1995, Chaya, Menachem and Chava were taken from 
their Brooklyn, New York home to Israel.
  As the parents were still married, Yona applied in the New York 
courts for emergency custody of his children. Additionally, because 
Israel is a signatory to the Hague Convention, he was able to apply for 
the return of his three children under the agreement. He filed his 
Hague petition in October of 1997 and on August 13, 1998, the Israeli 
courts ordered the immediate return of Chaya, Menachem and Chava to 
their father in the United States. However, when the mother learned 
that she had lost her case, she went into hiding with the three 
children. Yona has since hired private investigators in Israel to 
attempt to locate his wife and three children. He has not seen them 
since their abduction.
  Mr. Speaker, there are 10,000 American children out there whose 
stories are similar, 10,000 American children and their parents who 
experience the same kind of pain and devastation every day of their 
separation. This Congress must take action to solve this problem and 
help reunite parents with their children. Mr. Speaker, we must bring 
our children home.

                          ____________________