[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10840]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




URGING STATE DEPARTMENT TO TAKE ACTION TO HELP BRING AMERICA'S ABDUCTED 
                             CHILDREN HOME

  (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, last week the Committee on Government 
Reform held a hearing on women and children who are being held in Saudi 
Arabia. It was an emotional hearing on a situation that unfortunately 
exists in countries all over the world, not just in the Middle East 
right now.
  I have been telling the story of trying to help a father whose son is 
being held in Italy, one of our supposed closest friends. His son, 
Ludwig Koons, has been in Italy for 8 years and is being held in a 
pornographic compound by his abductor mother, and the Italian 
authorities and our State Department let it happen.
  I applaud the gentleman from Indiana (Chairman Burton) for bringing 
this issue to light in his strong statement to his committee. For years 
I have been working with left-behind parents who are trying to get 
their children back to where they belong. For years I have witnessed a 
State Department that does nothing tangible to help.
  We need a State Department that fights for U.S. citizens, not an idle 
information agency. This issue is one that none of us can afford to 
ignore. We need to be aware, and we need to put pressure on other 
countries that are not sending American children home.
  American parents are asking for someone to take action and help them 
bring their children home. The State Department is not stepping up to 
the plate for Ludwig Koons or for anyone else. Bring our children home.

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