[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14287]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    ESTABLISHING FEDERAL GUIDELINES AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR 
                          CUSTODIAL TRANSFERS

  (Mr. STIVERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STIVERS. Madam Speaker, I was first made aware of the practice of 
rehoming earlier this year when it was discovered that a girl who had 
been adopted from Haiti was transferred back and forth from an abusive 
environment in central Iowa, where I live, to Idaho via a Yahoo 
Internet forum.
  Rehoming is the transfer of children into the custody of unvetted 
strangers without the use of the child welfare system, and currently 
there is no Federal law prohibiting it. That means there is nothing 
stopping dangerous and unfit individuals from using online mediums like 
Craigslist to seek custody and then abuse, neglect, or exploit 
children.
  As a father of two young children, the idea of children being treated 
as goods or property is reprehensible. Our Nation must address 
rehoming. That is why I am introducing legislation to establish Federal 
guidelines and reporting requirements for custodial transfers. I urge 
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help me solve this problem 
of rehoming.

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