H. R. 3378

One Hundred Third Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three

An Act

To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to parental kidnapping, and

for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act of 1993’’.

SEC. 2. TITLE 18 AMENDMENT.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 (relating to kidnapping) of title

18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

following:

‘‘§ 1204. International parental kidnapping

‘‘(a) Whoever removes a child from the United States or retains

a child (who has been in the United States) outside the United

States with intent to obstruct the lawful exercise of parental rights

shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 3

years, or both. ‘‘(b) As used in this section—

‘‘(1) the term ‘child’ means a person who has not attained

the age of 16 years; and

‘‘(2) the term ‘parental rights’, with respect to a child,

means the right to physical custody of the child—

‘‘(A) whether joint or sole (and includes visiting rights);

and

‘‘(B) whether arising by operation of law, court order,

or legally binding agreement of the parties.

‘‘(c) It shall be an affirmative defense under this section that—

‘‘(1) the defendant acted within the provisions of a valid

court order granting the defendant legal custody or visitation

rights and that order was obtained pursuant to the Uniform

Child Custody Jurisdiction Act and was in effect at the time

of the offense;

‘‘(2) the defendant was fleeing an incidence or pattern

of domestic violence;

‘‘(3) the defendant had physical custody of the child pursuant to a court order granting legal custody or visitation rights

and failed to return the child as a result of circumstances

beyond the defendant’s control, and the defendant notified or

made reasonable attempts to notify the other parent or lawful

custodian of the child of such circumstances within 24 hours
H. R. 3378—2

after the visitation period had expired and returned the child

as soon as possible.

‘‘(d) This section does not detract from The Hague Convention

on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction,

done at The Hague on October 25, 1980.’’.

(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Congress

that, inasmuch as use of the procedures under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction

has resulted in the return of many children, those procedures,

in circumstances in which they are applicable, should be the option

of first choice for a parent who seeks the return of a child who

has been removed from the parent.

(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 55 of title 18, United States Code, is amended

by adding at the end the following:

‘‘1204. International parental kidnapping.’’.

SEC. 3. STATE COURT PROGRAMS REGARDING INTERSTATE AND

INTERNATIONAL PARENTAL CHILD ABDUCTION.

There is authorized to be appropriated $250,000 to carry out

under the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10701–

10713) national, regional, and in-State training and educational

programs dealing with criminal and civil aspects of interstate and

international parental child abduction.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.