III

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 98

Urging compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of

International Child Abduction.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 23, 2000

Mr. DEWINE (for himself, Mr. HELMS, Mr. THURMOND, Mr. WARNER, Mr.

ROCKEFELLER, Mr. ROBB, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. DODD, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr.

HATCH, and Mr. STEVENS) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Urging compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil

Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Whereas the Department of State reports that at any given

time there are 1,000 open cases of American children either abducted from the United States or wrongfully retained in a foreign country;

Whereas many more cases of international child abductions

are not reported to the Department of State;

Whereas the situation has worsened since 1993, when Congress estimated the number of abducted and wrongfully

retained American children to be more than 10,000;

Whereas Congress has recognized the gravity of international

child abduction in enacting the International Parental
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Kidnapping Crime Act of 1993 (18 U.S.C. 1204), the

Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (28 U.S.C. 1738a),

and substantial reform and reporting requirements for

the Department of State in the fiscal years 1998–1999

and 2000–2001 Foreign Relations Authorization Acts;

Whereas the United States became a contracting party in

1988 to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of

International Child Abduction (in this concurrent resolution referred to as the ‘‘Hague Convention’’) and adopted

effective implementing legislation in the International

Child Abduction Remedies Act (42 U.S.C. 11601 et seq.);

Whereas the Hague Convention establishes reciprocal rights

and duties between and among its contracting states to

expedite the return of children to the state of their habitual residence, as well as to ensure that rights of custody

and of access under the laws of one contracting state are

effectively respected in other contracting states, without

consideration of the merits of any underlying child custody dispute;

Whereas article 13 of the Hague Convention provides a narrow exception to the requirement for prompt return of

children, which exception releases the requested state

from its obligation to return a child to the country of the

child’s habitual residence if it is established that there is

a ‘‘grave risk’’ that the return would expose the child to

‘‘physical or psychological harm or otherwise place the

child in an intolerable situation’’ or ‘‘if the child objects

to being returned and has attained an age and degree of

maturity at which it is appropriate to take account of the

child’s views’’;

Whereas some contracting states, for example Germany, routinely invoke article 13 as a justification for nonreturn,
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rather than resorting to it in a small number of wholly

exceptional cases;

Whereas the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the only institution of its kind, was established in the United States for the purpose of assisting parents in recovering their missing children;

Whereas article 21 of the Hague Convention provides that

the central authorities of all parties to the Convention are

obligated to cooperate with each other in order to promote the peaceful enjoyment of parental access rights

and the fulfillment of any conditions to which the exercise of such rights may be subject, and to remove, as far

as possible, all obstacles to the exercise of such rights;

Whereas some contracting states fail to order or enforce normal visitation rights for parents of abducted or wrongfully retained children who have not been returned under

the terms of the Hague Convention; and

Whereas the routine invocation of the article 13 exception,

denial of parental visitation of children, and the failure

by several contracting parties, most notably Austria, Germany, Honduras, Mexico, and Sweden, to fully implement

the Convention deprives the Hague Convention of the

spirit of mutual confidence upon which its success depends: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring), That Congress urges—

3 (1) all contracting parties to the Hague Con4 vention, particularly European civil law countries

5 that consistently violate the Hague Convention such

6 as Austria, Germany and Sweden, to comply fully
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1 with both the letter and spirit of their international

2 legal obligations under the Convention;

3 (2) all contracting parties to the Hague Con4 vention to ensure their compliance with the Hague

5 Convention by enacting effective implementing legis6 lation and educating their judicial and law enforce7 ment authorities;

8 (3) all contracting parties to the Hague Con9 vention to honor their commitments and return ab10 ducted or wrongfully retained children to their place

11 of habitual residence without reaching the merits of

12 any underlying custody dispute and ensure parental

13 access rights by removing obstacles to the exercise of

14 such rights;

15 (4) the Secretary of State to disseminate to all

16 Federal and State courts the Department of State’s

17 annual report to Congress on Hague Convention

18 compliance and related matters; and

19 (5) each contracting party to the Hague Con20 vention to further educate its central authority and

21 local law enforcement authorities regarding the

22 Hague Convention, the severity of the problem of

23 international child abduction, and the need for im-
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1 mediate action when a parent of an abducted child

2 seeks their assistance.

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