II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 632

To create a national child custody database, to clarify the exclusive continuing

jurisdiction provisions of the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of

1980, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 28 (legislative day, MARCH 27), 1995

Mr. DOMENICI (for himself, Mr. BIDEN, Mrs. KASSEBAUM, Mr. BINGAMAN,

Mr. JEFFORDS, and Mr. WELLSTONE) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To create a national child custody database, to clarify the

exclusive continuing jurisdiction provisions of the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1980, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Custody Reform

5 Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) parents who do not find a child custody rul2 ing to their liking in one State will often start a cus3 tody proceeding in another State in the hope of ob4 taining a more favorable ruling;

5 (2) although Federal and State child custody

6 jurisdictional laws were established to prevent this

7 situation, gaps still exist that allow for confusion

8 and differing interpretations by various State courts,

9 and which lead to separate and inconsistent custody

10 rulings between States;

11 (3) in the event that a different ruling is hand12 ed down in the second State’s court, the problem

13 then arises of which court has jurisdiction, and

14 which ruling should be granted full faith and credit

15 under the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of

16 1980;

17 (4) changes in the Parental Kidnapping Preven18 tion Act of 1980 must be made that will provide a

19 remedy for cases where conflicting State rulings

20 exist—

21 (A) to prevent different rulings from occur22 ring in the first instance by clarifying provi23 sions with regard to continuing State jurisdic24 tion to modify a child custody order; and
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1 (B) to assist the courts in this task by es2 tablishing a centralized, nationwide child cus3 tody database; and

4 (5) in the absence of such changes, parents will

5 continue to engage in the destructive practice of

6 moving children across State borders to escape a

7 previous custody ruling or arrangement, and will

8 continue to use their helpless children as pawns in

9 their efforts at personal retribution.

10 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS FOR COURT JU11 RISDICTION.

12 Section 1738A of title 28, United States Code, is

13 amended—

14 (1) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol15 lows:

16 ‘‘(d)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the jurisdiction of

17 a court of a State that has made a child custody deter18 mination in accordance with this section continues as long

19 as such State remains the residence of the child or of any

20 contestant.

21 ‘‘(2) Continuing jurisdiction under paragraph (1)

22 shall be subject to any applicable provision of law of the

23 State that issued the initial custody determination in ac24 cordance with this section, when such State law estab-
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1 lishes limitations on continuing jurisdiction when a child

2 is absent from such State.’’;

3 (2) in subsection (f)—

4 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and

5 (2) as paragraphs (2) and (1), respectively; and

6 (B) in paragraph (1), as so redesignated,

7 by inserting ‘‘pursuant to subsection (d),’’ after

8 ‘‘the court of the other State no longer has ju9 risdiction,’’; and

10 (3) in subsection (g), by inserting ‘‘or continu11 ing jurisdiction’’ after ‘‘exercising jurisdiction’’.

12 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CHILD CUSTODY

13 REGISTRY.

14 Section 453 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

15 653) is amended by adding at the end the following new

16 subsection:

17 ‘‘(g)(1) Subject to the availability of appropriations,

18 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coopera19 tion with the Attorney General, shall expand the Federal

20 Parent Locator Service established under this section, to

21 establish a national network to allow State courts to iden22 tify every proceeding relating to child custody jurisdiction

23 filed before any court of the United States or of any State.

24 Information identifying custody determinations from other

25 countries will also be accepted for filing in the registry.
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1 ‘‘(2) As used in this subsection—

2 ‘‘(A) the term ‘information’ includes—

3 ‘‘(i) the court or jurisdiction where a

4 custody determination is filed;

5 ‘‘(ii) the name of the presiding officer

6 of the issuing court;

7 ‘‘(iii) the names and social security

8 numbers of the parties;

9 ‘‘(iv) the name, date of birth, and so10 cial security numbers of each child; and

11 ‘‘(v) the status of the case;

12 ‘‘(B) the term ‘custody determination’ has

13 the same meaning given such term in section

14 1738A of title 28, United States Code;

15 ‘‘(C) the term ‘custody proceeding’—

16 ‘‘(i) means a proceeding in which a

17 custody determination is one of several is18 sues, such as a proceeding for divorce or

19 separation, as well as neglect, abuse, de20 pendency, wardship, guardianship, termi21 nation of parental rights, adoption, protec22 tion from domestic violence, and Hague

23 Child Abduction Convention proceedings;

24 and
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1 ‘‘(ii) does not include a judgment, de2 cree, or other order of a court regarding

3 paternity or relating to child support or

4 any other monetary obligation of any per5 son, or a decision made in a juvenile delin6 quency, status offender, or emancipation

7 proceeding.

8 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Health and Human Services,

9 in cooperation with Attorney General, shall promulgate

10 regulations to implement this section.

11 ‘‘(4) There are authorized to be appropriated such

12 sums as are necessary to carry out this subsection.’’.

13 SEC. 5. SENSE OF SENATE REGARDING SUPERVISED VISI14 TATION CENTERS.

15 It is the sense of the Senate that local governments

16 should take full advantage of the Local Crime Prevention

17 Block Grant Program established under subtitle B of title

18 III of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement

19 Act of 1994, to establish supervised visitation centers for

20 children who have been removed from their parents and

21 placed outside the home as a result of abuse or neglect

22 or other risk of harm to them, and for children whose par23 ents are separated or divorced and the children are at risk

24 because of physical or mental abuse or domestic violence.

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