IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 125 

Calling on the central authority of Brazil to immediately discharge all its 

duties under the Hague Convention by facilitating and supporting Federal judicial proceedings as a matter of extreme urgency to obtain the 

return of Sean Goldman to his father, David Goldman, for immediate 

return to the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2009 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the central authority of Brazil to immediately 

discharge all its duties under the Hague Convention by 

facilitating and supporting Federal judicial proceedings 

as a matter of extreme urgency to obtain the return 

of Sean Goldman to his father, David Goldman, for 

immediate return to the United States. 

Whereas, on May 25, 2000, Sean Goldman was born in Red 

Bank, New Jersey, the son of David Goldman and Bruna 

Bianchi Ribeiro Goldman who were married in New Jersey in 1999; 

Whereas Sean Goldman lived with his parents the first four 

years of his life in Tinton Falls, New Jersey; 


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Whereas, on June 16, 2004, Sean and his mother Mrs. Goldman left together with Mrs. Goldman’s parents for a 

planned vacation to Mrs. Goldman’s parents’ home in 

Brazil; 

Whereas upon her arrival in Brazil, Mrs. Goldman called Mr. 

Goldman to advise him that their marriage was over and 

that she would not be returning Sean to his home in New 

Jersey; 

Whereas Mr. Goldman has been trying unsuccessfully since 

June 17, 2004, to secure the return of his son from 

Brazil; 

Whereas, on August 26, 2004, the Superior Court of New 

Jersey awarded custody to Mr. Goldman, ordered Mrs. 

Goldman and her parents to immediately return Sean to 

the United States, and indicated to Mrs. Goldman and 

her parents that their continued behavior under United 

States law constituted parental kidnapping; 

Whereas, on September 3, 2004, Mr. Goldman filed an application for the immediate return of Sean to the United 

States under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 

Aspects of International Child Abduction (the ‘‘Hague 

Convention’’); 

Whereas the Federal Republic of Brazil acceded to the Hague 

Convention on October 19, 1999, and the Hague Convention entered into force between Brazil and the United 

States on December 1, 2003; 

Whereas, pursuant to article 12 of the Hague Convention, 

the judicial authority of Brazil was required to order 

Sean’s return to the United States ‘‘forthwith,’’ customarily defined under international law as within six weeks 

after an application for return has been filed; 


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Whereas, on October 13, 2005, the Brazilian court refused to 

return Sean in contravention of Brazil’s obligations under 

the Hague Convention even though it found that Sean 

was a habitual resident of the United States and, pursuant to international law, had been wrongfully removed 

and retained in Brazil; 

Whereas, on August 19, 2005, the Superior Court of New 

Jersey found both Mrs. Goldman and her parents to be 

in willful contempt of the court’s orders and further 

found Mrs. Goldman’s continued retention of Sean actionable under the International Parental Kidnapping 

and Crime Act of 1993 as well as New Jersey’s criminal 

statutes; 

Whereas the contempt of Ms. Goldman and her family continued after the court’s August 19, 2005, order and Mr. 

Goldman was afforded no contact with his son; 

Whereas Mrs. Goldman obtained a divorce from Mr. Goldman 

without notice through the Brazilian courts and soon 

thereafter married Joa ̃o Paulo Lins e Silva; 

Whereas, on August 22, 2008, Mrs. Goldman tragically 

passed away during childbirth leaving Sean without a 

mother and separated from his biological father in the 

United States; 

Whereas in September 2008, Mr. Goldman traveled to Brazil 

to visit and rightfully reclaim full custody of his son, 

Sean; 

Whereas, upon his arrival, Mr. Goldman learned that Mr. 

Lins e Silva had petitioned the Brazilian courts for custody rights over Sean and also had secretly petitioned the 

Brazilian courts to replace Mr. Goldman’s name with his 

own name on a new birth certificate to be issued to Sean 


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Goldman, despite the fact that Mr. Goldman, not Mr. 

Lins e Silva, is Sean’s biological father; 

Whereas in October 2008, Mr. Lins e Silva failed to make 

Sean available for a visitation ordered by the Brazilian 

Federal Court with his father, and absconded with Sean 

for the duration of the scheduled visitation; 

Whereas Brazilian law enforcement did not provide Mr. Goldman with Sean’s location during the visitation ordered by 

the Brazilian court and did not enforce the visitation 

order, even though they were informed about Mr. Lins e 

Silva’s failure to make Sean available for the visitation; 

Whereas, the Government of Brazil, through the Hague Convention, is obligated to ‘‘take all appropriate measures to 

secure within [its territory] the implementation of the objects of the Convention,’’ and ‘‘to use the most expeditious procedures available’’; 

Whereas the judicial authority of Brazil has failed to comply 

with its obligations under article 11 of the Hague Convention to expeditiously order the return of Sean to the 

United States; 

Whereas, the United States and Brazil, through the Hague 

Convention, have expressed the firm conviction that ‘‘the 

interests of children are of paramount importance in 

matters relating to their custody’’; 

Whereas, furthermore, the United States and Brazil have expressed their desire, through the Hague Convention, ‘‘to 

protect children internationally from the harmful effects 

of their wrongful removal or retention and to establish 

procedures to ensure their prompt return to the State of 

their habitual residence’’; 


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Whereas the U.S. State Department determined in its 2008 

Compliance Report to Congress for the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, as required under Public Law 105–277, section 

2803 (the ‘‘Hague Convention Compliance Report’’), that 

Brazil ‘‘continued to demonstrate patterns of noncompliance with the Convention in its judicial performance’’; 

Whereas it is reported that there are nearly 50 cases in which 

children who were habitual residents of the United States 

have been wrongfully abducted to Brazil and have not 

been returned to the United States as required under the 

Hague Convention; and 

Whereas Sean is being deprived of his rightful opportunity to 

live and be raised by his biological father, Sean could suffer developmental and psychological consequences because 

of this unjust separation, and it is consistent with international law to be reunited with his father in New Jersey 

following the death of his mother: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That— 

2 (1) the House of Representatives— 

3 (A) calls on the central authority of Brazil 

4 to immediately discharge all its duties under 

5 the Hague Convention by facilitating and sup6 porting Federal judicial proceedings as a matter 

7 of extreme urgency to obtain the return of Sean 

8 Goldman to his father, David Goldman, for im9 mediate return to the United States; and 

10 (B) calls upon the Brazilian government to 

11 fulfill its obligation under international law to 


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1 take all other appropriate measures to secure 

2 within its territory the implementation of the 

3 objects of the Hague Convention, and to use 

4 the most expeditious procedures available, pur5 suant to article 2 of the Convention, in the case 

6 of Sean Goldman as well as all other children 

7 from the United States whose rights are not 

8 being respected under the Convention; and 

9 (2) it is the sense of the House of Representa10 tives that the United States should— 

11 (A) make the determination, through the 

12 United States Department of State in its 2009 

13 Hague Convention Compliance Report, that 

14 Brazil is a ‘‘Country Not Compliant with the 

15 Convention’’, given that Brazil failed in all 

16 three performance areas of central authority 

17 performance, judicial performance, and law en18 forcement performance for fiscal year 2008; 

19 (B) review its diplomatic procedures and 

20 the operations available to United States citi21 zens through its central authority under the 

22 Hague Convention to ensure that effective as23 sistance is provided to Mr. Goldman and other 

24 United States citizens in obtaining the expedi25 tious return of their children from Brazil and 


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1 other countries that have entered into the recip2 rocal obligations with the United States under 

3 the Hague Convention; and 

4 (C) take any and all other appropriate 

5 measures to ensure that Hague Convention 

6 partners return abducted children to the United 

7 States in compliance with the Hague Conven8 tion’s provisions. 

Æ 


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