III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 543 

To express the sense of the Senate on international parental child abduction. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2012 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. KERRY, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. 

INHOFE, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. 

LEAHY, Mr. KIRK, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MORAN, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. REED, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Ms. CANTWELL, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012 

Reported by Mr. KERRY, with an amendment and an amendment to the 

preamble 

[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic] 

DECEMBER 4, 2012 

Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble 

RESOLUTION 

To express the sense of the Senate on international parental 

child abduction. 

Whereas international parental child abduction is a tragic 

and common occurrence; 


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Whereas the abduction of a child by one parent is a heartbreaking loss for the left-behind parent and deprives the 

child of a relationship with 2 loving parents; 

Whereas, according to the Report on Compliance with the 

Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International 

Child Abduction of the United States Department of 

State from April 2010, research shows that abducted 

children are at risk of significant short- and long-term 

problems, including ‘‘anxiety, eating problems, nightmares, mood swings, sleep disturbances, [and] aggressive 

behavior’’; 

Whereas according to that report, left-behind parents may 

also experience substantial psychological and emotional 

issues, including feelings of ‘‘betrayal, sadness over the 

loss of their children or the end of their marriage, anger 

toward the other parent, anxiety, sleeplessness, and severe depression’’, as well as financial strain while fighting 

for the return of a child; 

Whereas, since 1988, the United States, which has a treaty 

relationship under the Convention on the Civil Aspects of 

International Child Abduction, done at The Hague October 25, 1980 (TIAS 11670) (referred to in this preamble 

as the ‘‘Hague Abduction Convention’’) with 69 other 

countries, has agreed with its treaty partners to follow 

the terms of the Hague Abduction Convention; 

Whereas the Hague Abduction Convention provides a legal 

framework for securing the prompt return of wrongfully 

removed or retained children to the countries of their habitual residence where competent courts can make decisions on issues of custody and the best interests of the 

children; 


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Whereas according to the United States Department of State, 

the number of new cases of international child abduction 

from the United States increased from 579 in 2006 to 

941 in 2011; 

Whereas, in 2011, those 941 cases involved 1,367 children 

who were reported abducted from the United States by 

a parent and taken to a foreign country; 

Whereas, in 2011, more than 660 children who were abducted from the United States and taken to a foreign 

country were returned to the United States; 

Whereas 7 of the top 10 countries to which children from the 

United States were most frequently abducted in 2011 are 

parties to the Hague Abduction Convention, including 

Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ecuador, Brazil, and Colombia; 

Whereas Japan, India, and Egypt are not parties to the 

Hague Abduction Convention and were also among the 

top 10 countries to which children in the United States 

were most frequently abducted in 2011; 

Whereas in many countries, such as Japan and India, international parental child abduction is not considered a 

crime, and custody rulings made by courts in the United 

States are not typically recognized by courts in those 

countries; and 

Whereas Japan is the only member of the Group of 7 major 

industrialized countries that has not yet become a party 

to the Hague Abduction Convention: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That— 

2 (1) the Senate— 


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1 (A) condemns the international abduction 

2 of all children; 

3 (B) urges countries identified by the 

4 United States Department of State as non5 compliant or demonstrating patterns of non6 compliance with the Convention on the Civil As7 pects of International Child Abduction, done at 

8 The Hague October 25, 1980 (TIAS 11670) 

9 (referred to in this resolution as the ‘‘Hague 

10 Abduction Convention’’) to fulfill their commit11 ment under international law to expeditiously 

12 implement the provisions of the Hague Abduc13 tion Convention; 

14 (C) calls on all countries to become a party 

15 to the Hague Abduction Convention and to 

16 promptly institute measures to equitably and 

17 transparently address cases of international pa18 rental child abduction; and 

19 (D) calls on all countries that have not be20 come a party to the Hague Abduction Conven21 tion to develop a mechanism for the resolution 

22 of current and future cases of international pa23 rental child abduction that occur before those 

24 countries become a party to the Hague Abduc25 tion Convention in order to facilitate the 


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1 prompt return of children abducted to those 

2 countries to the children’s countries of habitual 

3 residence; and 

4 (2) it is the sense of the Senate that the United 

5 States should— 

6 (A) vigorously pursue the return of each 

7 child abducted by a parent from the United 

8 States to another country through all appro9 priate means, facilitate access by the left-behind 

10 parent if the child is not returned, and, where 

11 appropriate, seek the extradition of the parent 

12 that abducted the child; 

13 (B) take all appropriate measures to en14 sure that a child abducted to a country that is 

15 a party to the Hague Abduction Convention is 

16 returned to the country of habitual residence of 

17 the child in compliance with the provisions of 

18 the Hague Abduction Convention; 

19 (C) continue to use diplomacy to encourage 

20 other countries to become a party to the Hague 

21 Abduction Convention and to take the necessary 

22 steps to effectively fulfill their responsibilities 

23 under the Hague Abduction Convention; 

24 (D) use diplomacy to encourage countries 

25 that have not become a party to the Hague AbVerDate Mar 15 2010 16:23 Dec 06, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR543.ATS SR543

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1 duction Convention to develop an institutional2 ized mechanism to transparently and expedi3 tiously resolve current and future cases of inter4 national child abduction that occur before those 

5 countries become a party to the Hague Abduc6 tion Convention; and 

7 (E) review the advisory services made 

8 available to United States citizens by the 

9 United States Department of State, the United 

10 States Department of Justice, and other United 

11 States Government agencies— 

12 (i) to improve the prevention of inter13 national parental child abduction from the 

14 United States; and 

15 (ii) to ensure that effective and timely 

16 assistance is provided to United States citi17 zens who are parents of children abducted 

18 from the United States and taken to for19 eign countries. 

Æ 


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