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

RESOLUTION 

To express the sense of the Senate on international parental 

child abduction. 

Whereas international parental child abduction is a tragic 

and common occurrence; 

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, nightVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:05 Aug 04, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR543.IS SR543

tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•SRES 543 IS 

mares, 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; 

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; 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•SRES 543 IS 

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 ratified the Hague 

Abduction Convention: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That— 

2 (1) the Senate— 

3 (A) condemns the unlawful international 

4 abduction of all children; 

5 (B) urges countries identified by the 

6 United States Department of State as non7 compliant or demonstrating patterns of non8 compliance with the Convention on the Civil As9 pects of International Child Abduction, done at 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•SRES 543 IS 

1 The Hague October 25, 1980 (TIAS 11670) 

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

3 Abduction Convention’’) to fulfill their commit4 ment under international law to expeditiously 

5 implement the provisions of the Hague Abduc6 tion Convention; 

7 (C) calls on all countries to accede to or 

8 ratify the Hague Abduction Convention and to 

9 promptly institute measures to equitably and 

10 transparently address cases of international pa11 rental child abduction; and 

12 (D) calls on all countries that have not ac13 ceded to or ratified the Hague Abduction Con14 vention to develop a mechanism for the resolu15 tion of current and future cases of international 

16 parental child abduction that occur before those 

17 countries accede to or ratify the Hague Abduc18 tion Convention in order to facilitate the 

19 prompt return of children abducted to those 

20 countries to the children’s countries of habitual 

21 residence; and 

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

23 States should— 

24 (A) aggressively pursue the return of each 

25 child abducted by a parent from the United 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•SRES 543 IS 

1 States to another country through all appro2 priate means, consistent with the Hague Abduc3 tion Convention, and through extradition, when 

4 appropriate, and facilitate access by the left-be5 hind parent if the child is not returned; 

6 (B) take all appropriate measures to en7 sure that a child abducted to a country that is 

8 a party to the Hague Abduction Convention is 

9 returned to the country of habitual residence of 

10 the child in compliance with the provisions of 

11 the Hague Abduction Convention; 

12 (C) continue to use diplomacy to encourage 

13 other countries to accede to or ratify the Hague 

14 Abduction Convention and to take the necessary 

15 steps to effectively fulfill their responsibilities 

16 under the Hague Abduction Convention; 

17 (D) use diplomacy to encourage countries 

18 that have not acceded to or ratified the Hague 

19 Abduction Convention to develop an institu20 tionalized mechanism to transparently and ex21 peditiously resolve current and future cases of 

22 international child abduction that occur before 

23 those countries accede to or ratify the Hague 

24 Abduction Convention; and 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•SRES 543 IS 

1 (E) review the advisory services made 

2 available to United States citizens by the 

3 United States Department of State, the United 

4 States Department of Justice, and other United 

5 States Government agencies— 

6 (i) to improve the prevention of inter7 national parental child abduction from the 

8 United States; and 

9 (ii) to ensure that effective and timely 

10 assistance is provided to United States citi11 zens who are parents of children abducted 

12 from the United States and taken to for13 eign countries. 

Æ 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS