III 

Calendar No. 528 

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, and Mr. REED) 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] 

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 ratified the Hague 

Abduction Convention: Now, therefore, be it 

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; 

Whereas, according to the United States Department of State, 

the number of new cases of international child abduction 


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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— 

3 (A) condemns the unlawful international 

4 abduction of all children; 


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1 (B) urges countries identified by the 

2 United States Department of State as non3 compliant or demonstrating patterns of non4 compliance with the Convention on the Civil As5 pects of International Child Abduction, done at 

6 The Hague October 25, 1980 (TIAS 11670) 

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

8 Abduction Convention’’) to fulfill their commit9 ment under international law to expeditiously 

10 implement the provisions of the Hague Abduc11 tion Convention; 

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

13 ratify the Hague Abduction Convention and to 

14 promptly institute measures to equitably and 

15 transparently address cases of international pa16 rental child abduction; and 

17 (D) calls on all countries that have not ac18 ceded to or ratified the Hague Abduction Con19 vention to develop a mechanism for the resolu20 tion of current and future cases of international 

21 parental child abduction that occur before those 

22 countries accede to or ratify the Hague Abduc23 tion Convention in order to facilitate the 

24 prompt return of children abducted to those 


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1 countries to the children’s countries of habitual 

2 residence; and 

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

4 States should— 

5 (A) aggressively pursue the return of each 

6 child abducted by a parent from the United 

7 States to another country through all appro8 priate means, consistent with the Hague Abduc9 tion Convention, and through extradition, when 

10 appropriate, and facilitate access by the left-be11 hind parent if the child is not returned; 

12 (B) take all appropriate measures to en13 sure that a child abducted to a country that is 

14 a party to the Hague Abduction Convention is 

15 returned to the country of habitual residence of 

16 the child in compliance with the provisions of 

17 the Hague Abduction Convention; 

18 (C) continue to use diplomacy to encourage 

19 other countries to accede to or ratify the Hague 

20 Abduction Convention and to take the necessary 

21 steps to effectively fulfill their responsibilities 

22 under the Hague Abduction Convention; 

23 (D) use diplomacy to encourage countries 

24 that have not acceded to or ratified the Hague 

25 Abduction Convention to develop an instituVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:19 Sep 19, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\SR543.RS SR543

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1 tionalized mechanism to transparently and ex2 peditiously resolve current and future cases of 

3 international child abduction that occur before 

4 those countries accede to or ratify the Hague 

5 Abduction Convention; and 

6 (E) review the advisory services made 

7 available to United States citizens by the 

8 United States Department of State, the United 

9 States Department of Justice, and other United 

10 States Government agencies— 

11 (i) to improve the prevention of inter12 national parental child abduction from the 

13 United States; and 

14 (ii) to ensure that effective and timely 

15 assistance is provided to United States citi16 zens who are parents of children abducted 

17 from the United States and taken to for18 eign countries. 

19 That— 

20 (1) the Senate— 

21 (A) condemns the international abduction of 

22 all children; 

23 (B) urges countries identified by the United 

24 States Department of State as noncompliant or 

25 demonstrating patterns of noncompliance with 


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1 the Convention on the Civil Aspects of Inter2 national Child Abduction, done at The Hague 

3 October 25, 1980 (TIAS 11670) (referred to in 

4 this resolution as the ‘‘Hague Abduction Conven5 tion’’) to fulfill their commitment under inter6 national law to expeditiously implement the pro7 visions of the Hague Abduction Convention; 

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

9 to the Hague Abduction Convention and to 

10 promptly institute measures to equitably and 

11 transparently address cases of international pa12 rental child abduction; and 

13 (D) calls on all countries that have not be14 come a party to the Hague Abduction Conven15 tion to develop a mechanism for the resolution of 

16 current and future cases of international paren17 tal child abduction that occur before those coun18 tries become a party to the Hague Abduction 

19 Convention in order to facilitate the prompt re20 turn of children abducted to those countries to 

21 the children’s countries of habitual residence; 

22 and 

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

24 States should— 


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1 (A) vigorously pursue the return of each 

2 child abducted by a parent from the United 

3 States to another country through all appro4 priate means, facilitate access by the left-behind 

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

6 appropriate, seek the extradition of the parent 

7 that abducted the child; 

8 (B) take all appropriate measures to ensure 

9 that a child abducted to a country that is a 

10 party to the Hague Abduction Convention is re11 turned to the country of habitual residence of the 

12 child in compliance with the provisions of the 

13 Hague Abduction Convention; 

14 (C) continue to use diplomacy to encourage 

15 other countries to become a party to the Hague 

16 Abduction Convention and to take the necessary 

17 steps to effectively fulfill their responsibilities 

18 under the Hague Abduction Convention; 

19 (D) use diplomacy to encourage countries 

20 that have not become a party to the Hague Ab21 duction Convention to develop an institutional22 ized mechanism to transparently and expedi23 tiously resolve current and future cases of inter24 national child abduction that occur before those 


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1 countries become a party to the Hague Abduc2 tion Convention; and 

3 (E) review the advisory services made avail4 able to United States citizens by the United 

5 States Department of State, the United States 

6 Department of Justice, and other United States 

7 Government agencies— 

8 (i) to improve the prevention of inter9 national parental child abduction from the 

10 United States; and 

11 (ii) to ensure that effective and timely 

12 assistance is provided to United States citi13 zens who are parents of children abducted 

14 from the United States and taken to foreign 

15 countries. 


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Calendar No. 528 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 543 

RESOLUTION 

To express the sense of the Senate on international 

parental child abduction. 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012 

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

preamble 


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