109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 994

AN ACT

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to improve

the ability of State and local governments to prevent

the abduction of children by family members, 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 ‘‘Family Abduction Pre5 vention Act of 2006’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress findings that—

3 (1) each year more than 203,000 children in

4 the United States (approximately 78 percent of all

5 abducted children) are abducted by a family mem6 ber, usually a parent;

7 (2) more than half of the parents who abduct

8 their children have a history of alcohol or substance

9 abuse, a criminal record, or a history of violence;

10 (3) the most common motive for family abduc11 tion is revenge against the other parent, not pro12 tecting the child’s safety;

13 (4) children who are abducted by family mem14 bers suffer emotional, psychological, and often phys15 ical abuse at the hands of their abductors;

16 (5) children who are victims of family abduc17 tions are forced to leave behind family, friends, their

18 homes, their neighborhoods, their schools, and all

19 that is familiar to them;

20 (6) children who are victims of family abduc21 tions are often told that the parent who did not

22 abduct the child has died, does not love them, or will

23 harm them;

24 (7) children who are abducted by their parents

25 or other family members are sometimes forced to

26 live in fear of discovery and may be compelled to
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1 conceal their true identity, including their real

2 names, family histories, and even their gender;

3 (8) children who are victims of family abduc4 tions are often denied the opportunity to attend

5 school or to receive health and dental care;

6 (9) child psychologists and law enforcement au7 thorities now classify family abduction as a form of

8 child abuse;

9 (10) approximately 70 percent of local law en10 forcement agencies do not have written guidelines

11 for what to do in the event of a family abduction or

12 how to facilitate the recovery of an abducted child;

13 (11) the first few hours of a family abduction

14 are crucial to recovering an abducted child, and val15 uable hours are lost when law enforcement is not

16 prepared to employ the most effective techniques to

17 locate and recover abducted children;

18 (12) when parents who may be inclined to

19 abduct their own children receive counseling and

20 education on the harm suffered by children under

21 these circumstances, the incidence of family abduc22 tions is greatly reduced; and

23 (13) where practiced, the flagging of school

24 records has proven to be an effective tool in assisting

25 law enforcement authorities find abducted children.
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) FAMILY ABDUCTION.—The term ‘‘family

4 abduction’’ means the taking, keeping, or concealing

5 of a child or children by a parent, other family mem6 ber, or person acting on behalf of the parent or fam7 ily member, that prevents another individual from

8 exercising lawful custody or visitation rights.

9 (2) FLAGGING.—The term ‘‘flagging’’ means

10 the process of notifying law enforcement authorities

11 of the name and address of any person requesting

12 the school records of an abducted child.

13 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’

14 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other orga15 nized group or community, including any Alaska Na16 tive village or regional or village corporation as de17 fined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Na18 tive Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.),

19 which is recognized as eligible for the special pro20 grams and services provided by the United States to

21 Indians because of their status as Indians.

22 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

23 the several States, the District of Columbia, the

24 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth

25 of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa,
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1 Guam, the Virgin Islands, any territory or posses2 sion of the United States, and any Indian tribe.

3 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES.

4 (a) MATCHING GRANTS.—The Attorney General shall

5 make grants to States for projects involving—

6 (1) the extradition of individuals suspected of

7 committing a family abduction;

8 (2) the investigation by State and local law en9 forcement agencies of family abduction cases;

10 (3) the training of State and local law enforce11 ment agencies in responding to family abductions

12 and recovering abducted children, including the de13 velopment of written guidelines and technical assist14 ance;

15 (4) outreach and media campaigns to educate

16 parents on the dangers of family abductions; and

17 (5) the flagging of school records.

18 (b) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Not less than 50

19 percent of the cost of a project for which a grant is made

20 under this section shall be provided by non-Federal

21 sources.

22 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 For the purpose of carrying out this Act, there are

24 authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General
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1 $500,000 for fiscal year 2008, and such sums as may be

2 necessary for each of fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

Passed the Senate November 16, 2006.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 994

AN ACT

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants

family members, and for other purposes.ments to prevent the abduction of children byto improve the ability of State and local govern-