I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1951 
To ensure compliance with the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects 
of International Child Abduction by countries with which the United 
States enjoys reciprocal obligations, to establish procedures for the 
prompt return of children abducted to other countries, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 13, 2013 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. MORAN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 
in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Financial Services, 
the Judiciary, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To ensure compliance with the 1980 Hague Convention on 
the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction by 
countries with which the United States enjoys reciprocal 
obligations, to establish procedures for the prompt return 
of children abducted to other countries, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction 
Prevention and Return Act of 2013’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings; sense of Congress; purposes. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Funding. 
TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF STATE ACTIONS 
Sec. 101. Annual report. 
Sec. 102. Standards and assistance. 
Sec. 103. Memorandum of Understanding. 
Sec. 104. Notification of congressional representatives. 
TITLE II—PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS 
Sec. 201. Presidential actions in response to unresolved cases. 
Sec. 202. Presidential actions in response to patterns of noncooperation in 
cases of international child abductions. 
Sec. 203. Consultations. 
Sec. 204. Report to Congress. 
Sec. 205. Presidential actions. 
Sec. 206. Effects on existing contracts. 
Sec. 207. Presidential waiver. 
Sec. 208. Publication in Federal Register. 
Sec. 209. Termination of Presidential actions. 
Sec. 210. United States assistance. 
Sec. 211. Multilateral assistance. 
Sec. 212. Amendment to generalized system of preferences eligibility for gener-
alized system of preferences. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Sean Goldman, a United States citizen and 
resident of New Jersey, was abducted from the 
United States in 2004 and separated from his fa-
ther, David Goldman, who spent nearly six years 
battling for the return of his son from Brazil before 
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Sean was finally returned to Mr. Goldman’s custody 
on December 24, 2009. 
(2) The Department of State’s Office of Chil-
dren’s Issues, which serves as the Central Authority 
of the United States for the purposes of the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Inter-
national Child Abduction, has received thousands of 
requests since 2007 for assistance in the return to 
the United States of children who have been ab-
ducted by a parent or other legal guardian to an-
other country. For a variety of reasons reflecting the 
significant obstacles to the recovery of abducted chil-
dren, as well as the legal and factual complexity in-
volving such cases, not all cases are reported to the 
Central Authority of the United States. 
(3) The number of outgoing international child 
abductions reported to the Central Authority of the 
United States has increased substantially since 
2006. 
(4) Only about half of the children abducted 
from the United States to countries with which the 
United States enjoys reciprocal obligations under the 
Hague Abduction Convention are returned to the 
United States. 
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(5) The United States and Convention coun-
tries have expressed their desire, through the Hague 
Abduction Convention, ‘‘to protect children inter-
nationally from the harmful effects of their wrongful 
removal or retention and to establish procedures to 
ensure their prompt return to the State of their ha-
bitual residence, as well as to secure protection for 
rights of access.’’. 
(6) Compliance by the United States and Con-
vention countries depends on the actions of their 
designated central authorities, the performance of 
their judiciaries as reflected in the legal process and 
decisions rendered to enforce or effectuate the 
Hague Abduction Convention, and the ability and 
willingness of their law enforcement to insure the 
swift enforcement of orders rendered pursuant to the 
Hague Abduction Convention. 
(7) The Central Authority of the United States 
reports that nearly 40 percent of abduction cases 
and access cases involve children taken from the 
United States to countries with which the United 
States does not have Hague Abduction Convention 
obligations or other agreements relating to the reso-
lution of abduction cases and access cases. 
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pursue multinational litigation or take leave to at-
tend multiple court proceedings, and foreign authori-
ties may not schedule proceedings to accommodate 
such duties. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the United States should set a strong example 
for Convention countries in the timely location and return 
of abducted children in the United States whose habitual 
residence is not the United States. 
(c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) protect children whose habitual residence is 
the United States from the harmful effects of abduc-
tion and to assist left-behind parents to have access 
to their abducted child in a safe and predictable 
manner, wherever the child is located, while an ab-
duction case is pending; 
(2) provide left-behind parents, including mili-
tary parents, their advocates, and judges the infor-
mation they need to enhance the resolution of abduc-
tion cases and access cases through established legal 
procedures, the tools for assessing the risk of abduc-
tion and denial of rights of access, and the practical 
means for overcoming obstacles to recovering an ab-
ducted child; 
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(3) establish measured, effective, and predict-
able actions to be undertaken by the President on 
behalf of abducted children whose habitual residence 
is the United States at the time of the abduction; 
(4) promote an international consensus that it 
is in the interest of children to have any issues re-
lated to their care and custody determined in the 
country of their habitual residence; 
(5) provide the necessary training for officials 
of the United States Armed Forces and the Depart-
ment of Defense to establish policies and provide 
services to military parents that address the unique 
circumstances of abductions and violations of rights 
of access that may occur with regard to military de-
pendent children; and 
(6) encourage the effective implementation of 
international mechanisms, particularly those estab-
lished pursuant to the Hague Abduction Convention, 
to achieve reciprocity in the resolution of abductions 
and to protect children from the harmful effects of 
an abduction. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) ABDUCTED
CHILD.—The term ‘‘abducted 
child’’ means a child who is the victim of an abduc-
tion. 
(2) 
ABDUCTION.—The 
term 
‘‘abduction’’ 
means— 
(A) the alleged wrongful removal of a child 
from the child’s country of habitual residence; 
(B) the alleged wrongful retention of a 
child outside the child’s country of habitual res-
idence; or 
(C) the alleged wrongful removal or reten-
tion of a military dependent child from the ex-
ercise of rights of custody of a military parent. 
(3) ABDUCTION
CASE.—The term ‘‘abduction 
case’’ means a case involving an application filed 
with the Central Authority of the United States by 
a left-behind parent for the resolution of an abduc-
tion. 
(4) ACCESS
CASE.—The term ‘‘access case’’ 
means a case involving an application filed with the 
Central Authority of the United States by a left-be-
hind parent for the establishment of rights of access. 
(5) ANNUAL REPORT.—The term ‘‘Annual Re-
port’’ means the Annual Report on International 
Child Abduction required under section 101. 
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(6) APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘application’’ 
means— 
(A) in the case of a Convention country, 
the application required pursuant to article 8 of 
the Hague Abduction Convention; 
(B) in the case of an MOU country, the 
formal document required pursuant to the pro-
visions of the applicable MOU to request the re-
turn of an abducted child or to request rights 
of access, as applicable; and 
(C) in the case of a nonparty country, the 
formal request by the Central Authority of the 
United States to the Central Authority of such 
country requesting the return of an abducted 
child or for rights of access to an abducted 
child. 
(7) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate. 
(8) CENTRAL AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Central 
Authority’’ means— 
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(A) in the case of a Convention country, 
the meaning given such term in article 6 of the 
Hague Abduction Convention; 
(B) in the case of an MOU country, the of-
ficial entity designated by the government of 
the MOU country within the applicable MOU 
pursuant to section 103(b)(1) to discharge the 
duties imposed on the entity in such MOU; and 
(C) in the case of a nonparty country, the 
foreign ministry of such country. 
(9) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means an indi-
vidual who has not attained the age of 16. 
(10) CONVENTION COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Con-
vention country’’ means a country other than the 
United States that has ratified, acceded, or suc-
ceeded to the Hague Abduction Convention and with 
respect to which the United States has entered into 
a reciprocal agreement pursuant to the Hague Ab-
duction Convention. 
(11) HAGUE
ABDUCTION
CONVENTION.—The 
term ‘‘Hague Abduction Convention’’ means the 
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International 
Child Abduction, done at The Hague on October 25, 
1980. 
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(12) LEFT-BEHIND PARENT.—The term ‘‘left- 
behind parent’’ means— 
(A) regarding an abduction, an individual 
or entity, either individually or jointly, who al-
leges that an abduction has occurred that is in 
breach of rights of custody— 
(i) attributed to such individual or en-
tity, as applicable; and 
(ii) exercised at the time of the abduc-
tion or that would have been exercised but 
for the abduction; and 
(B) regarding rights of access, an indi-
vidual with rights of custody who is requesting 
establishment of rights of access or who alleges 
that rights of access are being denied. 
(13) LEGAL RESIDENCE.—The term ‘‘legal resi-
dence’’ means the congressional district and State in 
which an individual either is residing, or if an indi-
vidual is residing temporarily outside the United 
States, the congressional district and State to which 
the individual intends to return. 
(14) MILITARY DEPENDENT CHILD.—The term 
‘‘military dependent child’’ means a child whose ha-
bitual residence is the United States according to 
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United States law even though the child is residing 
outside the United States with a military parent. 
(15) MILITARY PARENT.—The term ‘‘military 
parent’’ means an individual who has rights of cus-
tody over a child and who is serving outside the 
United States as a member of the United States 
Armed Forces. 
(16) MOU.—The term ‘‘MOU’’ means a memo-
randum of understanding between the United States 
and a country that is not a Convention country to 
resolve abduction cases and rights of access cases in 
accordance with section 104. 
(17) MOU COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘MOU coun-
try’’ means a country with respect to which the 
United States has entered into an MOU. 
(18) 
NONPARTY
COUNTRY.—The 
term 
‘‘nonparty country’’ means a country that is neither 
a Convention country nor an MOU country. 
(19) PATTERN OF NONCOOPERATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘pattern of 
noncooperation’’ means the persistent failure— 
(i) of a Convention country to imple-
ment and abide by the provisions of the 
Hague Abduction Convention; 
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