I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3941
To amend title 28, United States Code, to give district courts of the United 
States jurisdiction over competing State custody determinations, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 11, 2004
Mr. LAMPSON (for himself, Mr. CHABOT, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. 
DELAURO, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. FROST, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. 
FOLEY, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. BERRY, Mr. THOMP-
SON
of Mississippi, Mr. GREEN
of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. MOORE, Mr. WYNN, 
Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. 
TURNER
of Texas, Mr. BAIRD, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. FARR, Mrs. 
TAUSCHER, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. HONDA, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 
PASCRELL, Mr. GORDON, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MATSUI, 
Mr. PALLONE, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ 
of California, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. WEINER, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. DEFAZIO, 
Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. 
GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. VIS-
CLOSKY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. PRICE of 
North Carolina, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. REYES, Ms. 
ESHOO, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. 
BURTON of Indiana, Mr. KIND, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. OLVER, Mr. ACKER-
MAN, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. JOHN, Mr. BACA, Mr. BRADY 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. HOLT, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, 
Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. KING of New York, Ms. LEE, Mr. MCINTYRE, Ms. 
ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. WEXLER, 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
Mr. DOYLE, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. HOYER, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Mr. EVANS, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr. HEFLEY, Ms. DEGETTE, 
Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. HILL, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. CROWLEY, Mrs. LOWEY, 
Mr. OSE, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Ms. HART, Mr. BELL, and Mr. BE-
REUTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Inter-
national Relations, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL 
To amend title 28, United States Code, to give district 
courts of the United States jurisdiction over competing 
State custody determinations, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bring Our Children 
Home Act’’. 
SEC. 2. JURISDICTION OVER COMPETING STATE CUSTODY 
ORDERS. 
Section 1738A of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(i) If a court of one State makes a child custody 
determination in accordance with subsection (c) and if 
that determination is in conflict with a determination 
made by another State in accordance with subsection (c), 
a contestant for whom such a determination was made 
may bring an action in the district court of the United 
States the district of which includes the resident of such 
contestant to determine, on the basis of the best interests 
of the child involved, which determination shall prevail.’’.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL REGISTRY OF CUSTODY ORDERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall estab-
lish a national child custody and visitation registry in 
which shall be entered—
(1) certified copies of custody and visitation de-
terminations made by courts throughout the United 
States (and foreign custody orders concerning chil-
dren temporarily or permanently resident in the 
United States); 
(2) information identifying pending proceedings 
in courts throughout the United States for initial, 
modification, or enforcement orders; and 
(3) information identifying proceedings filed in 
any court in the United States pursuant to the 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Inter-
national Child Abduction and the International 
Child Abduction Remedies Act, and resulting orders. 
(b) COOPERATION.—The Attorney General shall seek 
the cooperation of State and Federal courts in each State, 
and the District of Columbia, in providing relevant infor-
mation to the registry on an ongoing basis. The Attorney 
General shall provide such financial and technical assist-
ance as necessary. 
(c) ACCESS.—The registry shall be accessible to 
courts, law enforcement officials, custody contestants and 
their legal representatives
SEC. 4. DETENTION OF CHILDREN LISTED AS MISSING. 
Law enforcement officers of any State or local gov-
ernment may hold, for not more than 24 hours or until 
a disposition can be made, any child listed under any cat-
egory of the Missing Person File by the National Crime 
Information Center for the proper disposition of the child 
in accordance with the latest valid custody determination 
applicable to the child. 
SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION REMEDIES. 
(a) LEGAL ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF PARENTAL 
KIDNAPPING.—Section 7 of the International Child Ab-
duction Remedies Act (42 U.S.C. 11606) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(f) LEGAL ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF PARENTAL 
KIDNAPPING GRANTS.—
‘‘(1) FUNDING
TO
LEGAL
SERVICES
PRO-
VIDERS.—The Central Authority shall establish a 
program to provide funding to legal services pro-
viders, including private attorneys, public officials 
acting pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Ju-
risdiction and Enforcement Act, legal aid programs, 
and law school clinical programs, to provide direct 
legal or advocacy services on behalf of persons seek-
ing remedies under the Convention, or other civil or 
criminal remedies in interstate or international pa-
rental kidnapping cases.
‘‘(2) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—
The Central Authority, directly or through grants, 
shall provide training and technical assistance to re-
cipients of funds under paragraph (1) to improve 
their capacity to offer legal assistance described in 
paragraph (1).’’. 
(b) LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION.—The Legal 
Services Corporation may use funds made available to the 
Corporation for programs to represent aliens in pro-
ceedings brought in the United States under the Conven-
tion—
(1) if the individuals to whom the representa-
tion is provided otherwise meet the criteria of the 
Corporation for eligible clients under the Legal Serv-
ices Corporation Act; and 
(2) whether or not such individuals are resident 
in the United States. 
(c) EXEMPTION FROM COURT COSTS.—Section 8(b) 
of the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (42 
U.S.C. 11607(b)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 
paragraphs (3) through (4), respectively; 
(2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 
following: ‘‘(1) No court costs may be assessed on a 
petitioner in connection with a petition seeking the
return of, or rights of access to, a child located in 
the United States, pursuant to this Act. 
‘‘(2) Petitioners may be required to bear the costs 
of legal counsel or advisors, court costs incurred in connec-
tion with their petitions (other than petitions described in 
paragraph (1)) and travel costs for the return of the child 
involved and any accompanying persons, except as pro-
vided in paragraphs (3) and (4).’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated—
(A) by striking ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘paragraph (4)’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘(other than in connection 
with a petition described in paragraph (1))’’ 
after ‘‘or court costs’’. 
(d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF UNITED STATES CENTRAL 
AUTHORITY.—Section 7 of the International Child Abduc-
tion Remedies Act (42 U.S.C. 11606) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new subsections: 
‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The United States 
Central Authority shall encourage the Chief Justice of 
every State and the District of Columbia to designate a 
single court, or a limited number of courts, in which cases 
brought under the Convention may be heard. The Central 
Authority may provide technical assistance (including 
computers and Internet access) as necessary to foster con-
solidation of jurisdiction and implementation of the Con-
vention, consistent with the purposes of the Convention. 
‘‘(g) TRAINING.—The United States Central Author-
ity shall provide or promote training of State court judges, 
lawyers, and law students on the civil and criminal laws 
pertaining to interstate and international parental kidnap-
ping. To carry out this subsection, the United States Cen-
tral Authority may make available funds under subsection 
(e) to State judicial educators, national, State, and local 
bar associations, and law schools. The United States Cen-
tral Authority shall require recipients of such funds to re-
port on the training programs they present, including the 
number of participants.’’. 
(e) FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER.—Section 620 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(c) CONTINUING EDUCATION AND TRAINING PRO-
GRAMS.—The Center shall include in its continuing edu-
cation and training programs, including the training pro-
grams for newly appointed judges, information on the 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International 
Child Abduction, the International Child Abduction Rem-
edies Act, the International Parental Kidnapping Crime 
Act, and other Federal statutes pertaining to parental kid-
napping within the jurisdiction of the Federal courts, and
shall prepare materials necessary to carry out this sub-
section.’’. 
SEC. 6. REPORTS RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL CHILD AB-
DUCTION. 
(a) REPORT ON PROGRESS IN NEGOTIATING BILAT-
ERAL TREATIES WITH NON-HAGUE CONVENTION COUN-
TRIES.—The Secretary of State shall prepare and submit 
to the Congress an annual report on progress made by 
the United States in negotiating and entering into bilat-
eral treaties (or other international agreements) relating 
to international child abduction with countries that are not 
contracting parties to the Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
(b) REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES.—(1) 
Section 116(d) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2151n(d)) is amended—
(A) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end and inserting a semicolon; 
(B) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(9) the status of efforts in each country to 
prohibit international child abduction, including—
‘‘(A) efforts to expedite the return of chil-
dren to the country of their habitual residence; 
and 
‘‘(B) the extent to which the country re-
spects the rights of custody and of access under 
the laws of other countries.’’. 
(2) Section 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(b)) is amended by inserting after 
the sixth sentence the following: ‘‘Each report under this 
section shall include information on the status of efforts 
in each country to prohibit international child abduction, 
including efforts to expedite the return of children to the 
country of their habitual residence and the extent to which 
the country respects the rights of custody and of access 
under the laws of other countries.’’. 
(c) REPORT ON ENFORCEMENT OF SECTION 1204 OF 
TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE.—The Attorney Gen-
eral, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall pre-
pare and submit to the Congress an annual report that 
contains a description of the status of each case involving 
a request during the preceding year for extradition to the 
United States of an individual alleged to have violated sec-
tion 1204 of title 18, United States Code.
SEC. 7. SUPPORT FOR UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURIS-
DICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT. 
From amounts made available to carry out this sec-
tion, the Attorney General shall support, directly or 
through grants and contracts, the adoption and implemen-
tation by the States of the Uniform Child Custody Juris-
diction and Enforcement Act, as adopted by the National 
Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (in 
this section referred to as the ‘‘UCCJEA’’). The support 
provided under this section shall include the following ac-
tivities: 
(1) Activities to promote the adoption of the 
UCCJEA by States that have not yet adopted it. 
(2) Activities to provide training to lawyers and 
to judges and other appropriate public officials to 
ensure that the UCCJEA is implemented effectively 
and uniformly throughout the United States. 
(3) Activities to provide guidance and funding 
to States to facilitate and expedite the enforcement 
by those States of the custody and visitation provi-
sions of the UCCJEA. 
SEC. 8. FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER EDUCATION PRO-
GRAMS ON PARENTAL KIDNAPPING. 
The Federal Judicial Center, in fulfilling its function 
to stimulate, create, develop, and conduct programs of 
continuing education and training for personnel of the ju-
dicial branch of the Government and other persons (as 
specified in section 620(b)(3) of title 28, United States 
Code), shall ensure that those programs include education, 
training, and materials on the Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the Inter-
national Child Abduction Remedies Act, the International 
Parental Kidnapping Crime Act, and such other inter-
national and Federal laws relating to parental kidnapping 
as are within the jurisdiction of the Federal courts. 
SEC. 9. USE OF SUPERVISED VISITATION CENTERS UNDER 
THE SAFE HAVENS FOR CHILDREN PILOT 
PROGRAM IN SITUATIONS INVOLVING THE 
RISK OF PARENTAL KIDNAPPING. 
Section 1301(a) of the Violence Against Women Act 
of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 10420(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘or 
stalking’’ and inserting ‘‘stalking, or the risk of parental 
kidnapping’’. 
SEC. 10. DISCLOSURE OF TAXPAYER IDENTITY INFORMA-
TION TO NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING 
AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (m) of section 6103 of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to disclosure 
of taxpayer identity information) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(8) REQUESTS FROM THE NATIONAL CENTER 
FOR
MISSING
AND
EXPLOITED
CHILDREN.—Upon 
written request by the National Center for Missing 
and Exploited Children, the Secretary may disclose 
the mailing address and any business address of any 
taxpayer or dependent thereof pursuant to section 
404 of the Missing Children’s Assistance Act, for 
use only by the National Center for Missing and Ex-
ploited Children in locating and recovering missing 
and exploited children.’’. 
(b) SAFEGUARDS.—Paragraph (4) of section 6103(p) 
of such Code (relating to safeguards) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘(16) or’’ and inserting ‘‘(16), 
or’’, 
(2) by inserting ‘‘or in subsection (m)(8)’’ after 
‘‘(20)’’ each place it occurs, and 
(3) by ‘‘or (7) of subsection (m)’’ and inserting 
‘‘(7), or (8) of subsection (m)’’. 
(c) CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR UNAUTHORIZED DIS-
CLOSURE OF INFORMATION.—Paragraph (2) of section 
7213(a) of such Code (relating to State and other employ-
ees) is amended by striking ‘‘or (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘(7), 
or (8)’’.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to requests made after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
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