In the Senate of the United States, 
July 16, 2014. 
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representa-
tives (H.R. 3212) entitled ‘‘An Act to ensure compliance with 
the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Inter-
national 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.’’, do pass with the following 
AMENDMENT: 
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 
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 2014’’. 
(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.
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TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF STATE ACTIONS 
Sec. 101. Annual report. 
Sec. 102. Standards and assistance. 
Sec. 103. Bilateral procedures, including memoranda of understanding. 
Sec. 104. Report to congressional representatives. 
TITLE II—ACTIONS BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE 
Sec. 201. Response to international child abductions. 
Sec. 202. Actions by the Secretary of State in response to patterns of non-
compliance in cases of international child abductions. 
Sec. 203. Consultations with foreign governments. 
Sec. 204. Waiver by the Secretary of State. 
Sec. 205. Termination of actions by the Secretary of State. 
TITLE III—PREVENTION OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION 
Sec. 301. Preventing children from leaving the United States in violation of a 
court order. 
Sec. 302. Authorization for judicial training on international parental child ab-
duction. 
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 father, David 
Goldman, who spent nearly 6 years battling for the 
return of his son from Brazil before 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 International 
Child Abduction (referred to in this Act as the 
‘‘Hague Abduction Convention’’), has received thou-
sands of requests since 2007 for assistance in the re-
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turn to the United States of children who have been 
wrongfully abducted by a parent or other legal guard-
ian to another country. 
(3) For a variety of reasons reflecting the signifi-
cant obstacles to the recovery of abducted children, as 
well as the legal and factual complexity involving 
such cases, not all cases are reported to the Central 
Authority of the United States. 
(4) More than 1,000 outgoing international child 
abductions are reported every year to the Central Au-
thority of the United States, which depends solely on 
proactive reporting of abduction cases. 
(5) Only about one-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. 
(6) The United States and other Convention 
countries have expressed their desire, through the 
Hague Abduction Convention, ‘‘to protect children 
internationally from the harmful effects of their 
wrongful removal or retention and to establish proce-
dures to ensure their prompt return to the State of 
their habitual residence, as well as to secure protec-
tion for rights of access.’’
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(7) Compliance by the United States and other 
Convention countries depends on the actions of their 
designated central authorities, the performance of 
their judicial systems 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 authorities to en-
sure the swift enforcement of orders rendered pursu-
ant to the Hague Abduction Convention. 
(8) According to data from the Department of 
State, approximately 40 percent of abduction cases 
involve children taken from the United States to 
countries with which the United States does not have 
reciprocal obligations under the Hague Abduction 
Convention or other arrangements relating to the res-
olution of abduction cases. 
(9) According to the Department of State’s April 
2010 Report on Compliance with the Hague Conven-
tion on the Civil Aspects of International Child Ab-
duction, ‘‘parental child abduction jeopardizes the 
child and has substantial long-term consequences for 
both the child and the left-behind parent.’’ 
(10) Few left-behind parents have the extraor-
dinary financial resources necessary—
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(A) to pursue individual civil or criminal 
remedies in both the United States and a foreign 
country, even if such remedies are available; or 
(B) to engage in repeated foreign travel to 
attempt to obtain the return of their children 
through diplomatic or other channels. 
(11) Military parents often face additional com-
plications in resolving abduction cases because of the 
challenges presented by their military obligations. 
(12) In addition to using the Hague Abduction 
Convention to achieve the return of abducted children, 
the United States has an array of Federal, State, and 
local law enforcement, criminal justice, and judicial 
tools at its disposal to prevent international abduc-
tions. 
(13) Federal agencies tasked with preventing 
international abductions have indicated that the most 
effective way to stop international child abductions is 
while they are in progress, rather than after the child 
has been removed to a foreign destination. 
(14) Parental awareness of abductions in 
progress, rapid response by relevant law enforcement, 
and effective coordination among Federal, State, 
local, and international stakeholders are critical in 
preventing such abductions.
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(15) A more robust application of domestic tools, 
in cooperation with international law enforcement en-
tities and appropriate application of the Hague Ab-
duction Convention could— 
(A) discourage some parents from attempt-
ing abductions; 
(B) block attempted abductions at ports of 
exit; and 
(C) help achieve the return of more ab-
ducted children. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 
that the United States should set a strong example for other 
Convention countries in the timely location and prompt 
resolution of cases involving children abducted abroad and 
brought to the United States. 
(c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to protect children whose habitual residence 
is the United States from wrongful abduction; 
(2) to assist left-behind parents in quickly resolv-
ing cases and maintaining safe and predictable con-
tact with their child while an abduction case is pend-
ing; 
(3) to protect the custodial rights of parents, in-
cluding military parents, by providing the parents, 
the judicial system, and law enforcement authorities
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with the information they need to prevent unlawful 
abduction before it occurs; 
(4) to enhance the prompt resolution of abduc-
tion and access cases; 
(5) to detail an appropriate set of actions to be 
undertaken by the Secretary of State to address per-
sistent problems in the resolution of abduction cases; 
(6) to establish a program to prevent wrongful 
abductions; and 
(7) to increase interagency coordination in pre-
venting international child abduction by convening a 
working group composed of presidentially appointed 
and Senate confirmed officials from the Department 
of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and 
the Department of Justice. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ABDUCTED
CHILD.—The term ‘‘abducted 
child’’ means a child who is the victim of inter-
national child abduction. 
(2) ABDUCTION.—The term ‘‘abduction’’ means 
the alleged wrongful removal of a child from the 
child’s country of habitual residence, or the wrongful 
retention of a child outside such country, in violation