IV
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 69
Expressing the sense of the Congress on the Hague Convention on the
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and urging all Contracting
States to the Convention to recommend the production of practice guides.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 20, 2001
Mr. LAMPSON (for himself, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. HORN, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mrs.
MINK of Hawaii, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey,
Mr. KIRK, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. FOLEY, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr.
SHIMKUS, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. BORSKI, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. SANDLIN,
Mr. PASCRELL, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida,
Mr. FRANK, Mr. KIND, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. HIN-
CHEY, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. REYES, Mr. BACA, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr.
RODRIGUEZ, Mr. ORTIZ, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. GREEN
of Texas, and Mr. BENTSEN) submitted the following concurrent resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress on the Hague Conven-
tion on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduc-
tion and urging all Contracting States to the Convention
to recommend the production of practice guides.
Whereas 20 years ago, the Hague Convention on the Civil
Aspects of International Child Abduction was a bold step
forward to provide a uniform process for resolving inter-
national child abduction cases;
•HCON 69 IH
Whereas over the past 2 decades, the Convention has had in-
creasingly important and positive effects and has grown
in terms of the number of Contracting States and the
level of interest of other nations;
Whereas there has been an increase of multinational mar-
riages and a corresponding increase of international ab-
ductions of children by parents;
Whereas as travel becomes faster and easier, and as multi-
national marriages become more common, the Convention
is more significant than ever;
Whereas on 2 occasions, the International Centre for Missing
and Exploited Children and the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children have convened profes-
sionals and experts in international child abduction to ex-
amine their experiences with the Convention;
Whereas on both occasions, the participants affirmed their
overwhelming commitment to the Convention, but were
also unified in the conclusion that there are serious short-
comings in its implementation;
Whereas the shortcomings include—
(1) a lack of awareness by policy makers and the
general public of the Convention and of the problem of
international child abduction, making the successful reso-
lution of cases more difficult;
(2) the fact that, in too many instances, the process
for resolving an international child abduction is too slow;
(3) a lack of uniformity in the interpretation of the
Convention from nation to nation;
(4) the fact that key exceptions provided in the Con-
vention to ensure reason and common sense have in some
cases ceased to be viewed as exceptions, have instead be-
•HCON 69 IH
come the rule, and are frequently used as justifications
for not returning abducted children;
(5) the increasing difficulty of enforcing access
rights for parents under Article 21 of the Convention;
(6) the need of parents for significant personal fi-
nancial resources to obtain legal representation and pro-
ceed under the Convention and, in many places, the lack
of assistance for parents who do not have such resources;
(7) a serious lack of training, knowledge, and experi-
ence for judges in international child abduction cases, be-
cause there are too many courts hearing these cases and
in most instances few such cases for each court; and
(8) in many instances, the lack of enforcement of
court orders for the return of children; and
Whereas the International Centre for Missing and Exploited
Children has promised to support an effort to produce
practice guides to provide a framework for applying the
Convention: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That—
(1) it is the sense of the Congress that—
(A) the original intent of the Hague Con-
vention on the Civil Aspects of International
Child Abduction—to provide a uniform process
for resolving international child abduction
cases—is more important than ever;
(B) practice guides should be developed for
the Convention that build on recognized best