H. R. 3378
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three
An Act
To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to parental kidnapping, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Parental Kidnap-
ping Crime Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. TITLE 18 AMENDMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 (relating to kidnapping) of title
18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘§ 1204. International parental kidnapping
‘‘(a) Whoever removes a child from the United States or retains
a child (who has been in the United States) outside the United
States with intent to obstruct the lawful exercise of parental rights
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 3
years, or both.
‘‘(b) As used in this section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘child’ means a person who has not attained
the age of 16 years; and
‘‘(2) the term ‘parental rights’, with respect to a child,
means the right to physical custody of the child—
‘‘(A) whether joint or sole (and includes visiting rights);
and
‘‘(B) whether arising by operation of law, court order,
or legally binding agreement of the parties.
‘‘(c) It shall be an affirmative defense under this section that—
‘‘(1) the defendant acted within the provisions of a valid
court order granting the defendant legal custody or visitation
rights and that order was obtained pursuant to the Uniform
Child Custody Jurisdiction Act and was in effect at the time
of the offense;
‘‘(2) the defendant was fleeing an incidence or pattern
of domestic violence;
‘‘(3) the defendant had physical custody of the child pursu-
ant to a court order granting legal custody or visitation rights
and failed to return the child as a result of circumstances
beyond the defendant’s control, and the defendant notified or
made reasonable attempts to notify the other parent or lawful
custodian of the child of such circumstances within 24 hours
H. R. 3378—2
after the visitation period had expired and returned the child
as soon as possible.
‘‘(d) This section does not detract from The Hague Convention
on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction,
done at The Hague on October 25, 1980.’’.
(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Congress
that, inasmuch as use of the procedures under the Hague Conven-
tion on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction
has resulted in the return of many children, those procedures,
in circumstances in which they are applicable, should be the option
of first choice for a parent who seeks the return of a child who
has been removed from the parent.
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at the begin-
ning of chapter 55 of title 18, United States Code, is amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘1204. International parental kidnapping.’’.
SEC. 3. STATE COURT PROGRAMS REGARDING INTERSTATE AND
INTERNATIONAL PARENTAL CHILD ABDUCTION.
There is authorized to be appropriated $250,000 to carry out
under the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10701–
10713) national, regional, and in-State training and educational
programs dealing with criminal and civil aspects of interstate and
international parental child abduction.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.