Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that countries that are party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction should work to resolve international parental child abduction cases, and for other purposes.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Calls for countries that are party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction to work to resolve international parental child abduction cases, including by applying the convention retroactively with respect to cases initiated prior to the date on which the countries involved became a party to the convention.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 729 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 729

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that countries 
    that are party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of 
  International Child Abduction should work to resolve international 
        parental child abduction cases, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 7, 2018

   Mr. Valadao (for himself and Ms. Sinema) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that countries 
    that are party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of 
  International Child Abduction should work to resolve international 
        parental child abduction cases, and for other purposes.

Whereas international parental child abduction is the removal or retention of a 
        child outside the child's country of habitual residence by a parent or 
        guardian in violation of another parent or guardian's custodial rights;
Whereas in an increasingly integrated and mobile world international child 
        custody disputes are likely to increase in frequency;
Whereas since 1988, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International 
        Child Abduction has been the principal mechanism for enforcing the 
        return of abducted children to the United States;
Whereas the Hague Convention is an international treaty that provides a civil 
        mechanism to promptly return children who have been taken outside of 
        their country of habitual residence in violation of custodial rights;
Whereas in 2018, there were 98 countries that were parties to the Hague 
        Convention;
Whereas in 2017, 13 of such 98 countries demonstrated a pattern of non-
        compliance with the Hague Convention;
Whereas some countries that are party to the Hague Convention do not apply the 
        Convention retroactively with respect to cases initiated prior to the 
        date on which the countries involved in such cases became a party to the 
        Convention, and therefore there remain a large number of unresolved 
        child abduction cases;
Whereas the United States has at least one outstanding international parental 
        child abduction case pending with more than 100 countries, including 
        countries that are parties to the Hague Convention and countries that 
        are not parties to the Convention;
Whereas in California alone there are almost 200 outstanding cases of 
        international parental child abduction from the United States; and
Whereas international parental child abduction disproportionately impacts 
        members of the United States Armed Forces: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
countries that are party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects 
of International Child Abduction should work to resolve international 
parental child abduction cases, including by applying the Convention 
retroactively with respect to cases initiated prior to the date on 
which the countries involved in such cases became a party to the 
Convention.
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