Press Release
Smith, author of Goldman Act, says:Obama Parental Abduction Report a Whitewash on Japan’s RecordEven though the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children documents more than 50 cases of American children abducted to Japan—36 of which have been dragging on for more than five years—a new Obama administration report erroneously shows there are zero unresolved abduction cases. “The Obama report is inaccurate, a whitewash and a disgrace,” says Rep. Chris Smith, the author of the new parental child abduction law, the “Sean and David Goldman Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act.” Smith’s law, named after a father and son reunited after a five-year abduction, was enacted in 2015, and provides new tools for the State Department to better assist parents and children separated by international abduction. It also mandates an annual report. “The blatant omission of Japan as displaying a pattern of non-compliance is disappointing, discouraging, and disgraceful,” Smith added. Smith’s comments came today at a Capitol Hill hearing he convened to review the report, the first to be released by the State Department to comply with the Goldman Act. Testifying along with the State Department witnesses who oversee the report were several brokenhearted “left-behind” parents from across the U.S. who are victims of international child abduction. “This report whitewashes Japan’s egregious record on parental child abduction. Adding insult to injury, the report table that was to show the unresolved abduction cases in Japan failed to include a single one of the more than 50 abduction cases, 36 of which have been dragging on for more than 5 years, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,” Smith said. Click here to read Smith’s opening statement at the congressional hearing he chaired entitled “The Goldman Act to Return Abducted American Children: Assessing the Compliance Report and Required Action.” “The Goldman Act is clear,” Smith said, noting that all official requests for return that remain unresolved 12 months later, are to be counted against Japan. “Nearly 100% of the abduction cases to Japan remain open; the report’s conclusion of 43% resolution is indefensible,” Smith said. “Moreover, not a single left behind parent pursuing access was allowed in-person contact with their child over the last year,” Smith said. “The Goldman Act has given the State Department new and powerful tools to bring Japan, and other countries, to the resolution table. The goal is not to disrupt relations but to heal the painful rifts caused by international child abduction. “The question still remains, will the State Department use the Goldman Act as required by law?” Smith said. Click here to watch CSPAN coverage of the entire hearing. Click here or on video below to watch Ranking Member Eliot Engel's remarks about international child abductions at the hearing. Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the ranking Democrat member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, attended the hearing and spoke in support of the hearing and of needed reform. “These left behind parents have little leverage to have their children return home,” Engel said. “They are often at the mercy of foreign courts, different cultural perceptions of custody.” A clip of Engel’s statement can be found in the video above.. Karen Christensen, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Overseas Citizen Services, testified that the State Department devoted significant efforts to analyze the Goldman Act and adapt policies and procedures to implement it, including publishing the first annual report. “We fully recognize this first report will not meet all expectations,” she said. “We welcome feedback from you, other Members of Congress, parents who are seeking the return of their children, and the public on how we can improve future iterations of the report. As the law requires, 90 days following the annual report, the Department will submit to Congress a report on actions taken in response to patterns of non-compliance by countries in their handling of International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) cases.” Click here to read Christensen’s testimony. Henry Hand, Director of the Office of Children's Issues, said his office analyzed The provisions of the Goldman Act with a focus on ensuring this first report contained all the information required by the law. “The 2014 report represents a first effort that we understand does not meet all expectations and we value discussions like this to make it more effective,” Hand said. “We compiled it under a compressed timeline with data gathered in the months after the new law came into effect. We worked diligently to make sure that, as we implemented the law, we maintained the Office’s ongoing work in support of families affected by international child abduction.” Click here to read Hand’s testimony. Ravi Parmar, of Manalapan, New Jersey, the father of a child abducted to India, expressed his frustration with the State Department. “We are not demanding any special favors from our Government. But when parents are being left behind twice, once by the abductors and then by our own Government, to fight a State machinery in another country, without direct and sustained U.S. Government intervention, it is no coincidence that for every Sean Goldman, there are hundreds of Reyansh Parmars,” Parmar testified. Click here to read Parmar’s testimony. Edeanna Barbirou, of Maryland and mother of two children abducted to Tunisia, testified about the International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act (ICAPRA). “I am inspired by your continued concern for, and pursuit of justice in, the cases of our illegally abducted children,” Barbirou said. “Without your constant vigilance over ICAPRA and its implementation by the Department of State (State), I, and the thousands of others who have been victimized by IPCA, would be all alone. Many of us have spent years begging to be heard, to be properly represented for the sake of our children, by our government. Thank you for answering our plea.” Click here to read her testimony. Chris Savoie, of Tennessee is the father of two children abducted to Japan who drew international attention when he was arrested in Japan for attempting to reclaim his children in 2009. “To my knowledge, of all the access cases pending in Japan, not one case seeking visitation with abducted children has been "resolved" with normal, face-to-face parent-child visitation,” Savoie said. “Not one! Not one abduction case has resulted in a court-issued and enforced order of return to the United States that has resulted in the repatriation of a kidnapped American child.” Click here to read his testimony. Preston A. Findlay, Counsel for the Missing Children Division at The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), testified that his organization has been designated by Congress to track and report on the number of missing children cases, including family abductions. “Enacting the Goldman Act was a significant achievement, but more work remains to ensure its purpose is fulfilled, Findlay said. Click here to read Findlay’s statement. “Today, while assisting with an international family abduction case, NCMEC does its best to ensure that parents are aware at every stage of all possible options to safely and lawfully recover their child.” ###
|