Highlighting a case eerily similar to the five-year fight waged by David Goldman to bring his abducted American son, Sean, home from Brazil, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) today joined Goldman and Texas father Chris Brann pressing for the return of Brann’s son Nico, age 6, who was abducted to Brazil in 2013.

    “The parental child abduction of Nico Brann to Brazil is a particularly egregious act of abduction and wrongful retention,” said Smith who has called and will chair a hearing this Thursday on the State Department’s flawed implementation of the The Goldman Act, (Public Law 113-150, Smith’s new law to help reunited abducted children with the left behind parent.  “Dr. Chris Brann, the left behind father, is a textbook example of a parent having done all in his power to inhibit Nico’s abduction; unlike his ex, he followed the law in both countries and yet he is treated like a criminal and only allowed to see his son for a few hours and under the watch of two or three armed guards. The parallels with the Goldman case are astounding.” Click here to read Smith’s statement.

    “The State Department has censured Brazil nine times since 2003 for being in violation of its Hague Convention obligations. Could it be any more clear that ‘quiet diplomacy’ is not working?  Let’s use the Goldman Act tools,” said Goldman, advising Brann to hang on to hope that he and Nico will one day be reunited. “Never give up hope. Never give up on your God-given right to be with your son.  Never give up fighting. I hope our government does what it needs to do to solve your case.”

    Named for Sean and David Goldman and designed to assist others still separated by abduction, Smith’s law gives added weight to the State Departments “quiet diplomacy requests” for return and access. The actions required by the law escalate in severity, and range from official protests through diplomatic channels, to extradition, to the suspension of development, security, or other foreign assistance. Thursday’s hearing will examine the Department’s efforts under the new legislation and progress, and/or lack thereof, in the global fight to bring home abducted American children. 

    A strong focus will be on Brazil’s and Japan’s utter failure to return U.S. children home despite their signatory status under international law. At the hearing entitled “The Goldman Act to Return Abducted American Children: Ensuring Administration Action,” the State Department is expected to defend how it has dealt with abduction cases in Japan, Brazil, India and other countries.

    The State Department’s first report issued earlier this year on international child abductions was highly criticized as flawed, and was later partly amended. The Department promised to produce better annual reports in the future. With nearly 1,000 American children abducted each year from the U.S. and held in foreign countries, the hearing will focus on the U.S. State Department’s stumbling implementation of the Goldman Act, a law that gives the State Department leverage in the return of abducted American children. Smith has been critical of the State Department implementation, particularly of the report’s failure to name Japan, a country with more than 50 long-term abductions, to a list of sanctionable worst offenders, as required by the Goldman Act.

    Along with David Goldman, others testifying at the Thursday hearing include: Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the U.S. Department of State Michele Bond; and Navy Captain Paul Toland, a left behind Dad whose daughter Erika is being held in Japan and who is the Co-Founder and National Director Bring Abducted Children Home.

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