The U.S. State Department’s deeply disappointing implementation of the new Goldman Act aimed at bringing home American children abducted and held overseas was the topic of a House hearing held by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), author of the law to put pressure on foreign countries to return American children.

“I am concerned that the State Department has chosen not to impose any sanctions on any of those nations found to have engaged in a ‘pattern of noncompliance,’” Smith said. “The Goldman Act not only shines a light on a country’s record through the annual designation of countries showing a ‘pattern of non-compliance,’ it holds countries accountable and incentivizes systemic reform.  Actions escalate in severity, and range from official protests through diplomatic channels, to public condemnation, to extradition, to the suspension of development, security, or other foreign assistance.” Click here to read Smith’s statement.

Smith, who wrote “Sean and David Goldman Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act” (P.L. 113-150), chaired the hearing, which heard testimony from the law’s namesake David Goldman, as well as State Department Assistant Secretary Michele Bond, and left behind parent Navy Captain Paul Toland. Mr. Goldman also introduced the human rights panel to his son Sean, who attended the hearing with his step-brother. It took five years to reunite David and Sean who was abducted to Brazil. Smith traveled with David Goldman repeatedly to Brazil in 2009 to bring Sean Goldman, then 9, back to the U.S. He held numerous congressional hearings on Goldman’s and other Americans’ cases.

Between 2008 and 2014, nearly 9,000 children were reported as abducted to the State Department. Between 750-1,000 American children are abducted each year from the U.S. and held in foreign countries. Only 18 percent of open cases and 34 percent of resolved cases resulted in the return of the abducted child last year, yet the State Department still refuses to take serious action on behalf of American families. 

The Goldman Act was enacted in 2014, and provides new tools for the State Department to better assist parents and children separated by international abduction.  It also mandates an annual report to list countries demonstrating a “pattern of non-compliance” and a follow up report for actions the State Department took with non-cooperative countries to achieve results. 

“The Goldman Act was designed to raise the stakes on the foreign country’s inaction or obstruction, and move the country to end to the nightmare of abduction,” said Smith.

While the State Department has an array of options, it chose in 2014 to continue only with talk, and not to take any of the following steps prescribed by the Goldman Act, such as: 

• delay or cancel one or more bilateral working, official, or state visits with any country;
• withdraw, limit, or suspend U.S. development assistance with any country;
• withdraw, limit, or suspend U.S. security assistance with any country;
• withdraw, limit, or suspend foreign assistance to the central government of a country relating to economic support; or
• make a formal request to extradite an individual who is engaged in abduction and who has been formally accused of, charged with, or convicted of an extraditable offense.

Contrary to Sec. 103 of the Goldman Act, the State Department has also not pursued bilateral agreements for resolution of current cases in the top 10 countries with a high number of open current cases—such as Japan and India. 

“It is as though the State Department is refusing to learn from the past and is doggedly committed to a strategy that is demonstrably ineffective,” said Smith, referring to the pursuit of Hague Convention ratification without an agreement for the pre-Hague cases. “The actions report recounts in great detail the State Department’s myopic focus on persuading India to ratify the Hague Convention—a step that will not only exclude all the 75 current cases, but will marginalize them—as we have seen in Japan already.”

David Goldman, giving emotional testimony, told the House panel that, “The Goldman Act is designed to work on a country to country basis and may impose punitive measures against individual nations harboring abducted American children. Our government need not be so concerned about upsetting a country that harbors child abductors of American citizen children. We must demand their return. We’re not asking for any favors. We’re expecting the rule of law to be followed and if it isn’t then let them see there are tangible consequences.” Click here to read Goldman’s testimony.

Assistant Secretary of State Michele Bond was peppered with question from Members of both parties pressing for action for left behind parents. Although Bond claimed the State Department is “committed to fully and successfully implementing the law,” and said “the tools it contains reflect the constant balance diplomats seek” she would not commit to using any of the Goldman Act’s tougher penalties, including sanctions, even in countries where ‘quiet diplomacy’ has not resulted in an increase in returns of U.S. children. Click here to read Asst. Secretary Bond’s statement.

Captain Toland, a left behind dad whose daughter Erika has been held in Japan for eight years and who is the Co-Founder and National Director Bring Abducted Children Home, also testified about his case.

“Yes, Akiko Futagi is a grandparent to Erika Toland. But this also means that she is NOT a parent.  Under the law in normal modern countries, she would have no right to keep my child away from me,” said Toland, Erika’s only living parent, who has not received so much as a photograph of his daughter or been permitted a phone call since her mother died in 2007 after abducting the child in 2004. “Signing the Hague was simply a smokescreen devised by Japan to relieve international pressure. The courts still have no mechanism of enforcement, the courts still drag cases out over many months to ‘run out the clock,’ and the judges simply work to find a way to maintain the status quo.  In my clear-cut and unambiguous case, I have endured three court dates over the course of eight months, with another court date set for December, and no end in sight.”  Click here to read Captain Toland’s testimony

Japan joined the Hague Convention at U.S. urging in April of 2014 without a separate bilateral agreement to cover the 67 long-pending abduction cases of American children. The Convention should provide a right of access to the children in these cases, but has not yet resulted in meaningful access. No American children have been returned by court order from Japan.  Despite these shortfalls in 2014, the State Department failed to name Japan as a country showing a “pattern of non-compliance” or take follow-up action in any of its Goldman Act reports to Congress. 

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.  Smith has been critical of the State Department implementation, particularly of the report’s failure to name Japan, to a list of sanctionable worst offenders, as required by the Goldman Act.

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