In the Press...
NJ.com article on Smith hearing with NJ parent, State Dept.'N.J. Rep. Chris Smith demands U.S. enforce law to prevent child abductions'The U.S. is not enforcing the provisions of legislation designed to force countries to return abducted children, according to the statute's author. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.), said the U.S. is not imposing the sanctions required under the Sean and David Goldman Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act, named after a Tinton Falls son and father. The law requires the government to take a series of actions, including official protests, public condemnation, and the suspension of foreign aid, to countries that sign the Hague Abduction Convention and do not within 12 months return American children abducted by their non-custodial parent. RELATED: Plainsboro woman still waiting for return of children abducted by her ex-husband (VIDEO) At a hearing of Smith's House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, global health, global human rights and international organizations, the lawmaker said that countries have violated the law with impunity. "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. David Goldman, who testified at the hearing, also called on the U.S. to act against foreign countries when necessary. Goldman, who spent five years trying to get his son, Sean, back after his then-wife took him to her native Brazil in 2005 when their child was 4. She divorced him overseas and then remarried. She died during childbirth and Goldman finally won custody in 2009 after a dozen trips to Brazil, sometimes with court orders in hand. "Our government need not be so concerned about upsetting a country that harbors child abductors of American citizens' children," Goldman said. "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." Michele Thoren Bond, the State Department's assistant secretary for consular affairs, said the law was "a priority for the U.S. government" and is regularly discussed in meetings with foreign officials. "We are committed to fully and successfully implementing the law," Thoren Bond said. "The tools it contains reflect the constant balance diplomats seek in advancing the many interests of the United States around the world." The good news, Smith said, was that international child abductions are down as the Goldman Act allows judges to put at-risk children on a no-fly list. An estimated 750 to 1,000 American children illegally are taken to foreign countries every year, but Smith that that number is on the downswing. |