The Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act helped establish procedures for the prompt return of children to their left-behind parents. However, without proper enforcement, any law will not be able to reach its full potential. This hearing, announced by Chairman Chris Smith (NJ-04) and entitled “Enforcement is Not Optional: The Goldman Act to Return Abducted American Children,” will evaluate the failures of the previous Administration and look into possibilities for more effective implementation in the future.
“The Trump Administration has the opportunity to prioritize the enforcement of the Sean and David Goldman Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act and show foreign countries that the United States means business when we ask for the return of American children suffering from international parental child abduction,” said Smith, author of the law. “Signed into law almost three years ago and largely unenforced by the last Administration, the Goldman Act requires a series of escalating actions against countries that persistently refuse to cooperate in the resolution of abductions. Barely one-third of nearly 1,000 children abducted each year are coming home with the meetings-and-letters approach of the last Administration, even from allies like Japan, India and Slovakia. Brokenhearted parents from across the country are hoping and praying that the new Administration will finally set things right and put American parents and children first.”
Who: Chairman Smith (NJ-04), Senior Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations; other members of the committee
Witness:
Noelle Hunter, Ph.D.
Founder
iStand Parent Network
(Mother of Child Returned from Mali)
Mr. James Cook
(Father of Children Abducted to Japan)
Augusto Frisancho, M.D.
(Father of Children Abducted to Slovakia)
Mr. Vikram Jagtiani
Co-Founder
Bring Our Kids Home
(Father of Child Abducted to India)
What: House hearing on the enforcement of The Goldman Act to Return Abducted American Children
When: Thursday, April 6, 2017
Where: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2172 (first floor)
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