Below is the "Dear Colleague" letter that was sent from Congressman Smith to all 434 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives. No excuses, they all received it.
Please Support the International Child Abduction Prevention Act of 2009 From: The Honorable Christopher H. SmithSent By: allison.hollabaugh@mail.house.govBill: H.R. 3240Date: 7/29/2009 Co-Sponsors: Mr. Frank Wolf, Mr. Ted Poe, Mr. Jeff Fortenberry, Mr. Bob Inglis, Mr. Alan Mollohan,
Ms. Loretta Sanchez, Mr. James Sensenbrenner, Mr. Jim Moran, Mr. John Duncan
Dear Colleague,
Over the last six months I have heard from left behind parents all over the country. They tell me that our current system of addressing international spousal child abduction is not functioning as it should be and that it is not meeting their needs as left behind parents.
More than 1,900 American parents wait, and wait, and wait, for their abducted child to be returned to them. Over 2,800 American children are being held in foreign countries against the wishes of their American parent. Most of these cases have been dragging on for years—years of loving relationships and happy memories that these parents will never get back even if they do see their child(ren) again someday.
Abducted children often loose their relationship with their mom or their dad, half of their identity and half of their culture. They are at risk of serious emotional and psychological problems and have been found to experience anxiety, eating problems, nightmares, mood swings, sleep disturbances, aggressive behavior, resentment, guilt and fearfulness. As adults, they may struggle with identity issues, their own personal relationships and parenting.
International child abduction violates the human rights of the left behind parent and the human rights of the child to know both parents. Sadly, international child abductions are on the increase—in the last three years, reported international child abductions increased 60 percent.
The time for words and diplomacy alone has passed. On July 16, 2009, I introduced H.R. 3240, The International Child Abduction Prevention Act of 2009 (
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3240ih.txt.pdf).
H.R. 3240 empowers the United States to more aggressively pursue the resolution of abduction cases. Under this new law, when a country has shown a pattern of non-cooperation in resolving child abduction cases, the President will be able to respond decisively with a range of penalties identical to those enacted in 1998 as part of the International Religious Freedom Act (with the addition of a statement on non-reciprocity under the Hague Convention).
H.R. 3240 will also raise the profile of international abduction with the position of Ambassador at Large for International Child Abduction to advise the Secretary of State. The Ambassador will head the office charged with helping left behind parents secure the return of their children.
H.R. 3240 authorizes much needed resources for this office and expands its ability to collect detailed information on abductions—providing needed tools to policy makers and judges.
Our current system is not doing justice for left behind parents or for children whisked away from their mom or dad. Please join me in supporting the International Child Abduction Prevention Act of 2009 and end the nightmare of abduction.
Allison Hollabaugh (
Allison.Hollabaugh@mail.house.gov) in my office is available to answer any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH
Member of Congress
