Carlos,
Do you think it would help if a few of us called David Price to co-sponsor 3240? I don't want to muddy the waters for you but if you think it would help let us know and we'll start targeting him with phone calls.
I'm not really sure what's most appropriate but it may be better just to write rather than call unless you are in, or close to, his district. I've been reading about his position on various issues and found:
"Foreign Policy and Defense"
"A nation's foreign policy is of critical importance because it determines how that nation interacts with the rest of the planet. I believe we must change American foreign policy to restore our role as a force for global peace and stability and as an exemplar of democratic values."
You might want to say:
America must take the lead on International Child Abduction. America lags well behind other nations in properly prioritizing this issue. The fact that America is willing to tacitly, if not complicity, allow our treaty partners to contravene the Hague Convention and abduct American
children damages our credibility in any role as a force for global peace and stability. Completely ignoring the devastation this causes to the affected American families, every country has children that they care about. Advocating for the fundamental rights of a nations own children is something every man, woman and child can respect in both domestic, and foreign policy. Many countries already fight much harder to get their children back than the US does, but no country besides the US has the ability to singlehandedly bring about systemic improvements to global compliance. By creating accountability and consequences for nations that fail to abide by their treaty obligations America not only improves the possibility that it will recover it's own children, but also that other countries will recover their own. The reality is that only America can credibly claim that it will begin holding it's treaty partners accountable and, by no more than making the claim, have a chance of causing foreign countries to take the issue seriously. HR 3240 only gives the president the power to impose sanctions. It does not require that he use it. When American foreign policy is fundamentally right, such as when it's advocating for basic children's rights on the international stage, America fulfills it's promise as a country at the forefront of promoting basic human rights and freedom in the world.
On Immigration Reform he says:
"Immigration Reform"
As chairman of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, I have worked to move policy in a constructive direction in areas such as border security and immigration enforcement. To be truly effective, our immigration policy must simultaneously address border security and employer accountability, create legal avenues for workers to enter the country to meet the legitimate needs of employers, and offer opportunities for adjustment to legal status -- on a case by case basis -- to those undocumented workers and their families who are already firmly established in our communities. If through such policies we can eliminate the flow of illegal workers crossing our borders, the Department of Homeland Security can focus its resources on terrorist threats and criminal threats at the border.
You also might mention:
Our open and insecure by design border policy allows much more than just the rampant flow of drugs, guns, money, illegal immigrants and potential terrorists, it also allows the trivially easy abduction of American children across our southern border The US Border Patrol just smiles and waves while American children are kidnapped over the Mexican border, many never to be seen or heard from again. No documentation is required to take these children out of the country across our southern border, not even a US passport, which means they can't even legally get back into the country. All this in spite of Mexico's unrivaled history of failing to comply with the Hague Convention on child abduction. These children are our citizens. Born in the U.S. of American parents. They deserve our protection and oversight, every bit as much as the adults who are held in foreign countries, such as the reporters President Clinton retrieved from N. Korea.
Yea, David Price's office is involved with my case as well...I'm surprised they won't co-sponsor the bill...but calling his office will keep this issue in the forefront.
I'm surprised you're surprised. You should call him up and tell him to cosponsor and protect Nadia and Sage.
