PROJECT: HR 1940 International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act of 2011

[LukieD]

As many of you may already know, Congressman Chris Smith re-introduced his bill on international child abduction on the eve of the May 24th hearing. The bill has a new number and name, although it is very similar to the 2009 bill which had been introduced in the previous Congress (HR 3240).

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1940

Of the original 48 co-sponsors, 11 are no longer in Congress so we have 37 carry-overs (listed below) who were co-sponsors of the last bill. Certainly we should focus on asking them to co-sponsor the new bill in addition to reaching out to other members of Congress.

We'll be checking in with Chris Smith's office this week to find out what, if anything, is different about the new bill. Stay tuned.

Eleanor Norton [D-DC]
Marsha Blackburn [R-TN7]
Dan Burton [R-IN5]
Ken Calvert [R-CA44]
Steve Cohen [D-TN9]
John Duncan [R-TN2]
Jo Ann Emerson [R-MO8]
Jeffrey Fortenberry [R-NE1]
Trent Franks [R-AZ2]
Scott Garrett [R-NJ5]
Kay Granger [R-TX12]
Luis Gutiérrez [D-IL4]
Maurice Hinchey [D-NY22]
Timothy Johnson [R-IL15]
Leonard Lance [R-NJ7]
Thomas Latham [R-IA4]
Frank LoBiondo [R-NJ2]
Daniel Lungren [R-CA3]
Thaddeus McCotter [R-MI11]
Cathy McMorris Rodgers [R-WA5]
Gary Miller [R-CA42]
Jeff Miller [R-FL1]
James Moran [D-VA8]
Pete Olson [R-TX22]
Ted Poe [R-TX2]
Steven Rothman [D-NJ9]
Loretta Sanchez [D-CA47]
Aaron Schock [R-IL18]
James Sensenbrenner [R-WI5]
John Shimkus [R-IL19]
William Shuster [R-PA9]
Glenn Thompson [R-PA5]
John Tierney [D-MA6]
Michael Turner [R-OH3]
Maxine Waters [D-CA35]
Rob Wittman [R-VA1]
Frank Wolf [R-VA10] - Co-sponsor May 23, 2011
Allen West [R-FL22] - Co-sponsor

[phillyone]

For starters, I'll concentrate on the  NJ congressmen on Lukied's list... as well as my new congressman Jon Runyan... I know he can catch the football very well, but hopefully he can co-sponsor HR 1940 too!! (For those who don't know, Jon Runyan is the ex-Eagles offensive tackle..) RIP John Adler my previous congressman...

[ANALE]

I sent out e-mails yesterday to my congressman/woman here in NY.

[lovellboys]

I sent out e-mails yesterday to my congressman/woman here in NY.

I'll start sending a letter a week to my rep to get him on board.  He never signed on for 3240, and I am hoping he does not think I disappeared  :biggrin

[pam.in.ny]

Count me in. I've been itching to get started.   :biggrin

[liesl78]

I used the popvox link that was shared on facebook and got an auto-reply from my Congressman saying he's looking into it. It's a start. I'll follow-up with his office next week.

[rduffiel]

I  also used the popvox link and received this email from my congressman.

Thank you for e-mailing me your message. In order to carry out my responsibilities in Congress, it is imperative that I know the opinions and concerns of my constituents.

I appreciate hearing from you and I will be certain to take your comments into consideration.

[pam.in.ny]

Just a small reminder to those of us working on our Reps to become co-sponsors. Many have Facebook walls that we can post on and one nice thing about Facebook walls, is zip codes aren't required. I know some Reps do bother with FB but some do. I was able to get 3 co-sponsors for H.R. 3240 simply by posting on their FB wall.

If you post on any walls, please list it and some of us can follow suit and post on those walls as well. The more the merrier, right? :biggrin
Maybe we can start a sub thread of members Facebook and Twitter links.

What do you think?

[LukieD]

Just a small reminder to those of us working on our Reps to become co-sponsors. Many have Facebook walls that we can post on and one nice thing about Facebook walls, is zip codes aren't required. I know some Reps do bother with FB but some do. I was able to get 3 co-sponsors for H.R. 3240 simply by posting on their FB wall.

If you post on any walls, please list it and some of us can follow suit and post on those walls as well. The more the merrier, right? :biggrin
Maybe we can start a sub thread of members Facebook and Twitter links.

What do you think?

Great idea. Run with it!

[lovellboys]

I did try that once, but that rep also has the ability to remove your post.  You also have to 'like' their page.   Chris Smith leaves all his postings on his pages......not all reps do.

[pam.in.ny]

What I did last year when I had "Liked" the Rep's FB page and saw that I was getting all of their wall posts, was click on the "Hide all Posts". Then when I wanted to see what was on their wall, I just went to their page. Even if they do remove a post, the message still gets their attention as well as some of the readers who follow that Rep. We shouldn't flood their pages with a zillion posts but I'm sure some posting doesn't hurt.

LukieD, I'll start a new thread just for Facebook and Twitter links only. Can the thread be set up so that members can add links by hitting the edit button, rather than hitting reply, thus eliminating all the responses and multiple pages?

[M.Capestro]

Pam, we can't make that change - but we (the moderators) will go in and add accounts to the top post as they are new posts as added. The new posts are a good thing, as they notify the regulars that a new account has been added to the list.

[pam.in.ny]

OK and thanks Missy. Now if I can only remember the BB code for Hyperlinks. It's been a long time.

[Audax]

For what it's worth, I messaged Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ) asking him to support this bill. Not expecting him to support it though, since he told me in a meeting last year, that he does not believe that sanctions are the appropriate tools to help us repatriate abducted children. He said he does not want to jeopardize any relationships with other countries. 

[phillyone]

I got the following reply from my FB from Congressman LoBiondo from NJ:

Thanks Kinni for bringing this to my attention. I reached out to Congressman Smith and will be cosponsoring his bill again this Congress. Thanks again, Frank

 :yeahthat