On February 27, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on international parental child abduction. In December 2013, the House approved the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction and Return Act (H.R. 3212) (see The Source, 12/13/13).
The Honorable Susan Jacobs, special advisor for Children’s Issues, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Department of State, testified about the effectiveness and limitations of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Convention) in helping reunite parents with their children: “In 2013, more than 1,000 children were reported abducted from or retained outside the United States. In the department’s experience, the ability of a parent or legal guardian to secure a court-ordered return is much greater in a country that is a Convention partner. For example, in 2013, 113 children returned from Convention partner countries as a result of a court order in a Hague proceeding. From non-Hague countries during the same period, the department is aware of only two children, in the same family, who were ordered returned to the United States as a result of court proceedings under the domestic law of that country.”
The following witnesses also testified:
