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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 2010
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Contact: Zach Goldberg
202-225-5801 (office) |
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HOLT CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL ACTION ON INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION
Urges House Foreign Affairs Committee to Hold Hearing, Consider Legislation
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(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Rep. Rush Holt is urging the Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to take up legislation that would help families that are victims of international child abduction. Holt has continued his work on the issue since his constituents, David and Sean Goldman of Tinton Falls, were reunited in December.
“As the Goldman case reminded us all, even nations that are signatories to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction do not always live up to their obligations under the treaty. Indeed, for parents whose children are taken to non-Hague signatory states, the situation is even worse. Our government must do more, on a daily basis, to resolve these individual cases,” Holt wrote in a letter to Howard Berman, Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
A copy of his letter is below:
The Honorable Howard Berman
Chairman
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
2170 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Berman,
As you know, the international parental child abduction case involving David and Sean Goldman came to a successful conclusion on Christmas Eve of 2009. I am delighted that my constituents have been reunited as father and son. However, thousands of American families continue to suffer daily emotional pain because their children remain hostages of their former spouses in foreign countries. As the Goldman case reminded us all, even nations that are signatories to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction do not always live up to their obligations under the treaty. Indeed, for parents whose children are taken to non-Hague signatory states, the situation is even worse. Our government must do more, on a daily basis, to resolve these individual cases. More broadly, we must emphasize combating international parental child abduction with the same vigor we fight human trafficking, international narcotics trafficking, and other international problems of importance to our nation.
Accordingly, I request that at the earliest possible date you convene a hearing in the full committee to examine “lessons learned” from the Goldman case, and to more fully consider some of the legislative proposals currently pending before Congress, including H. R. 3240, offered by my New Jersey colleague, Rep. Chris Smith. We cannot return to a business-as-usual approach to this issue because one family has been reunited—thousands of other families need and deserve our help. I appreciate your thoughtful leadership of the committee, and I look forward to working further with you to help American families suffering from international parental child abduction.
Sincerely,
RUSH HOLT
Member of Congress
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