[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
SEAN AND DAVID GOLDMAN INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION PREVENTION AND
RETURN ACT OF 2013; VIETNAM HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2013; AND CONCERNING
THE ONGOING CONFLICT IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO AND THE
NEED FOR INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS TOWARD LONG-TERM PEACE, STABILITY, AND
OBSERVANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
=======================================================================
MARKUP
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,
GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
H.R. 1951, H.R. 1897 and H. Res. 131
__________
MAY 15, 2013
__________
Serial No. 113-68
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/
or
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/
______
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
TED POE, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MATT SALMON, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina KAREN BASS, California
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
MO BROOKS, Alabama DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
TOM COTTON, Arkansas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
PAUL COOK, California JUAN VARGAS, California
GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III,
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania Massachusetts
STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California
RON DeSANTIS, Florida ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
TREY RADEL, Florida GRACE MENG, New York
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
TED S. YOHO, Florida JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
LUKE MESSER, Indiana
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
------
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and
International Organizations
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania KAREN BASS, California
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
MARKUP OF
H.R. 1951, To ensure compliance with the 1980 Hague Convention on
the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction by countries
with which the United States enjoys reciprocal obligations, to
establish procedures for the prompt return of children abducted
to other countries, and for other purposes..................... 3
Amendment to H.R. 1951 offered by the Honorable Mark Meadows, a
Representative in Congress from the State of North Carolina.. 54
H.R. 1897, To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam........... 55
H. Res. 131, Concerning the ongoing conflict in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and the need for international efforts
toward long-term peace, stability, and observance of human
rights......................................................... 75
Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H. Res. 131 offered
by the Honorable Karen Bass, a Representative in Congress
from the State of California................................. 82
APPENDIX
Markup notice.................................................... 98
Markup minutes................................................... 99
SEAN AND DAVID GOLDMAN INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION PREVENTION AND
RETURN ACT OF 2013; VIETNAM HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2013; AND CONCERNING
THE ONGOING CONFLICT IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO AND THE
NEED FOR INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS TOWARD LONG-TERM PEACE, STABILITY, AND
OBSERVANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
----------
WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health,
Global Human Rights, and International Organizations,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:30 a.m., in
room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H.
Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Smith. We are here this morning to mark up H.R. 1951,
Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention
and Return Act of 2013; H.R. 1897, Vietnam Human Rights Act of
2013; and H. Res. 131, Concerning the ongoing conflict in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and the need for international
efforts toward long-term peace, stability, and observance of
human rights.
As our members are aware, these measures enjoy strong
bipartisan support and there are competing hearings and other
events taking place this morning. Thus, as our members were
informed earlier this week, it is the intent of the Chair to
consider these measures en bloc, including the substitute
amendment sent to you on Monday, offered by my good friend and
colleague, Ms. Bass, and an amendment by Mr. Meadows, sent to
you on Tuesday.
All members have copies of these documents before them.
After we have concluded our expedited consideration, I would be
glad to recognize any member, including myself and the ranking
member, for any statements on the issues.
All members are given leave to insert written remarks into
the record, should they choose to do so. Seeing that we have a
reporting quorum present, without objection, the following
measures are considered as read and will be considered en bloc:
H.R. 1951, Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction
Prevention and Return Act of 2013; the Meadows amendment number
4 to H.R. 1951, sent to members' offices on Tuesday; H.R. 1897,
the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2013; H. Res. 131, Concerning
the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and the need for international efforts toward long-term peace,
stability, and observance of human rights; and the Bass
amendment number 11 to H. Res. 131 sent to your offices on
Monday.
[The information referred to follows:]H.R.
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Mr. Smith. The Chair moves that the en bloc items be
adopted. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say
no. The ayes have it, in the opinion of the Chair, and the
items considered en bloc are adopted. Without objection, the
measures as amended are reported favorably to the full
committee. The staff is directed to make technical and
conforming changes.
I would note that now that we have completed our formal
consideration of those measures, I will recognize members for
remarks. And recognize myself first on behalf of the first bill
that was just passed on to the full committee.
It was David Goldman's unrelenting effort to bring his son,
Sean, home from Brazil that first alerted me to the epidemic of
international parental child abduction in this country.
According to the U.S. Department of State, between the years
2008 and 2012, bereaved, left-behind parents like David Goldman
reported over 4,800 abduction cases involving more than 7,000
children. I had the privilege of joining David Goldman in his
fight to return Sean and experienced firsthand the maddening
obstacles encountered by left-behind parents, even in countries
that have signed the Hague Convention on international child
abductions: Foreign courts, endless appeals to run out the
clock, exploitation of the safeguards in the Convention, and
prejudice against foreigners.
The damage to the child and the left-behind parents is
incalculable, and too often, lifelong. The children are at risk
of serious emotional and psychological problems and may
experience anxiety, eating problems, nightmares, mood swings,
sleep disturbances, aggressive behavior, resentment, guilt, and
fearfulness. Parental child abduction is child abuse. These
victims are American citizens who need the help of their
government when normal legal processes are unavailable or fail.
Too many families have been waiting too long for the return
of their children. Our current system with its endless delays
and lack of proper accountability has failed far too many. It
is time for the approach that backs our demands for adherence
to international obligations with some penalties and makes
clear to foes and friends alike that our children are our top
priority.
As stated in the legislation, it has several purposes.
First, we want to protect children whose habitual residence is
the U.S. from the harmful effects of abduction and to assist
left-behind parents to have access to their abducted children
in a safe and predictable manner, wherever the child is located
while an abduction case is pending. We want to provide left-
behind parents, their advocates, and judges the information
they need to enhance the resolution of abduction cases and
access cases through established legal procedures and the tools
for assessing the risk of abduction and denial of rights of
access, and the practical means for overcoming obstacles to
recovering an abducted child.
We seek to provide the necessary training for officials of
the U.S. Armed Forces and the Department of Defense to
establish policies and provide services to parents serving in
our military that address the unique circumstances of
abductions and violations of rights of access that may occur
with regard to military dependent children.
Additional purposes of the bill would be to establish
measured, effective, and predictable actions to be undertaken
by the President on behalf of abducted American children and to
promote an international consensus that it is in the interest
of children to have any issues related to their care and
custody determined in the country of their habitual residence.
Finally, the bill would encourage the effective
implementation of international mechanisms, particularly those
established pursuant to the Hague Abduction Convention, to
achieve reciprocity in the resolution of abductions and to
protect children from the harmful effects of abduction.
The Goldman Act gives the President important tools to
motivate other countries to quickly respond to applicants for
an abducted child's return. For even one case that has been
pending for over 6 weeks in a foreign country's judicial
system, the President may choose to at least issue a private
demarche or take more serious actions commensurate with the
gravity of the case.
If a country has 10 or more cases of children abducted from
the U.S., pursuant to this legislation, and those cases are not
being resolved in a timely manner or the entity responsible for
working with the United States, the central authority, the
judiciary, or law enforcement are persistently failing to
fulfill their obligations, the President can take measured,
effective, and predictable actions to aggressively advocate for
our children's return. Actions range from denial of certain
assistance to prohibiting the procurement of certain goods or
services from the government or the instrumentality response
for the pattern of what we call noncooperation.
The President is required to request a consultation with
any government concerned and report to Congress when
contemplating serious actions. The President is also provided
with certain waiver authorities that take into account the
important national interests of the United States. However, the
expectation is that the President will use all tools necessary
to bring our children home in a timely manner and that the
President will have to explain the minority of cases where one
of the 18 delineated tools or commensurate action cannot be
used.
I want to thank Mr. Meadows for his valuable amendment to
the bill, which calls on the Government Accountability Office
to report to Congress on Egypt's cooperation or facilitation of
parental child abduction. Last week, the subcommittee heard
compelling testimony of Mr. Colin Bower, whose two boys were
abducted to Egypt in 2009. Mr. Bower indicated that Egypt has
aided and abetted in the kidnapping and illegal holding of his
sons, including by issuing false Egyptian passports for the two
boys and by allowing them to exit the U.S. on the Egyptian
Government-owned airline, EgyptAir. It will be very helpful to
Members of Congress to receive an assessment from the GAO of
the Egyptian Government's involvement in this and the other
cases of child adduction from the United States.
I yield to my friend and colleague, Dr. Bera, for any
comments he might have.
Mr. Bera. Mr. Chairman, thank you for convening this
markup. I am pleased that the Foreign Affairs Committee and
this subcommittee are proceeding with regular order as it moves
legislation to the full committee. I want to focus for one
moment on H.R. 1951, the Child Abduction and Return Act of
2013. I am pleased that the subcommittee was able to focus on
this important issue. And I support many of the provisions
contained within the legislation. However, I believe the State
Department has expressed some concerns and possible unintended
consequences of this bill. The punitive measures offered to the
President under the legislation may discourage non-party
nations, such as India, from signing or ratifying the Hague
Convention. As this legislation moves to full committee, I
would like to have a better understanding of the non-signators
and what we can do to encourage their cooperation on this
important issue. It is important that these countries join the
Hague Convention.
I would also like to work with my colleagues and address
these concerns and ensure that any legislation we pass will
have the desired effect of reducing the number of child
abductions. Again, thank you, Chairman Smith, for continuing
your important work in this area. Congratulations on moving
your legislation through the subcommittee, and I look forward
to working with you on this important issue. I yield back.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much. Chair recognizes Mr. Weber.
Mr. Weber. Mr. Chairman, thank you. I don't have any
comments at this time.
Mr. Smith. Okay. Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Meadows. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And obviously, this
committee just acted to approve three pieces of timely and
necessary legislation that will better the lives of thousands
of people. And I am proud that this committee has taken the
initiative to address the ongoing humanitarian issues in
Vietnam and in the Congo. And I want to commend the chairman
and the ranking member for their leadership. The third bill we
approve today, H.R. 1951, addresses parental child abduction
and the Hague Convention. This is a good bill. I am proud to be
a cosponsor and proud to have supported it today. I am also
proud that we have been able to amend this bill and make it a
little bit better. Last week, we heard powerful testimony on
the foreign parental child abduction from parents of victims.
And we heard that the foreign governments can often be
complicit in these abductions, especially in non-Hague treaty
countries. And one of those witnesses was Colin Bower. Mr.
Bower's two sons, Noor and Ramsay, were abducted and taken to
Egypt in 2009. They remain there today with 20 other American
children.
Egypt is a country that we are working with and whose
continued solvency depends on American aid, American
intervention. And yet we hear heartbreaking stories like Mr.
Bower's. Thankfully, Mr. Bower did not just share his story,
but he shared recommendations on moving forward. And one of
those recommendations was to require the GAO to report on the
child abductions in Egypt, including the role of the Egyptian
Government.
Today I offered an amendment to H.R. 1951 to do exactly
that, and I look forward to reading the GAO's eventual report.
And I want to thank Mr. Bower and all of those previous
witnesses for sharing their stories. But I also want to thank
the committee for supporting my amendment and moving this bill.
And with that I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Meadows, thank you very much and thank you
for authoring that very important amendment to this
legislation. With that, I recognize Mr. Stockman.
Mr. Stockman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the compassion
you have shown through all the years you have been here in
Congress. And I appreciate that throughout the years you have
stuck to it and when it would have been easy to roll over to
Ways and Means or some other ``important'' committees; and your
compassion is demonstrated by these bills that you put forth.
And I just want to say something quickly about our friends in
the DRC. I have been there many times. And they have great
potential. This nation is, you know, nearly as large as Western
Europe. And they have a great, great potential if they adhere
to a civil society and stick to the rule of law, and let
democracy flourish. I think this bill is going to go a long way
in ensuring that the DRC will be successful in achieving its
goals.
And I really appreciate you offering this bill. And I hope
when it gets to the full committee that they realize the work
and effort that you have put into this resolution. But I just
wanted to point out the DRC has a great opportunity to take
advantage of--and work cooperatively with the United States.
And look forward to future hearings and testimony. Thank you.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Stockman.
I yield to Ms. Bass to speak on H. Res. 131.
Ms. Bass. Chairman Smith, again, thank you for holding
today's markup. I am delighted that we have worked in a
bipartisan manner to pass today's legislation. And did want to
speak for a minute on H. Res. 131, Concerning the ongoing
conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the need
for international efforts toward long-term peace, stability,
and the observance of human rights. As you are well aware, in
the DRC, an estimated 5 million people, which is just an
incredible number, have died, and some 2 million have been
displaced due to repeated cycles of war, conflict, violence,
particularly sexual, and gender-based violence waged against
women and children. It is time for this crisis to come to an
end. Today's markup takes an important step forward in efforts
to raise awareness within the U.S. Congress and among all
Americans of this horrific and tragic crisis.
I was recently in the Congo and heard from many people
there. And I have heard from the Congolese diaspora here in the
United States about the situation in the Congo. Currently, we
have 55 Members of the House from both parties that have
cosponsored this bill, and I plan to continue to call for
bipartisan support for this legislation. It is also my
understanding that efforts are underway to introduce similar
legislation in the Senate.
Lastly, there has been a great deal of discussion around
the need for a special envoy to the DRC in the Great Lakes
region. This legislation calls for such an envoy, and Secretary
Kerry in testimony before both the House and the Senate has
indicated his plan to make an appointment. I am pleased that
this effort is making progress and urge the Secretary to move
swiftly to make his decision and develop a comprehensive
strategy that relies on diplomacy and engagement to address the
complex set of issues that stand as barriers to peace and
stability in the DRC and the region.
Thank you, and I yield back my time.
Mr. Smith. I yield to myself such time as I may consume. I
want to thank the ranking member, Karen Bass, for introducing
this important resolution. And I am very pleased to be original
cosponsor. And it is supported, I know, by members of this
subcommittee. This measure brings attention to the continuing,
deplorable situation in the DRC in which more than two dozen
militias, as well as the national army itself, continue to
terrorize the country's population. The international community
has been outraged by the staggering rate of sexual violence,
which reports that nearly 50 women and girls being raped each
hour in the DRC. The atrocities also include recruitment and
physical and psychological torture of child soldiers. H. Res.
131 calls on the Nation of Africa's Great Lakes region,
including the DRC Government itself, to take all necessary
actions to live up to international law and their own
agreements concerning noninterference in one another's affairs.
As we found out through several U.N. investigations and our
subcommittee's three hearings last year, this has not always
been the case. Unregulated cross-border militia activity and
the plundering of natural resources in the DRC have made life
for so many Congolese, especially those in the Eastern Congo,
all but unbearable. The trade in illicit minerals and poached
ivory has also served to the fuel the conflict in the DRC.
The Atrocity Prevention Board, created in 2011, to
coordinate U.S. policy to prevent mass atrocities and serious
human rights violations is called upon by H. Res. 131 to work
with regional and international partners to bring the tragedy
of life in the Eastern Congo to a definitive end. The
Atrocities Prevention Board is directed to ``address, prevent,
and ensure accountability for serious violations of
humanitarian law and human rights abuses by all actors in the
DRC.''
While its neighbors share the blame for the international
crisis that exists in the Great Lakes, H. Res. 131 also calls
on the Government of the DRC to investigate and prosecute its
own military forces and citizens responsible for human rights
abuses and to proceed with democratic and security sector
reforms which it has previously agreed to.
Would anyone else like to be heard on this?
I would like to now recognize myself to speak briefly on
H.R. 1897. And I do want to thank my colleagues for their
support of the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2013. The
subcommittee, as we all know, heard from witnesses at a hearing
on April 11 that the Vietnam's Government continues to violate
a broad array of fundamental human rights. The testimony we
heard confirmed that religious, political, and ethnic
persecution continue and that Vietnamese officials are
complicit in human trafficking. At that hearing, just over a
month ago, we heard from a sister of a Vietnamese woman who was
forced to work in a brothel in Russia with 14 other Vietnamese
women.
At another hearing last year, we heard about a group of
Vietnamese workers who were trafficked to Jordan. In each of
these cases, not only did officials from the Vietnamese
Government fail to help the victims, but they actually
cooperated with the traffickers to keep the trafficking
operations going. I am pleased to report that following the
April hearing and the sister's courageous testimony, the
Vietnamese trafficking victims who were being held in Russia
have been freed. But the Vietnamese Government must respect the
human rights of all of its people, not only those who are
fortunate enough to have their human rights violations
publicized at a congressional hearing. For this reason, I have
reintroduced the Vietnam Human Rights Act and I am glad the
subcommittee voted it out today.
The purpose of H.R. 1897 is to promote the development of
freedom and democracy in Vietnam. It seeks to do so primarily
by stipulating that the United States can increase its non-
humanitarian assistance to Vietnam above the 2012 Fiscal Year
levels only when the President is able to certify to Congress
that the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress,
operative words, substantial progress in establishing a
democracy and promoting human rights, including respecting
freedom of religion and releasing all political religious
prisoners; respecting rights of freedom of expression, assembly
and association, and releasing all political prisoners,
independent journalists, and labor activists; repealing and
revising laws that criminalize peaceful dissent, independent
media, unsanctioned religious activity, and nonviolent
demonstrations in accordance with the international human
rights standards; respecting the human rights of members of all
ethnic groups, and then taking all appropriate steps, including
prosecution of government officials, to end any government
complicity in human trafficking. This condition on increased
non-humanitarian assistance may be waived in the national
interest of the United States, if any such increase is offset
by assistance to increase training on Vietnam's international
human rights obligations, to support noncommercial rule of law
programming, or to support measures to overcome the Vietnamese
Government's jamming of Radio Free Asia.
H.R. 1897 also includes several senses of Congress. Vietnam
has announced it is seeking membership in the U.N. Human Rights
Council, a vote that will be held at this fall's U.N. General
Assembly. Given the Vietnamese Government's abysmal human
rights record, the bill calls on the Secretary of State to
strongly oppose Vietnam's candidacy.
The bill also indicates that Vietnam should be redesignated
a Country of Particular Concern for religious freedom, pursuant
to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, and that
its tier ranking, pursuant to the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act, should reflect the fact that the government is
not making significant efforts to eliminate human trafficking.
Again, I want to thank my colleagues for their support. I
yield to any member who would like to speak. Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Meadows. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for your
comments and for highlighting this issue. And I have been in
some of these hearings as we have heard the just riveting
testimony from so many of the affected families. And time and
time again, the recommendation was that we put forth meaningful
legislation that does not just talk about our support for human
rights, but really makes sure that it is measurable and that it
has consequences. I am hopeful that we will see speedy action
on this particular piece of legislation.
I was unaware of many of the unbelievable atrocities that
were happening until we heard testimony in this very room, and
I want to thank the chairman for highlighting it, but also for
putting forth this legislation that I hope will see an end to
some of the unbelievable atrocities that are occurring.
Specifically, to have an appointment of a country with the
known violations to the Human Rights Council would be very
problematic and would send the wrong message. So I agree and
concur and would encourage the Secretary to oppose that until
we see significant responses on behalf of the Vietnam
Government. With that, I yield back. Thanking the chair.
Mr. Smith. Are there any other members who wish to be
heard?
If not, I do want to thank my distinguished colleagues for
their participation and support for these bills on both sides
of the aisle. This markup is concluded. And we are finished.
[Whereupon, at 11:57 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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