International Assistance to Missing and Exploited Children Act of 2004 - Amends the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA) to make Federal Tort Claims Act provisions applicable to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (Center) and other entities to which responsibilities are delegated under ICARA by the U.S. Central Authority under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
Amends the Federal judicial code to authorize actions in U.S. district court to resolve conflicting child custody determinations.
Directs the Attorney General to establish a registry of custody and visitation orders and proceedings. Provides guidelines for disclosing registry information.
Authorizes law enforcement officials to detain children listed as missing or accompanying an adult arrested for suspected child abduction in violation of a custody order. Requires officials to surrender such children to the appropriate State agency as soon as practicable.
Requires the Central Authority to: (1) fund legal services to persons seeking remedies in parental kidnapping cases; (2) provide related training and technical assistance; and (3) encourage the designation of courts to hear Convention-related cases.
Requires the Federal Judicial Center to provide continuing education on the Convention and related laws.
Requires annual reports to Congress on: (1) progress in negotiating international child abduction agreements with countries that are not parties to the Convention; and (2) cases involving extradition requests of individuals alleged to have violated international parental kidnapping provisions.
Requires the Attorney General to support State adoption and implementation of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.
Amends the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 to include children at risk of parental kidnapping in the Safe Havens for Children Pilot Program.
Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to authorize disclosure of taxpayer identity information to the Center.
Calls for increasing the U.S. contribution to the Permanent Bureau at The Hague.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4347 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4347
To amend the International Child Abduction Remedies Act to provide that
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and its
employees, when carrying out activities delegated by the United States
Central Authority under that Act, have the protections under the
Federal Tort Claims Act, to amend title 28, United States Code, to give
district courts of the United States jurisdiction over competing State
custody determinations, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 12, 2004
Mr. Hyde (for himself, Mr. Lampson, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Chabot, Mr.
Greenwood, Mr. Houghton, Mr. McHugh, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Burton of Indiana,
Ms. Harris, Mr. Foley, Mr. King of New York, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas,
Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Boehlert, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Berman, Mr. Smith of
New Jersey, Mr. Turner of Texas, Mr. Frost, Mr. Moran of Virginia, and
Mr. Cardoza) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on
International Relations and Ways and Means, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the International Child Abduction Remedies Act to provide that
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and its
employees, when carrying out activities delegated by the United States
Central Authority under that Act, have the protections under the
Federal Tort Claims Act, to amend title 28, United States Code, to give
district courts of the United States jurisdiction over competing State
custody determinations, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``International Assistance to Missing
and Exploited Children Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS PROVISIONS TO NATIONAL
CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN AND ITS
EMPLOYEES.
Section 7 of the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (42
U.S.C. 11606) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(f) Limited Liability of Entities Regarding Delegated
Authority.--For purposes of section 1346(b)(1) and chapter 171 of title
28, United States Code, the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, when carrying out responsibilities of the United States
Central Authority under this Act, pursuant to a delegation of authority
by the Central Authority, and any other entity to whom such
responsibilities are delegated by the Central Authority, when carrying
out such responsibilities, shall be deemed to be part of the Department
of State, and any employee of the Center or such entity, while acting
within the scope of his or her employment in carrying out such
delegated responsibilities, shall be deemed to be an employee of the
Government.''.
SEC. 3. JURISDICTION OVER COMPETING STATE CUSTODY ORDERS.
Section 1738A of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``(i) If a court of one State makes a child custody determination
in accordance with subsection (c) and if that determination is in
conflict with a determination made by another State in accordance with
subsection (c), a contestant for whom such a determination was made may
bring an action in the district court of the United States the district
of which includes the resident of such contestant to determine which
determination shall prevail.''.
SEC. 4. NATIONAL REGISTRY OF CUSTODY ORDERS.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General shall establish a national
child custody and visitation registry in which shall be entered--
(1) certified copies of custody and visitation orders made
by courts throughout the United States;
(2) information identifying pending proceedings in courts
throughout the United States for orders described in paragraph
(1), and for modification or enforcement of those orders; and
(3) information identifying proceedings filed in any court
in the United States pursuant to the Hague Convention on the
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the
International Child Abduction Remedies Act, and resulting
orders.
(b) Cooperation.--The Attorney General shall seek the cooperation
of the Federal courts and the courts of each State and the District of
Columbia in providing relevant information to the registry on an
ongoing basis. The Attorney General shall provide such financial and
technical assistance as necessary to carry out subsection (a).
(c) Disclosure of Information in Registry.--
(1) Disclosure.--Upon request filed in accordance with
paragraph (3), by a court, law enforcement official, or a
contestant of child custody or his or her legal representative,
the Attorney General shall provide information in the Registry
to that court, official, contestant, or representative.
(2) Nondisclosure.--Information in the Registry shall not
be disclosed to any person if the Attorney General has
reasonable cause to believe, based upon notice by a State or
otherwise, that the disclosure of the information could be
harmful to the custodial parent of a child or that child,
except that such information may be disclosed to a court or an
agent of a court, if--
(A) upon receipt of information from the Secretary,
the court determines whether disclosure to any other
person of that information could be harmful to the
parent or the child; and
(B) if the court determines that disclosure of such
information to any other person could be harmful, the
court and its agents shall not make any such
disclosure.
(3) Form and manner of request for information.--A request
for information under this subsection shall be filed in such
manner and form as the Attorney General shall by regulation
prescribe and shall be accompanied or supported by such
documents as the Attorney General may determine to be
necessary.
SEC. 5. DETENTION OF CHILDREN IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
(a) Detention of Children.--Law enforcement officials of any State
or local government or the Federal Government may detain--
(1) any child listed under any category of the Missing
Person File by the National Crime Information Center, and
(2) any child accompanying an adult who is arrested for
suspected abduction of the child in violation of a child
custody order,
for purposes of allowing the lawful determination of the proper
disposition of the child in accordance with the most recent valid
custody determination applicable to the child.
(b) Interim Custody.--Upon detaining a child under subsection (a),
the law enforcement officials involved shall ensure that the child is
surrendered, at the earliest practicable time, to the appropriate State
child protective services agency or child welfare agency.
SEC. 6. INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION REMEDIES.
(a) Legal Assistance for Victims of Parental Kidnapping; Training
and Technical Assistance.--Section 7 of the International Child
Abduction Remedies Act (42 U.S.C. 11606), as amended by section 2 of
this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new
subsections:
``(g) Grants for Legal Assistance for Victims of Parental
Kidnapping; Training and Technical Assistance.--
``(1) Funding for legal assistance; training and technical
assistance.--The United States Central Authority shall
establish a program--
``(A) to provide funding to legal services
providers, including private attorneys, public
officials acting pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody
Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, legal aid programs,
and law school clinical programs, to provide direct
legal or advocacy services on behalf of persons seeking
remedies under the Convention, or other civil or
criminal remedies in interstate or international
parental kidnapping cases; and
``(B) to provide training and technical assistance
to legal services providers, State court judges, and
law students on the civil and criminal laws pertaining
to interstate and international parental kidnapping, in
order to improve the capacity to provide legal
assistance described in paragraph (1) and adjudicate
cases involving remedies described in such paragraph.
``(2) Provision of training.--The United States Central
Authority may carry out subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1)
directly or through grants to appropriate nonprofit
organizations, State judicial educators, national, State, and
local bar associations, and law schools. The United States
Central Authority shall require recipients of such grants to
report on the training programs they present, including the
number of participants.
``(h) Consolidation of Jurisdiction of Courts.--The United States
Central Authority shall encourage the Chief Justice of each State and
the District of Columbia to designate a single court, or a limited
number of courts, in which cases brought under the Convention may be
heard. The Central Authority may provide technical assistance
(including computers and Internet access) as necessary to foster
consolidation of jurisdiction and implementation of the Convention,
consistent with the purposes of the Convention.
``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to any other
funds made available to carry out this Act, there are authorized to be
appropriated to the United States Central Authority such sums as may be
necessary to carry out subsections (g) and (h).''.
(b) Exemption From Court Costs.--Section 8(b) of the International
Child Abduction Remedies Act (42 U.S.C. 11607(b)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs
(3) through (4), respectively;
(2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
``(1) No court costs may be assessed on a petitioner in
connection with a petition seeking the return of, or rights of
access to, a child located in the United States, pursuant to
this Act.
``(2) Petitioners may be required to bear the costs of
legal counsel or advisors, court costs incurred in connection
with their petitions (other than petitions described in
paragraph (1)) and travel costs for the return of the child
involved and any accompanying persons, except as provided in
paragraphs (3) and (4).''; and
(3) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated--
(A) by striking ``paragraph (3)'' and inserting
``paragraph (4)''; and
(B) by inserting ``(other than in connection with a
petition described in paragraph (1))'' after ``or court
costs''.
(c) Federal Judicial Center.--Section 620 of title 28, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Continuing Education and Training Programs.--The Center shall
include in its continuing education and training programs, including
the training programs for newly appointed judges, information on the
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction,
the International Child Abduction Remedies Act, the International
Parental Kidnapping Crime Act, and other Federal statutes pertaining to
parental kidnapping within the jurisdiction of the Federal courts.''.
SEC. 7. REPORTS RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION.
(a) Report on Progress in Negotiating Bilateral Treaties With Non-
Hague Convention Countries.--The Secretary of State shall prepare and
submit to the Congress an annual report on progress made by the United
States in negotiating and entering into bilateral treaties (or other
international agreements) relating to international child abduction
with countries that are not contracting parties to the Hague Convention
on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The Secretary of
State shall include in the report the number of child abductions in
countries that are not such contracting parties.
(b) Report on Enforcement of Section 1204 of Title 18, United
States Code.--The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary
of State, shall prepare and submit to the Congress an annual report
that contains a description of the status of each case involving a
request during the preceding year for extradition to the United States
of an individual alleged to have violated section 1204 of title 18,
United States Code.
SEC. 8. SUPPORT FOR UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT
ACT.
From amounts made available to carry out this section, the Attorney
General shall support, directly or through grants and contracts, the
adoption and implementation by the States of the Uniform Child Custody
Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, as adopted by the National Conference
of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (in this section referred to as
the ``UCCJEA''). The support provided under this section shall include
the following activities:
(1) Activities to promote the adoption of the UCCJEA by
States that have not yet adopted it.
(2) Activities to provide training to lawyers and to judges
and other appropriate public officials to ensure that the
UCCJEA is implemented effectively and uniformly throughout the
United States.
(3) Activities to provide guidance and funding to States to
facilitate and expedite the enforcement by those States of the
custody and visitation provisions of the UCCJEA.
SEC. 9. USE OF SUPERVISED VISITATION CENTERS UNDER THE SAFE HAVENS FOR
CHILDREN PILOT PROGRAM IN SITUATIONS INVOLVING THE RISK
OF PARENTAL KIDNAPPING.
Section 1301(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 (42
U.S.C. 10420(a)) is amended by striking ``or stalking'' and inserting
``stalking, or the risk of parental kidnapping''.
SEC. 10. DISCLOSURE OF TAXPAYER IDENTITY INFORMATION TO NATIONAL CENTER
FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN AND DEPARTMENT OF
STATE.
(a) In General.--Subsection (m) of section 6103 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to disclosure of taxpayer identity
information) is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(8) Requests from the national center for missing and
exploited children or the secretary of state.--Upon written
request by the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children or the Secretary of State, the Secretary may disclose
the mailing address and any business address of any taxpayer or
dependent thereof pursuant to section 404 of the Missing
Children's Assistance Act, for use only by the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children or the Department of State,
as the case may be, in locating and recovering missing and
exploited children.''.
(b) Safeguards.--Paragraph (4) of section 6103(p) of such Code
(relating to safeguards) is amended--
(1) by striking ``(16) or'' and inserting ``(16), or'',
(2) by inserting ``or in subsection (m)(8)'' after ``(20)''
each place it occurs, and
(3) by ``or (7) of subsection (m)'' and inserting ``(7), or
(8) of subsection (m)''.
(c) Criminal Penalty for Unauthorized Disclosure of Information.--
Paragraph (2) of section 7213(a) of such Code (relating to State and
other employees) is amended by striking ``or (7)'' and inserting ``(7),
or (8)''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to requests made after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 11. SUPPORT FOR INCREASED U.S. CONTRIBUTION TO HAGUE PERMANENT
BUREAU.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The problem of international child abduction is
complex, frustrating, and growing, with more than 16,000
reported cases in the past two decades according to the
Department of State, and many more unreported cases according
to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(NCMEC).
(2) Congress has listened to horror stories from countless
``left-behind'' American parents struggling to retrieve their
children who have been taken abroad by an abducting parent,
enforce orders from the courts of other countries directing the
return of their children, or even simply to gain access to
their children who are being detained abroad.
(3) There is an international treaty relating to the
prevention of international child abduction, the Convention on
the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, signed by
the United States and 73 additional countries.
(4) There is wide disparity and inconsistency in the
application of the treaty by member countries.
(5) If the United States is to truly address this serious
problem, the international body, The Hague Conference on
Private International Law, which administers and oversees this
treaty, must be strengthened and made more viable.
(6) If the United States is to address the heart-rending
pain of so many left-behind parents, we need to build bridges
to those parts of the world that are not yet parties to the
current treaty, and we must make those countries that are
signatories to the treaty better able to deal with the
complexities of the challenge and ensure that more children
come home.
(7) In an effort to address this problem more aggressively
and effectively, the International Centre for Missing and
Exploited Children (ICMEC), the privately funded international
affiliate of NCMEC, recently entered into a formal Memorandum
of Agreement with The Hague Conference on Private International
Law, which oversees a number of private international law
agreements, including the Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction.
(8) Through that Memorandum of Agreement, ICMEC will seek
to generate private sector revenues and support in order to
improve the functioning of the Convention on the Civil Aspects
of International Child Abduction, including establishing a new
International Training Institute for judges and other
practitioners, and undertaking an outreach effort with the
Islamic world on these issues.
(9) ICMEC has conferred with leaders around the world on
how best to strengthen the treaty and ensure its more effective
implementation.
(10) ICMEC has concluded that an integral part of the
current problem is that The Hague budget includes two parts:
(A) A core budget based on a formula that supports
basic functions and operations.
(B) A supplementary budget that the Hague Permanent
Bureau must raise apart from its formula
appropriations.
(11) The core budget is relatively small and thus most of
the activities necessary to address the inconsistencies and
problems regarding the Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction are dependent upon supplemental
funds.
(12) The Permanent Bureau at The Hague must either request
additional funds from member countries or be dependent upon
nongovernmental organizations like ICMEC to generate additional
resources.
(13) At the April 1, 2003, meeting at The Hague of the
Special Commission on General Affairs and Policy, three member
countries (the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia) expressed
support for a fundamental shift in fiscal policy, that is by
reexamining the basic funding formula and increasing the core
budget so that the Permanent Bureau is able to undertake the
vital reforms necessary as part of its core operations.
(14) Although this effort would increase the amount of the
United States contribution required to support the Permanent
Bureau at The Hague each year, it is central to addressing the
complex, frustrating, problem of international child abduction.
(b) Support for Increased U.S. Support for Hague Permanent
Bureau.--The Congress expresses its support for increasing the United
States contribution to the Permanent Bureau at The Hague to provide
increased resources for the prevention of international child abduction
and other critical activities of the Bureau, including--
(1) to address the inconsistencies and lack of uniformity
in the implementation of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction, signed at The Hague on October
25, 1980, including the establishment of a training institute;
(2) to establish guides of good practice for member
countries in addressing the vexing problems of access and
enforcement of orders relating to international child
abduction; and
(3) to encourage more countries, from all regions of the
world, to become parties to the Convention on the Civil Aspects
of International Child Abduction.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on International Relations, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on International Relations, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on International Relations, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on International Relations, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line