,i #aaeth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #ceab ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,july #bg1 #bjag,mr4 ,smith of ,new ,jersey introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,ways and ,means ,a ,,bill ,to make certain countries ineligible to be designated as a beneficiary developing country for purposes of receiving preferences under the ,generalized ,system of ,preferences1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,bindu ,philips and ,devon ,davenport ,international ,child ,abduction ,return ,act of #bjag4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,in #bjaf1 #fbi ,american children were taken from the ,united ,states by one parent without the consent of the other1 often in direct violation of valid ,united ,states court orders1 ,united ,states criminal law1 and the ,hague ,convention on the ,civil ,aspects of ,international ,child ,abduction4 7#b7 ,abducted children in a foreign country are often blocked from any contact with the ,american parent1 losing half of their family and heritage4 7#c7 ,such children are also at grave risk of serious emotional and psychological problems4 ,many such children experience anxiety1 eating problems1 nightmares1 mood swings1 aggressive behavior1 resentment1 and fear4 ,every day the abduction continues only compounds these harms4 7#d7 ,the ,department of ,state had at least #idd open cases of child abduction in #bjaf1 only #aeb1 or #af percent1 of which were resolved with return of the abducted child to the ,united ,states4 7#e7 ,tragically1 abductions resolved with a return of the child to the ,united ,states hit a three-year low in #bjaf4 7#f7 ,in contrast1 the number of abduction cases closed by the ,department without the child being returned reached a high mark of #ahi in #bjaf4 7#g7 ,such low return rates encourage parents to abduct their children rather than to abide by the laws of the ,united ,states4 7#h7 ,the ,united ,states is a party to the #aihj ,hague ,convention on the ,civil ,aspects of ,international ,child ,abduction 7,hague ,abduction ,convention71 which provides a framework for the prompt resolutions of international abductions between the ,united ,states and the #gf other countries with which the ,united ,states has reciprocal obligations4 7#i7 ,the ,hague ,abduction ,convention does not have an enforcement mechanism and countries regularly ignore their legal duty--without consequences--to return abducted children whose habitual residence is the ,united ,states4 7#aj7 ,in the #bjag ,annual ,report on ,international ,parental ,child ,abduction published by the ,department of ,state1 nine countries were identified as demonstrating a pattern of non-compliance for failure to comply with legal obligations under the ,hague ,abduction ,convention to resolve ongoing abductions1 including ,argentina1 the ,bahamas1 ,brazil1 the ,dominican ,republic1 ,ecuador1 ,guatemala1 ,panama1 ,peru1 and ,romania4 7#aa7 ,the report also identified four countries without an established reciprocal relationship with the ,united ,states under the ,hague ,abduction ,convention as demonstrating a pattern of non-compliance for failure to work with the ,united ,states to resolve abduction cases1 including ,india1 ,jordan1 ,nicaragua1 and ,tunisia4 7#ab7 ,eleven of the thirteen countries so identified for non-compliance1 other than the ,bahamas and ,romania1 are currently receiving trade benefits under the ,generalized ,system of ,preferences established by the ,trade ,act of #aigd4 7#ac7 ,in ,india1 where more than #ajj children are being held against the wishes of their ,american parent1 only #aj came home in #bjaf1 and #ff percent of ,united ,states requests for the return of abducted children from ,india have remained unresolved for more than #ab months4 7#ad7 ,after eight years of heroic legal efforts in the ,united ,states and ,india to bring home her twin sons1 who were abducted to ,india in #bjjh1 ,bindu ,philips saw her case closed by the ,state ,department in #bjaf without their return4 7#ae7 ,brazil has been continuously cited for demonstrating a pattern of non-compliance since #bjje1 and has neither issued nor enforced a court order to return a single one of the long term cases there since the return of ,sean ,goldman to his ,american father in #bjji1 after international pressure and the stalling of ,brazil's renewed participation in the ,generalized ,system of ,preferences4 7#af7 ,thirteen cases of abducted ,american children in ,brazil have been pending from #b4e years to #aj years4 7#ag7 ,dr4 ,christopher ,brann has been reduced to seeing his young son ,nico for only a few weeks of the year1 and only in ,brazil1 since #bjac1 when ,nico's ,brazilian-,american mother abducted ,nico to ,brazil in violation of pre-existing court orders in ,texas granting shared custody1 in violation of the ,hague ,convention1 and despite ten independent assessments that he is an excellent father4 7#ah7 ,devon ,davenport has won each of the #bd appeals in his case in ,brazil for the return of his daughter1 ,nadia ,lynn1 since #bjji1 but ,brazil still has not returned his daughter to him4 #c4 ,additional limitation on beneficiary developing country designation ,section #ejd7;b77#b7 of the ,trade ,act of #aigd 7#ai ,u4,s4,c4 #bdfb7 is amended by inserting after subparagraph 7,h7 the following3 7,i7 ,such country has engaged in a pattern of noncompliance in cases of child abduction1 as determined by the ,secretary of ,state for purposes of the notification requirement under section #aja7;f7 of the ,sean and ,david ,goldman ,international ,child ,abduction ,prevention and ,return ,act4 4