立法者考虑国际绑架儿童问题

Lawmakers Consider Issue of International Child Kidnappings

An American doctor recently gave an emotional speech about his son to Senate lawmakers in Washington.

Chris Brann told lawmakers on Tuesday about the abduction of his son Nicholas, whose mother moved him to Brazil in 2012. Brann said his experience of the loss “is best described as a living death.”

Nicholas’ mother, who was born in Brazil, is no longer married to Brann.

Such kidnapping is not unusual.

In the United States, hundreds of international child abductions by parents are reported each year. The rate of return of children is said to be about 45 percent.

Lawmakers of both American political parties say the U.S. can and must do a better job of recovering its youngest citizens. They say such abductions must be prevented.

Chuck Grassley is the Republican Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He said Congress and the administration can do more to end the kidnappings.

Laws against abductions

The United States is one of 82 countries that have signed the 1980 Hague Convention to fight international child abduction.

The agreement requires nations to quickly return minors¹ illegally taken to other countries by a parent.

In the U.S., the 1993 International Parental² Kidnapping Crime Act is a federal law. It established federal punishments for a parent who violates another parent’s rights of custody³.

Another law on the issue is the 2014 International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act. It permits the State Department to punish nations that fail to help in solving international abduction cases involving American children. Punishments include public condemnation⁴, suspending U.S. development aid or cancelling state visas.

However, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular⁵ Affairs, Carl Risch said the department did not often use such measures.

“Continued diplomatic engagement is our best tool to promote long-term institutional changes in foreign governments,” he said.

Chris Brann is dissatisfied with efforts to bring back his son. He said the State Department is not using all the tools it can use.

Noelle Hunter also spoke⁶ to the committee. She told of how her former husband took her daughter Muna to Mali in 2011. The Senate’s Republican leader Mitch McConnell led an effort to push Malian officials to return Muna. She came back to America in 2014.

Hunter said, “If every member of Congress with kidnapped constituents⁷ would begin to regularly inquire of federal agencies and the [foreign] nations in which they are held, these children are going to come home.”

The committee’s top Democratic Party member, Dianne Feinstein, supported efforts by lawmakers on the issue. But she said her state, California, had hundreds of parents with a child missing in another country.

Feinstein called for more power for the State Department and other to deal with the issue.

Federal officials say preventing abductions is the best way to deal with the problem. They note that a program is in place to have U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents act if a child is at risk of abduction.

Don Conroy directs the agency’s National Targeting Center. He said, “Returning a child is sometimes very complex. Prevention is a key piece of this.”

On the issue of abductions, both Democrats⁸ and Republicans said they want to see more done.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

abduction –n. to take someone away by force or against their will

custody –n. the responsibility to take care of a child

engagement –n. involvement in something

promote –v. to give support to something, to make people aware of something

institutional –adj. of or about an established organization

constituents –n. people who live and vote in an area

regularly –adv. usually

inquire –v. to ask about

key –adj. major; important

1 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

3 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

4 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

5 consular   

a.领事的

参考例句：

• He has rounded out twenty years in the consular service. 他在领事馆工作已整整20年了。
• Consular invoices are declarations made at the consulate of the importing country. 领事发票是进口国领事馆签发的一种申报书。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》