{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgH7506", "2012-12-31", 112, 2, null, null, "REQUESTING EGYPT RETURN NOOR AND RAMSAY BOWER TO THE UNITED STATES", "HOUSE", "HOUSE", "ALLOTHER", "H7506", "H7508", "[{\"name\": \"Ileana Ros-Lehtinen\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Eliot L. Engel\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Barney Frank\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Christopher H. Smith\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"112\", \"type\": \"HRES\", \"number\": \"193\"}, {\"congress\": \"112\", \"type\": \"HRES\", \"number\": \"193\"}, {\"congress\": \"112\", \"type\": \"HRES\", \"number\": \"193\"}]", "158 Cong. Rec. H7506", "Congressional Record, Volume 158 Issue 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012)]\n[House]\n[Pages H7506-H7508]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n   REQUESTING EGYPT RETURN NOOR AND RAMSAY BOWER TO THE UNITED STATES\n\n  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree\nto the resolution (H. Res. 193) calling on the new Government of Egypt\nto honor the rule of law and immediately return Noor and Ramsay Bower\nto the United States, as amended.\n  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.\n  The text of the resolution is as follows:\n\n                              H. Res. 193\n\n       Whereas Colin Bower's 2 young sons, Noor and Ramsay Bower,\n     were illegally abducted from the United States by their\n     mother in August 2009 and taken to Egypt;\n       Whereas Noor William Noble Bower, age 11, and Ramsay\n     Maclean Bower, age 9, are citizens of the United States of\n     America;\n       Whereas, on December 1, 2008, prior to the abduction of\n     Noor and Ramsay, the Probate and Family Court of the\n     Commonwealth of Massachusetts awarded sole legal custody of\n     Noor and Ramsay to Colin Bower, and joint physical custody\n     with Mirvat el Nady, which ruling stipulated Mirvat el Nady\n     was not to remove Noor and Ramsay from the Commonwealth of\n     Massachusetts;\n       Whereas, in August of 2009, following a violation of the\n     Probate Court's ruling, the Massachusetts Trial Court granted\n     sole physical custody of Noor and Ramsay to their father,\n     Colin Bower;\n       Whereas Colin Bower has been granted only 4 visitations\n     with his sons in the more than 3 years since the abduction;\n       Whereas the United States has expressed its commitment,\n     through the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of\n     International Child Abduction, done at the Hague October 25,\n     1980, ``to protect children internationally from the harmful\n     effects of their wrongful removal or retention and to\n     establish procedures to ensure their prompt return to the\n     State of their habitual residence''; and\n\n[[Page H7507]]\n\n       Whereas the United States and 69 other countries that are\n     partners to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of\n     International Child Abduction have agreed, and encourage all\n     other countries to concur, that the appropriate court for\n     determining the best interests of children in custody matters\n     is the court in the country of their habitual residence: Now,\n     therefore, be it\n       Resolved, That the House of Representatives calls on\n     government officials and competent courts in Egypt to assist\n     in the safe and immediate return of Noor and Ramsay Bower to\n     the United States.\n\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from\nFlorida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel)\neach will control 20 minutes.\n  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.\n\n                             General Leave\n\n  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all\nMembers may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks\nand to insert extraneous material into the Record on this measure.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the\ngentlewoman from Florida?\n  There was no objection.\n  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may\nconsume.\n  Mr. Speaker, 3\\1/2\\ years ago, Colin Bower's two sons, Noor and\nRamsay, were abducted from the United States by their mother in\nviolation of the custody ruling given by the courts of the Commonwealth\nof Massachusetts. The boys' mother used forged passports to remove the\nboys from the United States and take them to her native land of Egypt,\ndespite the fact that a court ruling stipulated that she was not to\nremove them from Massachusetts. Last I checked, Egypt was not in Red\nSox country.\n  One of the objectives of the Hague Convention, Mr. Speaker, on the\nCivil Aspects of International Child Abduction--of which Egypt and the\nUnited States are members--is to ensure that custody rights and access\nunder the law of one contracting state are respected in the others.\nThat means helping to bring Noor and Ramsay home to their father.\n  The resolution is not calling for anything extraordinary. We are\nsimply appealing to the Egyptian Government to uphold its\nresponsibilities and return these two boys to their rightful home.\n  I would like to thank my colleague from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for\nworking so diligently to secure the safe and speedy return of these\nboys to their dad. This bipartisan measure deserves our unanimous\nsupport.\n  With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.\n\n                              {time}  1300\n\n  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 193 and\nyield myself as much time as I may consume.\n  This resolution calls on the new Government of Egypt to immediately\nreturn two kidnapped American children to their father in the United\nStates.\n  In August of 2009, Colin Bower of Wellesley, Massachusetts, received\na terrifying phone call that his two children--Noor and Ramsay, ages 9\nand 7 at the time--had been abducted to Egypt by his ex-wife, Mirvat el\nNady. Mr. Bower was granted sole legal custody of the children after\nhis divorce.\n  El Nady lost custody over the children because the Massachusetts\ncourts found her to have a drug addiction which put the safety of the\nboys at risk. She utilized falsified Egyptian passports to smuggle the\nchildren out of the country on an Egypt Air flight and is now wanted by\nFederal and local officials on charges of kidnapping.\n  The facts of this case are heartbreaking, and I want to thank my good\nfriend and colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), for\nworking so hard on this resolution and trying to reunite Mr. Bower with\nhis children.\n  The resolution before us asks for three simple things: first, that\nEgypt bring about the safe return of Noor and Ramsay Bower to their\nfather, Colin Bower, in the United States; secondly, that Egypt\nimmediately stop using its own security forces to aid and abet the\ncontinued unlawful retention of these two United States citizens; and,\nthirdly and finally, it urges Egypt and all other nations to join and\nfully participate in The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of\nInternational Child Abduction and to establish procedures to promptly\nand equitably address the tragedy of child abductions.\n  During this holiday season, we are reminded that children are our\nmost important and cherished resource, and it is a tragedy for everyone\ninvolved when they are taken away and denied access to one of their\nparents.\n  Egypt's Government must do better. What the Mubarak and now Morsi\ngovernments have done is actively work to make sure Mr. Bower is not\npart of his children's lives. This is unjust, illegal, tragic, and\nunacceptable; and sadly, Mr. Speaker, this is but one of 31 separate\ncases involving American children wrongfully removed from the United\nStates to Egypt.\n  Mr. Speaker, I ask that all my colleagues join me in supporting this\nimportant resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.\n  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.\n  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from\nMassachusetts (Mr. Frank).\n  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, my thanks go to the chair of\nthe committee, the gentlewoman from Florida, the ranking member from\nCalifornia (Mr. Berman), and the new ranking member from New York (Mr.\nEngel) for giving us a chance to try to achieve not just justice but\nlove, the love of a father for children for whom he grieves daily\nbecause they were illegally and abusively kidnapped.\n  As the gentlewoman from Florida pointed out, this kidnapping was in\nviolation of a decision by the family court in Massachusetts giving\nfull custody to the father. Members will not be surprised to learn that\nthere have been very few complaints, that I've ever heard of, of there\nbeing a bias in favor of fathers in those courts. Some say there's a\nbias in favor of mothers. There is certainly a presumption, as I\nunderstand it, in favor of mothers. So for a court to say unequivocally\nthat the father gets sole control is a strong indication of the\nunfitness of the mother.\n  And so the case is very clear; but I want in my remarks, Mr. Speaker,\nto address the Government of Egypt. There's a new government in Egypt.\nThere are points of friction between Egypt and the United States. We\nhave a great interest in a good relationship. The foundation of peace\nin the Middle East began in 1979 with the Camp David Accords. America\nhas consistently provided Egypt with more foreign assistance than all\nbut a handful of nations. And in this current period when there are\nissues that could arise that could divide us, I urge the Egyptian\nGovernment not to put or keep in place a serious problem, not an\nirritant. It's more than an irritant when a loving father who has been\ngiven custody of his children because of the court's decision that the\nmother is unfit by virtue of a drug addiction, when he is denied the\nability to have his paternal instincts honored, to be able to honor and\nprotect his children. And I urge the Government of Egypt: do not\nminimize the extent to which this will be an obstacle.\n  I will not be here in a week, Mr. Speaker. I didn't think I'd be here\nthis week. But I know that my successor in Congress, Mr. Kennedy, and\nmy colleagues, the chair of the committee and the ranking member, will\nnot forget this. The Government of Egypt will be seeking from this\nHouse support of measures, and there are a lot of reasons why we want\nto work together. I plead with them, do not allow what to us is a very\nserious issue--perhaps to some in Egypt it appears minor--but to have a\nfather's children taken away from him and kidnapped with the implicit\ncooperation of the prior Egyptian Government is a grave problem. If the\ncurrent Egyptian Government does not correct this situation, it will be\nan obstacle to the kind of cooperation that is in our mutual interest.\n  I hope we get a very large, indeed unanimous, vote for this\nresolution and the Egyptian Government understands that it is not just\njustice but its best interests that call for compliance.\n  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.\n  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute to again reiterate\nthe fact that I support this bill very strongly and also, since Mr.\nFrank spoke before me, I want to, as I mentioned before with some of\nthe other people, tell him\n\n[[Page H7508]]\n\nhow much I appreciate being his colleague through the years and how\nmuch not only I will miss him and the Congress will miss him but that\nthe country will miss him. It's been wonderful to call him a colleague,\neven better for me to call him a friend, and I wish him the best in all\nfuture endeavors. Thank you very much, Barney.\n  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.\n  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I also will miss Mr. Frank for his\nfriendship and his great insight on many of the issues, and I thank him\nso much for caring deeply about constituents in his district, and we\nwill continue to fight on their behalf.\n  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of our time.\n  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.\nRes. 193, calling on the new government of Egypt to honor the rule of\nlaw and immediately return American citizens Noor and Ramsey Bower to\nthe United States. It is absolutely appalling and inexcusable that more\nthan three years after a textbook abduction, the new government of\nEgypt has yet to right the terrible wrong that has been perpetrated\nupon Noor and Ramsey, as well as upon their father, Colin Bower.\n  Noor and Ramsey were abducted and hidden with the assistance of the\nprevious Egyptian government August 2009. The boys' mother had lost\ncustody of the children in the United States because of her drug use\nand psychological problems. Their father, Mr. Bower, was their primary\ncaregiver.\n  For the last three years, Colin Bower has been doing everything in\nhis power to find out if his sons are safe and to be reunited with\nthem. In July of 2011, he testified before my subcommittee on Africa,\nGlobal Health, and Human Rights--and conveyed his frustration over the\nlack of priority abduction cases receive in U.S. foreign policy.\n  This sentiment is shared by the thousands of American parents whose\nAmerican children have been abducted to foreign jurisdictions, often in\nviolation of valid U.S. court orders. Every year, more than a thousand\nadditional families are anguished by an abduction. We are losing our\nchildren and are not bringing them home.\n  At that same hearing, we heard from Michael Elias, an Iraqi veteran\nfrom New Jersey, who told this committee of his anguish after his ex-\nwife used her Japanese consulate connections to abduct Jade and Michael\nJr., after the New Jersey court had ordered surrender of passports and\njoint custody.\n  His ex-wife flagrantly disregarded those valid court orders telling\nMichael Elias, ``My country [Japan] will protect me.'' She was right.\nBoth the U.S. embassy personnel and Mr. Elias have been unable to even\nsee the American citizen children since 2008--much less return them to\ntheir home.\n  The U.S. talks about the problem with Japan, and talks, and talks--\nbut Japan has yet to issue and enforce a court order to return a single\nAmerican child.\n  In the case of Egypt, we have provided more than $4 billion in aid\nand debt relief since the abduction of Noor and Ramsey in 2009--despite\nthe fact that Egypt has continued to flagrantly violate valid U.S.\ncourt orders, prevent Mr. Bower from seeing his sons, and otherwise aid\nand abet a kidnapping.\n  The United States can and must do more to demand that our would-be\nallies respect the rule of law and return our abducted children. H.\nRes. 193 is a step in the right direction. Specifically, H. Res. 193\n``urges Egypt and all other nations--such as Japan--to join and fully\nparticipate in the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of\nInternational Child Abduction, and to establish procedures to promptly\nand equitably address the tragedy of child abductions, given the\nserious consequences to children of not expeditiously resolving these\ncases and of denying them access to a parent.''\n  H. Res. 193 also urges the House of Representatives to take other\nappropriate measures to ensure that Hague Convention partners return\nabducted children to the United States in compliance with the Hague\nConvention's provisions--and to work aggressively for the return of\nchildren abducted from the United States to countries that are not\nHague Convention Partners and for visitation rights for left-behind\nparents while return is negotiated, establishing memorandums of\nunderstanding where necessary for the expeditious return of children.\n  Mr. Speaker, it may soon be time for this body to consider additional\nsteps if we do not see immediate cooperation from our would-be allies\nin the return of American children. H. Res. 193 is ample warning to\nEgypt, Japan, and other nations that American patience with abductions\nhas run out. I strongly support the passage of H. Res. 193--and the\npassage of additional steps if the warning is not heeded.\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the\ngentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the House suspend the\nrules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 193, as amended.\n  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the\nrules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.\n  The title of the resolution was amended so as to read: ``Calling for\nthe safe and immediate return of Noor and Ramsay Bower to the United\nStates.''.\n  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgH7506"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 183.9765850454569, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}