After months of anticipation, US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Howard Berman (D-CA), has taken a great step for currently abducted American children, by putting H. Res. 1326 on the calendar for Tuesday, September 28, 2010.
Currently eighteen Republicans and seventeen Democrats have co-signed H. Res. 1326. Of those in Foreign Affairs, seven Democrats and five Republicans have co-signed H. Res. 1326; well beyond the ten needed.
Douglas Berg, a left-behind parent said, “House Resolution 1326 is a critical step in bringing awareness to Japan’s continued harboring of illegally abducted children to their nation. I hope one day this will bring home my children, Gunnar and Kianna”.
Randy Collins, father of an abducted child said, “It is great to see that House Resolution 1326 will be making it to the House floor this next week for a full vote. This is the first step towards holding Japan accountable for its sanctioning in the abduction of innocent American Children”.
Japan has become the haven state for abducting parents. Since 1994, three-hundred known children have been abducted to the nation of Japan from the United States. Japan to this date has never returned a single child to the United States. The United States is not alone in addressing national concerns over Japan’s blatant disregard for children abducted from their countries. Australia and ambassadors from Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom have called upon Japan to return children abducted illegally to Japan.
Ken Connelly, a former parental child abduction victim and author, stated, “I am in great hopes that our elected Representatives will do what is right and unanimously vote in favor of House Resolution 1326 this coming Tuesday. This Resolution is finally a move in the right direction”.
By Ken Connelly