Paul Toland on US House of Representatives vote against child abductions to Japan 416-1

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Hi Blog.  Busy day today speaking today and tomorrow at the University of British Columbia, so no commentary.  Important news.  Arudou Debito in Vancouver

September 29 2010

Paul Toland writes:

I know coincidences happen, but the coincidence of timing of today’s date seems almost too significant to be simple coincidence. It was one year ago today, on September 29, 2009, that major networks throughout the United States picked up on the story of a Tennessee man (Chris Savoie) who had been arrested in Japan for trying to recover his children. On that date, a number of parents appeared on major news programs throughout the US to discuss Christopher’s case.

As important as that day was for bringing the child abduction issue into the national spotlight, today was even more significant. In fact, from beginning to end, today was perhaps the most significant day ever for advancing the issue of returning abducted children from Japan. Here is how the day unfolded:

The day started with a press conference at the House Triangle at 11:00 AM. Present were CNN, the Associated Press, Kyodo News Service and others. Congressman Moran began with a passionate speech condemning Japan for Child Abduction. He then introduced parents. First up was Chris Savoie, followed by Paul Toland. At that point, Congressman Chris Smith showed up and as always, he was able to speak eloquently of the abduction issue without the assistance of any notes. Congressman Smith is so vested in our issue that he can simply speak from the heart when speaking of our issue. Next up was Nancy Elias, followed by Doug Berg, William Lake and Patrick Braden. All of the parents spoke eloquently, and the common factor among all of us was the love for our children. Each of us had something different to add. From Chris’ discussion of how the Resolution has already been used to prevent abductions, to Doug’s discussion of his bedtime talks with his kids that are now only memories, to Nancy’s tears that brought the rest of us to tears, it was a great opportunity to get our stories out to the world.

After having a quick lunch, we headed over to the House Floor to watch the vote, but Congressman Smith’s staffer sent us an email informing us of a 2 PM Foreign Affairs Hearing at which Assistant Secretary Campbell would be testifying and that Congressman Smith would then be asking questions at the hearing about Japan Child Abduction. We immediately left the House and headed over to the Rayburn Building for the Hearing. Upon entering the hearing room, Assistant Secretary Campbell saw the lineup of Bring Abducted Children Home (BAC Home) members in the second row and immediately came back and spoke to us, holding up the hearing for a few minutes. He told us about some recent White House involvement in our issue. Congressman Smith once again gave an amazing opening speech about child abduction in Japan (there was a large Japanese press contingent). Assistant Secretary Campbell then opened his speech with an extended discussion of Japan Child Abduction. Later in the question and answer session, Congressman Smith asked some pointed and direct questions about whether or not President Obama discussed the abduction with Prime Minister Kan at the recent UN General Assembly in New York. Assistant Secretary Campbell was somewhat evasive in his answer, stating that Secretary Clinton addressed the issue, but not discussing whether President Obama addressed the issue.

Immediately after the Q&A, Congressman Smith had to depart for the floor vote on H.Res 1326, so we accompanied him to Congress and sat in the “Member’s guests” section of the House Gallery to watch the vote. As we walked into the gallery, the entire Congress was cheering and looking up at the gallery to exactly where we were. As we looked around we realized that we were surrounded by New York City Firefighters and Police Officers. Congress had just passed the 911 First Responder’s Bill to pay for the variety of heath conditions incurred by the brave firefighters and police who were the first to respond on 9/11/2001. It was an honor to be in their presence.

Soon after, the vote came on H. Res 1326. 416-1, with only Ron Paul of Texas voting against it. Randy Collins has already been in touch with Ron Paul’s opponent in this November’s election and they are VERY interested in Ron Paul’s vote in favor of the abduction of US Citizen children to Japan. Additionally, there were some Congressmen who voted for both the bill preceeding and the bill immediately after H.Res 1326, leading me to believe that those Congressmen “abstained” from voting on H.Res 1326 due to some possible Japanese influence.

From there we went back to the House offices to thank both Congressman Smith and Congressman Moran’s offices. While we were in Congressman Moran’s office, he walked in and a big cheer went up. He presented BAC Home members with the poster he used at the Press Conference earlier in the day, and signed the poster for us, writing “your children would be very proud of you” on the poster. We concluded the day with a visit to Ron Paul’s office, but, as we figured, they would not see us, so we left a BAC Home book with them.

Overall, it was a whirlwind day, and without a doubt our biggest day yet. However, as we have said again and again, today was only the “first step” and we still have a way to go before we are reunited with our children. As mentioned in my speech today, there is an old Irish Proverb that states “Hope is the physician of each misery.” While hope alone can never fully heal us, hope is the physician that provides us with the daily medicine we need to remain standing, with our heads held high, and carry on to fight another day for our children. Today, Congressman Jim Moran, Congressman Chris Smith and their colleagues in the House of Representatives have provided us with hope. Hope that Japan can change its’ ways and join the family of nations that understands that children require love from both parents to grow up healthy in body and mind. Hope that President Obama and Secretary Clinton will address this problem forcefully and demonstrate to the world that they truly care about the security and well-being of abducted American children. Hope that someday soon we may again be able to share the love of our children. Hope that Erika Toland may someday meet the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who are waiting for her with open arms, and hope that Erika and I are reunited once again, so she may know and feel the love I so wish to give to her. Thank you all. Sincerely, Paul

www.bachome.org
ENDS

MEDIA:

U.S. lawmakers pressure Japan on child custody rights
Thursday 30th September 2010, 05:47 AM JST

http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/us-lawmakers-push-japan-on-child-custody-rights

WASHINGTON —
The U.S. House of Representatives turned up the pressure Wednesday on Japan, strongly urging Tokyo to return immediately half-Japanese children that lawmakers say have been kidnapped from their American parents.

The House voted overwhelmingly for a nonbinding resolution that “condemns the abduction and retention” of children held in Japan “in violation of their human rights and United States and international law.”

The resolution, which passed 416 to 1, also calls for Japan to allow Americans to visit their children and for Tokyo to join a 1980 international convention on child abduction that would allow for the quick return of the children to America.

Democratic Rep Jim Moran told reporters that the resolution sends a strong signal to Japan that the U.S. Congress “is watching and expecting action.”

Republican Rep. Chris Smith said, “Americans are fed up with our friend and ally Japan and their pattern of noncooperation.”

The Japanese Embassy said in a statement that Japan is sympathetic to the plight of children caught in custody battles between Japanese and American citizens and “is continuing to make sincere efforts to deal with this issue from the standpoint that the welfare of the child should be of the utmost importance.”

The United States often calls Japan its lynchpin ally in Asia, and tens of thousands of U.S. troops are stationed in Japan. But Japan’s stance on custody rights has been a source of friction. U.S. lawmakers say that at least 121 American children currently are being held in Japan.

Japanese law allows only one parent to have custody in cases of divorce, usually the mother. Activists say the court system in Japan is tilted against fathers and foreigners.

Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, told lawmakers at a hearing Wednesday that the issue is a priority, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton raising it in meetings with her Japanese counterpart.

Campbell said that he would also raise the matter when he travels to Tokyo next week and that Japan should act urgently.

“We’re going to need to see some progress on this,” Campbell said.

Christopher Savoie, a father who was arrested last year after going to Japan in a failed attempt to reclaim his two children, joined lawmakers and other fathers at a news conference before the House vote. Japan, Savoie said, should be ashamed for keeping parents from seeing their children.

However, the problem is not only restricted to abductions by Japanese citizens, according to William Lake, whose daughter was taken without his knowledge by his ex-wife, who is not Japanese, to Osaka.

In several cases like Lake’s, non-Japanese parents have fled to Japan with their children so as to take advantage of permissive child custody laws that have led some to describe Japan as a ‘‘black hole’’ for abducted children, a fact that illustrates the depth and seriousness of the problems with the current system.

‘‘Neither I, my ex-wife, or my daughter are Japanese in any way shape or form,’’ Lake noted, adding ‘‘The Japanese government should have no say in this issue whatsoever, other than to choose what airline they’re going to send the children home on.’

Wire reports
ENDS

21 comments on “Paul Toland on US House of Representatives vote against child abductions to Japan 416-1

  • This is good news that the pressure is building. How do you think Japan will react Arudou San?

    — As in the GOJ? Probably defensively.

    Reply
  • “We (Japan) have a unique culture….you don’t understand”

    Or other similar pathetic words, will be Japan’s reaction.

    or the usual, deflection:

    “The US abdutcs suspected criminals in secret to bases around the world, we (Japan) hardly think the US can lecture us (Japan) on human rights”

    Reply
  • Dang, you are quick. I was just gonna post the Japan Times article on it(already posted it on Facebook). Anyway, it is good that America is putting pressure on Japan for this. Now, if they will listen or not is another question….

    Reply
  • Just let the Chinese military satellites catch the Seventh Fleet sailing back to American ports en masse, and the tune out of Nagatacho would change. Unfortunately, we can’t stiff the South Koreans like that.

    Reply
  • As for the “1”, Rep. Ron Paul, he has a history of voting against pretty much any resolution against another country on the MYOB principle. So for all intents and purposes, the vote was unanimous. Meaningless, but still unanimous.

    Reply
  • As mentioned, the GOJ will probably react in the predictable way they always have. Though I’d like to hope this time will be different. Good to see the screws getting tightened though.

    The way I see it, they can either do nothing, and the pressure will only build more until they can’t ignore it; or they can actually be proactive and get the hint. Either way, something was accomplished.

    On a semi-related note, I wonder what the average Japanese thinks of all this?

    Reply
  • Through C-Span you can access the powerful, heart-wrenching speeches delivered by Democratic Representatives Smith and Moran in support of House Resolution 1326 calling on Japan to address the issue of child abduction.

    Click on the link below, and drag the icon at the bottom of the video to the 3:24:30 mark. The HS 1326 portion is just under 30 minutes long.

    http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/295685-2

    Reply
  • John (Yokohama) says:

    What a load of junk from the Japanese embassy. The Japanese government has done nothing to date to deal with this issue. Just words.

    Reply
  • Carlos Smith says:

    The very first step in this process should be for the Japanese Government to give the physical address of these children, allow counselor visitations to determine the physical appearance and health of the children, and immediately reunite left behind parents with their children.

    The Japanese Government should not underestimate the resentment and anger building inside and outside of the country on this issue. Procrastinating and never ending debates by Japanese Politicians will add fuel to the flame. Its been far too long for weigh too many parents to hear them utter the words more patience. We simply do not have any gotdam more!!!

    Reply
  • I wouldn’t read too much into Ron Paul’s rejection of 1326. Ron Paul, aka Dr. “No” says “no” to EVERYTHING: he was also the lone dissenter in the resolution “expressing condolences to and solidarity with the people of Haiti” and the resolution condemning the Iranian government and supporting the dissenters.

    Reply
  • Rep. James Moran (VA District 8 ) gave the best rational, speech, and examples regarding this issue. I’m glad that my (probably last) vote in the U.S. will go to him.

    Reply
  • Eido @13:

    Yes, get this, though. Ron Paul is for extremely limited government, a “government of the people”. Yet he has no problem promoting his SON for Senator from Kentucky. And his son is a big libertarian, except when it comes to Medicare, since many of his patients (he’s an eye doctor) are elderly and have the socialized system. So the libertarian’s son makes his living taking money from old people who are in a socialized medical program.

    These people make me sick with their hypocrisy. They talk down our government. Then, live off it.

    — We’re digressing. Back on topic.

    Reply
  • Does anyone here realize that the resolution is non-binding and therefore means basically nothing?

    — Disagree. Better to have it than not.

    Reply
  • Nice to see Ron Paul sticking to his principle of non-intervention.
    He’s simply against having the US gov. pushing around foreign countries and telling them what to do, and probably not against Japan signing the convention and sending abducted children back to their country.

    Reply
  • John (Yokohama) says:

    http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/campbell-hopeful-japan-will-join-convention-on-parental-abduction

    “Campbell hopeful Japan will join convention on child abductions
    Thursday 07th October, 05:33 AM JST

    TOKYO —
    U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell expressed hope Wednesday that Japan will soon join an international convention to help resolve child custody cases in which American parents are kept from seeing their children in Japan following failed marriages with Japanese nationals.

    ‘‘I’m hopeful,’’ Campbell told a group of reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. ‘‘I have seen a substantial change in recent months in Japanese attitudes about the parental custody and abduction issues…and I believe a process has begun in Japan.’‘

    During his previous visits to Japan, Campbell has repeatedly urged the Japanese government to join the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    ‘‘I think Japanese friends know that signing the Hague Convention is the necessary and logical step for a proud, compassionate, law-driven country like Japan to take,’’ Campbell said Wednesday.

    The convention provides a procedure for the prompt return of such children to their habitual country of residence and protects parental access rights.”

    Reply
  • John (Yokohama) says:

    1. “prudently consider the matter”… Whereas prudently apparently means “stall for decades” and perhaps decades more, if Japan signs it all.

    2. Gotta love how foreigners and crime go in the same sentence as if they are one and the same.

    “CABINET INTERVIEW
    Yanagida won’t meddle with prosecutors
    New justice minister to establish third-party panel to study system

    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101009a3.html

    “On whether Japan should be party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which ensures international cooperation to promptly return abducted children, particularly those spirited away to another country by an estranged spouse, Yanagida only said, “We will work with the Foreign Ministry and prudently consider the matter.”

    On immigration policy, he said his ministry should handle it “strictly and smoothly at the same time,” adding that Japan needs more foreigners for economic growth but must also ensure public safety.””

    Reply
  • @Miles, every link you posted is now 404.

    I thought newspaper articles used permalinks to avoid this kind of thing.

    Have they been deleted?

    — Not always permalinked. That’s why we try to archive articles with links here.

    Reply

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