The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the U.S. Congress will hold hearings on Wednesday, December 2 on International Child Abduction and Parental Access with a list of witnesses that includes left-behind parents in several high-profile U.S. abduction cases.  The hearings are scheduled for 10:30 am in the Longworth House Office Building.  In addition to a panel of four fathers, the Commission will hear from a number of experts including Ernie Allen, who is president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and Judge Peter Messitte of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, who is a member of the Hague Judicial Network for the Child Abduction Convention.

The witnesses are likely to address two bills that have been introduced in Congress in response to the Sean Goldman abduction case in Brazil.  H.R. 3240, the International Child Abduction Prevention Act of 2009, is currently pending before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law.  H.R. 2702, the Suspend Brazil’s GSP Trade Status Bill, has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.  David Goldman’s lawyer, Patricia Apy, will also testify.