Nick Lampson: “I rise today in hopes that my colleagues will be moved by the stories that I tell and help bring our children home.…”

“I rise today in hopes that my colleagues will be moved by the stories that I tell and help bring our children home. Since February 16, I have been coming down to the floor and talking about American children who have been abducted to foreign countries, asking my colleagues, the media, and the American people to focus their attention on these kids, and the message is starting to get out. Mr. Speaker, just this Sunday, The Washington Post ran a two-page article on Joseph Cooke and his two children, Danny and Michelle. I spoke about Joseph and his children on April 5, and this article details their tragic story of abduction to Germany. Mr. Speaker, there are 10,000 American children out there whose stories are similar, 10,000 American children and their parents who experience the same kind of pain and devastation every day of their separation. These daily 1-minutes, events and the resolution I introduced along with the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) are just the tip of the iceberg. This Congress must take action to solve this problem and help reunite parents with their children. Mr. Speaker, we must bring our children home.”