GOP lawmaker demands action from Japan PM on key issue impacting hundreds of US children abroad

FIRST ON FOX: A Republican congressman has personally delivered a letter to Japan’s prime minister urging him to take action in order to address the issue of hundreds of American children being abducted and held in Japan by parents who took the children from the other parent without their consent.

"As our two countries continue to take steps to strengthen our democratic, economic and security ties, I would like to draw your attention to an open wound that threatens to derail many ongoing efforts," GOP Rep. Chris Smith wrote in a letter that he hand-delivered to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

"To date, more than 500 American children have been abducted to Japan by one of their respective parents and remain separated from their American parent. These abductions often occur against pre-existing court orders and, in some cases, with the passport assistance of the Japanese government."

Smith’s letter cites examples of parents who have been unable to access their children in Japan due in part to Japanese law not recognizing joint custody. One of those parents, Jeffrey Morehouse, has testified at several congressional hearings chaired by Smith about his struggle to gain access to his son Mochi since 2010 despite Japanese law recognizing his legal custody in Washington state.

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"For the sake of the children who are suffering, and for the sake of U.S. and Japanese relations, I seek your public commitment to reunite these families," Smith wrote in the letter. "I respectfully request that you work with the United States to create a process by which families can be reunited and heal."

Smith points out in his letter that the House of Representatives passed H. Res. 1326 in