The murder of a 20-year-old Mountlake Terrace woman in 2000 was used as an example in Congress this week to push for stricter laws protecting foreign mail-order brides.
Bills introduced a year ago that aimed to make sure prospective foreign brides have background information about possible husbands have not moved in the House or the Senate. But the idea has generated considerable attention nationally by women’s groups and organizations that focus on violence against women.
The bill would require prospective husbands to undergo criminal background checks, among other things, and that information would be made available to the potential brides.
The measure is somewhat based on state legislation enacted after the December 2000 strangulation death of Anastasia King, who at age 18 traveled from the former Soviet state of Kyrgyzstan to marry Indle King Jr.
She went through an international marriage broker, who introduced her to King. He brought her to this country, married her and later helped another man strangle her.
King was convicted in March 2002 and sentenced to nearly 29 years behind bars. His accomplice also was convicted.
The federal law isn’t expected to pass this session of Congress, but legislators are buoyed by the momentum of the bills. Abbey Blake, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said she expects the measure to be introduced again next year.
“We’re really encouraged by the early support we’ve gotten,” Blake said.
Seventeen Democrats and Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors in the House, Blake said. The issue of international marriage brokers weighs on the minds of people in Washington state more than the rest of the nation because of well publicized incidents such as Anastasia King’s death, she said.
Nationally, lawmakers are beginning to grasp the importance of the legislation, she added.
On the Senate side, primary sponsor Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is looking for a Republican co-sponsor to get the bill moving in the Senate. Cantwell this week testified before the Foreign Relations Committee in an effort to find Republicans who might sign on.
Chief among the prospects is Kansas Republican Sen. Sam Brownback, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Cantwell spokeswoman Charla Neuman said.
A Republican co-sponsor is necessary for the bill to move through the Republican-controlled Senate, Neuman said.
International marriage brokers arrange 4,000 to 6,000 marriages a year between U.S. men and foreign women, Cantwell said.
“Tragically, it is becoming apparent that there is a growing epidemic of domestic abuse among couples who meet via international marriage brokers,” Cantwell said in a testimony.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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