[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 114 (Wednesday, July 10, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4498-S4499]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2211. Mr. COTTON submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle F of title XII, add the following:
SEC. 1291. ILLEGITIMATE COURT COUNTER ACTION ACT.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act''.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States and Israel are not parties to the
Rome Statute or members of the International Criminal Court,
and therefore the International Criminal Court has no
legitimacy or jurisdiction over the United States or Israel.
(2) On May 20, 2024, the Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced arrest warrant
applications for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and should be condemned
in the strongest possible terms.
(3) The bipartisan American Servicemembers' Protection Act
(22 U.S.C. 7421 et seq.) was enacted in 2002 to protect
United States military personnel, United States officials,
and officials and military personnel of certain allied
countries against criminal prosecution by an international
criminal court to which the United States is not party,
stating, ``In addition to exposing members of the Armed
Forces of the United States to the risk of international
criminal prosecution, the Rome Statute creates a risk that
the President and other senior elected and appointed
officials of the United States Government may be prosecuted
by the International Criminal Court.''.
(4) The International Criminal Court's actions against
Israel are illegitimate and baseless, including the
preliminary examination and investigation of Israel and
applications for arrest warrants against Israeli officials,
which create a damaging precedent that threatens the United
States, Israel, and all United States partners who have not
submitted to the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction.
(5) The United States must oppose any action by the
International Criminal Court against the United States,
Israel, or any other ally of the United States that has not
consented to International Criminal Court jurisdiction or is
not a state party to the Rome Statute.
(c) Sanctions With Respect to the International Criminal
Court.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and on an ongoing basis
thereafter, if the International Criminal Court is engaging
in any attempt to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute
any protected person, the President shall impose--
(A) the sanctions described in paragraph (2) with respect
to any foreign person the President determines--
(i) has directly engaged in or otherwise aided any effort
by the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest,
detain, or prosecute a protected person;
(ii) has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided
financial, material, or technological support for, or goods
or services to or in support of any effort by the
International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain,
or prosecute a protected person; or
(iii) is owned or controlled by, or is currently acting or
purports to have acted, directly or indirectly, for or on
behalf of any person that directly engages in any effort by
the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest,
detain, or prosecute a protected person; and
(B) the sanctions described in paragraph (2)(B) with
respect to the immediate family members of each foreign
person who is subject to sanctions pursuant to subparagraph
(A).
(2) Sanctions described.--The sanctions described in this
paragraph with respect to a foreign person described in
paragraph (1) are the following:
(A) Property blocking.--The President shall exercise all of
the powers granted by the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary
to block and prohibit all transactions in all property and
interests in property of any foreign person described in
paragraph (1)(A) if such property and interests in property
are in the United States, come within the United States, or
are or come within the possession or control of a United
States person.
(B) Aliens inadmissible for visas, admission, or parole.--
(i) Visas, admission, or parole.--In the case of an alien
described in paragraph (1), the alien is--
(I) inadmissible to the United States;
(II) ineligible to receive a visa or other documentation to
enter the United States; and
(III) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or paroled into
the United States or to receive any other benefit under the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
(ii) Current visas revoked.--
(I) In general.--The visa or other entry documentation of
an alien described in subparagraph (A) shall be revoked,
regardless of when such visa or other entry documentation was
issued.
(II) Immediate effect.--A revocation under clause (i)
shall--
(aa) take effect immediately; and
(bb) automatically cancel any other valid visa or entry
documentation that is in the alien's possession.
(3) Implementation; penalties.--
(A) Implementation.--The President may exercise all
authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702
and 1704) to carry out this section.
(B) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this
section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry
out this section shall be subject to the penalties set forth
in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705)
to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act
described in subsection (a) of that section.
(4) Notification to congress.--Not later than 10 days after
any imposition of sanctions pursuant to paragraph (1), the
President shall brief and provide written notification to the
appropriate congressional committees regarding the imposition
of sanctions that shall include--
(A) a description of the foreign person or persons subject
to the imposition of such sanctions, including the foreign
person's role at or relation to the International Criminal
Court;
(B) a description of any activity undertaken by such
foreign person or persons in support of efforts to
investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected
person; and
(C) the specific sanctions imposed on such foreign person
or persons.
(5) Waiver.--
(A) In general.--The President may, on a case-by-case basis
and for periods not to exceed 90 days each, waive the
application of sanctions imposed or maintained with respect
to a foreign person under this section if the President
submits to the appropriate congressional committees before
the waiver is to take effect a report that contains a
determination of the President that the waiver is vital to
the national security interests of the United States.
(B) Contents.--Each report required by subparagraph (A)
with respect to a waiver of the application of sanctions
imposed or maintained with respect to a foreign person under
this section, or the renewal of such a waiver, shall
include--
[[Page S4499]]
(i) a specific and detailed rationale for the determination
that the waiver is vital to the national security interests
of the United States;
(ii) a description of the activity that resulted in the
foreign person being subject to sanctions; and
(iii) a detailed description and list of actions the United
States has taken to--
(I) stop the International Criminal Court from engaging in
any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute all
protected persons; and
(II) permanently close, withdraw, end, or otherwise
terminate any preliminary examination, investigation, or any
other effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute all
protected persons.
(C) Form.--Each report required by subparagraph (A) shall
be submitted in unclassified form but may include a
classified annex.
(6) Special rule.--The President may terminate the
sanctions with respect to the foreign persons described in
paragraph (1) if the President certifies in writing to the
appropriate congressional committees that the International
Criminal Court--
(A) has ceased engaging in any effort to investigate,
arrest, detain, or prosecute all protected persons; and
(B) has permanently closed, withdrawn, ended, and otherwise
terminated any preliminary examination, investigation, or any
other effort by the International Criminal Court to
investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute all protected
persons.
(d) Rescission of Funds for International Criminal Court.--
(1) In general.--Effective on the date of the enactment of
this Act, any amounts appropriated for the International
Criminal Court and available for obligation as of such date
of enactment are hereby rescinded.
(2) Prohibition on future appropriations.--On and after the
date of the enactment of this Act, no appropriated funds may
be used for the International Criminal Court.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Admitted alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien''
have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
(2) Ally of the united states.--The term ``ally of the
United States'' means--
(A) a government of a member country of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization; or
(B) a government of a major non-NATO ally, as that term is
defined by section 2013(7) of the American Service-Members'
Protection Act (22 U.S.C. 7432(7)).
(3) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on the
Judiciary of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on
Financial Services, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives.
(4) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a
person that is not a United States person.
(5) Immediate family member.--The term ``immediate family
member'', with respect to a foreign person, means the spouse,
parent, sibling, or adult child of the person.
(6) International criminal court; rome statute.--The terms
``International Criminal Court'' and ``Rome Statute'' have
the meaning given those terms in section 2013 of the American
Service-Members' Protection Act (22 U.S.C. 7432).
(7) Protected person.--The term ``protected person''
means--
(A) any United States person, unless the United States
provides formal consent to International Criminal Court
jurisdiction and is a state party to the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court, including--
(i) current or former members of the Armed Forces of the
United States;
(ii) current or former elected or appointed officials of
the United States Government; and
(iii) any other person currently or formerly employed by or
working on behalf of the United States Government; and
(B) any foreign person that is a citizen or lawful resident
of an ally of the United States that has not consented to
International Criminal Court jurisdiction or is not a state
party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court, including--
(i) current or former members of the Armed Forces of such
ally of the United States;
(ii) current or former elected or appointed government
officials of such ally of the United States; and
(iii) any other person currently or formerly employed by or
working on behalf of such a government.
(8) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means--
(A) an individual who is a United States citizen or an
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United
States;
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the United States
or any jurisdiction within the United States, including a
foreign branch of such an entity; or
(C) any person in the United States.
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