[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S402-S403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
International Criminal Court
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, this past November, in an extraordinary and
illegitimate move, the International Criminal Court issued arrest
warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The court's decision was troubling on multiple levels. First, the
International Criminal Court, or ICC, has no jurisdiction over Israel
or its citizens. Neither Israel nor the United States is a party to the
treaty establishing the court, and thus the court has zero authority
over Israel or its leaders.
Second, the court's clear suggestion of moral equivalence between the
Government of Israel and the Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel and
oppress their own people is beyond the pale. Israel wages war against
terrorists; Hamas wages war against innocents.
The only reason Israel has been waging war against Hamas is because
Hamas chose to launch a massive attack on innocent civilians that
resulted in 1,200 deaths and the taking of approximately 250 hostages,
more than 80 of whom are still in captivity today.
When it emerged last year that the ICC was planning to seek warrants
for Israeli officials, a Republican-controlled House of Representatives
brought up legislation to sanction those responsible at the ICC. Forty-
two Democrats voted for it, but the legislation was dead on arrival in
the U.S. Senate, with the Democrat leader refusing to bring it up for a
vote.
When the ICC released its warrants last November, I promised that if
Democrats would not bring ICC sanctions legislation to the floor for a
vote, I would. Today, I am following through on that promise. The bill
before us today will sanction foreign individuals who are involved in
ICC efforts to investigate, arrest, or prosecute U.S. citizens or
citizens of U.S. allies that are not party to the ICC.
The bill passed the House again earlier this month with the support
of every Republican, plus more than 40 Democrats, and I hope we will
see a strong bipartisan margin in the Senate as well--first, because
this illegitimate targeting of a key U.S. ally should concern all of
us, and second, because while the ICC is targeting Israeli leaders
today, it could easily set its sights on Americans and American
soldiers in particular tomorrow. It has happened before, back in 2020.
While the United States will not be turning over any of our military
members to the ICC, the issuance of warrants for U.S. soldiers and
military leaders could jeopardize American troops' ability to move
freely where needed and impede our ability to defend our country and
stand with our allies.
I want to thank Senator Cotton for all his work on this bill, as well
as Senator Risch.
I hope--I hope--my Democrat colleagues will join Republicans to
swiftly get this legislation over the finish line and to the
President's desk.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, criminals in the world today have an
international friend. That friend is called the International Criminal
Court. The ICC is headquartered in Europe. It claims unchecked power
and power to enforce very loosely defined so-called international law,
and they are unaccountable. The ICC is a kangaroo court.
The U.S. has never ratified this treaty, neither has Israel. We are
not members with this group. This so-called court seems to me to just
do the bidding of the country of Iran. It never issued arrest warrants
for leaders of Iran. It never tried to prosecute Assad, the former
dictator of Syria.
The ICC embraces a legal fiction and a moral fraud. It is the fraud
and the fiction that Israel violates human rights and that sovereignty
doesn't matter. They also believe that Israel doesn't have a right to
defend themselves.
Last year, we saw the ICC issue an unjust and unlawful arrest warrant
for the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Israel's former
defense minister was also targeted. The charges that the ICC brought
were baseless; they were biased. And, basically, the ICC tends to
continue to go after the Jewish State.
Many descriptions of President Netanyahu are absurd; they are
inaccurate. Let's get to the facts. The facts are there was a brutal
attack on October 7 of 2023 by Hamas. It was the deadliest single day
for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Israel has a fundamental
right to defend itself, and America stands with the people of Israel.
Israel went to extraordinary lengths to limit civilian casualties.
Hamas deliberately hid behind civilians. Hamas uses innocent
individuals as human shields. Israel has allowed hundreds of thousands
of tons of food and supplies to go in to help the people of Gaza. When
the food doesn't meet the actual needs of the civilians there, it is
not because they haven't sent enough, it is because Hamas steals it
first. Israel isn't a member of the ICC. The court has no jurisdiction
over it.
Israel is a democracy. Israel's judiciary is robust, and it is
independent. The ICC is deaf to these important facts. It lives in an
anti-Israel echo chamber.
Because of this prejudice against Israel, the ICC has also attacked
Israel's allies. In 2020, the ICC started to investigate American
servicemembers who served in Afghanistan for alleged war crimes.
President Trump responded swiftly and strongly. He froze the assets of
the ICC officials who were involved in the corrupt investigation.
President Trump also imposed visa restrictions on ICC officials and on
their families.
So then what happens? Then Joe Biden gets into the White House, and
former President Biden--I love saying ``former''--former President
Biden wrongly and weakly overturned these effective sanctions.
President Trump restored the sanctions on his first day back in office
last week.
So today the Senate will hold a critical vote on a bipartisan bill to
hold the International Criminal Court accountable. Senator Jim Risch of
Idaho and Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas have been leaders on this
issue here in the Senate. Under the bill we are going to be voting on
today, any ICC official, employee, or associate who works to
investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute American citizens or our
allies will face immediate sanctions.
This bill also blocks U.S. funding from the ICC--every penny.
Critically, it ensures American taxpayers are not in any way
contributing their hard-earned money to foreign institutions that
attack our servicemembers.
Passing this bill sends a strong message--an important message--that
we in America will not tolerate the ICC's lawfare against Israel. If
the ICC attacks America or its allies, the consequences will be swift,
will be serious, and will be severe. This is about much more than
Israel.
The ICC also threatens America's safety, our security, and our
sovereignty. Like Israel, America is not a member of the ICC. Well,
Israel is the target today. The ICC could turn around and target
American servicemembers, and even our leaders, in the future. The House
of Representatives has passed legislation to sanction the ICC. They
have done it several times. Its bipartisan support continues to grow
and grows stronger in the most
[[Page S403]]
recent passage. And a majority of Americans support congressional
efforts to sanction the ICC. The most recent vote in the House was 243
in favor and only 140 against; 45 House Democrats voted for it.
Well, the Senate could have passed ICC sanctions last Congress, but
the Democrat leader chose to drag his feet instead. He blocked it from
coming here to the Senate floor. He refused to even allow debate.
This Congress, Senate Republicans have made strengthening our
alliance with Israel a top priority. Republicans can't sit back and
allow a kangaroo court to wage lawfare against American citizens or our
allies. The Senate will not bend to the pro-Hamas crowd. We will stand
with Israel in the face of anti-Semitism and in the face of evil,
period. Will Senate Democrats join us? We will find out today.