[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      International Criminal Court

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, yesterday afternoon, my Democratic 
colleagues--and when I say ``my Democratic colleagues,'' I mean all of 
my Democratic colleagues, with one exception--chose to block 
legislation to sanction individuals at the International Criminal Court 
who participated in investigations or prosecutions of American or 
Israeli citizens.
  In the wake of the vote, a number of my Democratic colleagues put out 
a statement expressing their concern at the ICC's decision to issue 
arrest warrants for Israeli leaders. I suppose it is nice that they are 
concerned. They should be concerned. But it would be even nicer if they 
had done something about it.
  It is hard for me to fathom how Democrats could vote against this 
commonsense measure. In fact, they wouldn't even vote to have a debate. 
I am not sure if they are afraid of antagonizing the anti-Israel wing 
of their party or if they are simply too beholden to Big Tech, which 
lodged some tenuous concerns about this legislation.
  But whatever their reason, Democrats chose to vote no--no to standing 
up for our ally Israel and, even worse, no to standing up for our own 
citizens. Apparently the ``America last'' playbook is alive and well in 
the Democratic Party.
  Mr. President, Republicans tried to the very end to accommodate 
Democrats in hopes of finally getting this legislation over the finish 
line, nearly 8 months after the Republican-controlled House first 
passed the bill. But Democrats kept moving the goalpost, and 
Republicans were not going to just gut the legislation to get Democrat 
votes.
  If Democrats decide that they want to take real action to address the 
targeting of our allies and prevent future targeting of American 
citizens, Republicans are here. Until then, we will continue to do what 
we can without Democrats to defend our allies and our Nation.