[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S455-S456]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act

  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, 480. That is the number of days since 
terror shook the Middle East. It has been 480 days since Hamas's 
unprovoked attack; 480 days since Hamas brought brutal terror on Israel 
and the citizens of more than 30 countries; 480 days since American 
family members and friends were kidnapped.
  Last year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant 
for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his former defense minister. 
The illegitimate court--which acts as prosecutor, jury, and judge--
brought politically motivated charges for alleged war crimes and crimes 
against humanity.
  Since when did self-defense in the face of terrorist attacks and 
atrocities become a war crime?
  The ICC has forgotten too quickly who started this war, who turned a 
music festival into a graveyard, who attacked unprovoked, bringing 
devastating carnage on defenseless victims.
  The ICC has forgotten the seven Americans still in Gaza, our fellow 
country men and women. They have forgotten the remains of the innocent 
Hamas victims that Hamas keeps--the hostages even in death. They have 
forgotten the corpses in the streets, the babies and the soldiers 
beheaded, the people burned alive in their cars. They have forgotten 
the doors riddled with bullet holes, the ground stained with blood, the 
smell of decaying flesh.
  The ICC has forgotten the hell Hamas inflicted on Israel and many 
other nations. And, instead, it vilifies a nation seeking justice and 
the chance to live in peace. This is not surprising. From the 
beginning, the United States has rejected this body.
  From President Clinton to President Trump, every President--
Democratic and Republican--has never recognized the ICC's jurisdiction 
over our Nation. In fact, no President has even submitted the Rome 
Statute establishing the ICC to the Senate for advice and consent. We 
have never ratified it.
  And why? Because entrusting an international governing body with 
authority over U.S. citizens risks undermining the very freedoms and 
sovereignty that define this Nation.
  The ICC has repeatedly sought to impose its authority over the United 
States and over our allies. And now, it has alleged that Israel has 
committed war crimes.
  Meanwhile, the tribunal conveniently turns a blind eye to atrocities 
in China, hiding behind the excuse of nonmembership, despite the fact 
that neither the United States nor Israel are members. The hypocrisy of 
the ICC is breathtaking.
  Well, enough is enough. Earlier this month, the House passed the 
Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act on a bipartisan basis. I am 
deeply--deeply--disappointed that my Democratic colleagues who voted 
against moving forward on this legislation did that here in the U.S. 
Senate. I sincerely hope that they reconsider. Our sovereignty is non-
negotiable. Allowing the ICC to operate unchecked and without 
consequence grants them authority where they should have none. Worse, 
it sets a standard that encourages repetition.
  We have a responsibility to protect the sovereignty of our Nation and 
our allies. This moment demands courage, and it demands conviction. And 
we must rise to meet it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The other Senator from Nebraska.
  Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about the 
Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act that we voted on earlier in this 
Chamber.
  The International Criminal Court was created to hold accountable war 
criminals, for example, in countries that did not have a system of 
justice, did not have the rule of law, and were incapable of holding 
those people accountable.
  In 2020, the International Criminal Court started investigating 
American soldiers' actions. This, despite the fact that we have a 
system of justice. We are governed by the rule of law. As my senior 
Senator from Nebraska just

[[Page S456]]

pointed out, we are not a signatory to the ICC. We are not a part of 
that international organization.
  Last year, the International Criminal Court indicted Israeli Prime 
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Israel has a rule of law. Israel has a 
system of justice. And Israel is not a signatory to the ICC; and yet 
they indicted him.
  The International Criminal Court is out of control. It is a rogue 
international organization. And when they indicted Prime Minister 
Netanyahu, what they did is they put a moral equivalency between 
Israel's actions to defend itself and the barbaric attacks Hamas 
perpetrated on October 7.
  Let's be clear here: When Hamas launched their terror attack on 
Israel, they were targeted civilians. That is a war crime. When Israel 
responds back to defend itself, civilians are going to get hurt in war, 
but that is not who Israel was targeting. They were targeting the 
terrorists who attacked them. That is legitimate.
  The International Criminal Court destroyed whatever shred of 
credibility they had when they made that indictment. And if they are 
coming after the Israeli Prime Minister, it won't be long before they 
start coming after American troops.
  In fact, the Wall Street Journal had an article that said ``if the 
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Israelis, 
Americans are likely to follow.''
  This organization is a failure despite its $187 million budget. It 
has not been able to bring to justice dictators around the world. They 
have done very little. My senior Senator mentioned China. They haven't 
done anything to stop Vladimir Putin. They haven't done anything 
against Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They haven't done anything 
against North Korea's Kim Jong-un. Yet they are targeting countries 
that have a system of justice and rule of law. That is not why this 
organization was supposed to have been created.
  The ICC is a lawless, politicalized international organization that 
is threatening our sovereignty. This requires a strong response on our 
part.
  The Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act was that response. It would 
have directed the President within 60 days to launch sanctions against 
foreign nationals who are involved with the malign activities of the 
ICC to target our American troops or our allies, for example. We need 
to have a strong response back to protect our sovereignty. When we are 
talking about, for example, sanctions, we are talking about assets, 
freezing assets of those foreign nationals or travel bans. It would 
have sent a strong message to all of those foreigners who were trying 
to target us or our allies.
  Sadly, the Democrats voted down this important bill that would have 
sent a strong message. Their arguments were speeches, frivolous, 
meaningless. The Democrats said: Well, this bill targets our allies.
  No, what this bill did was target people who were outside the United 
States trying to target our soldiers or those of our allies. It was 
targeting individuals.
  Democrats said: Well, this bill imposes draconian sanctions.
  Actually, if you look at the sanctions that this bill was proposing, 
the same sort of sanctions were done under both Obama and Biden 49 
times. They said: Oh. Well, some companies could be held responsible.
  Again, no. This was about individuals. It was not about companies.
  They said: Well, the bill was poorly written, poorly drafted.
  Yet this same bill had passed the House of Representatives twice--the 
first time with 42 Democrats voting for it and the second time with 45 
Democrats voting for it, including 2 of our colleagues who are in the 
Chamber now who voted for it when they were in the House, except that 
when they came to the Senate, they voted against it.
  This was important legislation.
  Now, when the minority leader got up, he talked about the ICC being 
anti-Semitic, and he is right. The U.N. in general is another one of 
those international organizations that are anti-Semitic.
  He says that he stands with Israel, against the ICC, but his actions 
speak louder than words. When he had the opportunity, he stood on this 
floor earlier and said that Israel should have new elections to replace 
the Prime Minister.
  Well, folks, that action was with the same logic that the ICC was 
using when they indicted Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. It 
seems hypocritical that he can stand up here and say ``I stand with 
Israel, yet they should have new elections'' and somehow have the moral 
authority to defend Israel against the ICC.
  In blocking this bill, Democrats were voting to not protect our 
soldiers; they were voting to not stand up for our allies, not stand up 
for our sovereignty. They were not supporting specifically Israel.
  The appeasement-first policy of the Biden administration is alive and 
well in the Democrats in the U.S. Senate today. Americans, take note.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Banks). The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to add to what my colleagues have 
been saying here.
  It is a big disappointment for us on this side of the aisle that our 
Democratic colleagues blocked this bill to do what needs to happen with 
regard to the ICC.
  Senator Ricketts was just making a really good point with regard to 
the blatant anti-Semitism at that organization, and it is not new. We 
all know this is happening, which is why it was a disappointment we 
couldn't move forward. It is also something we know that has been 
happening at the U.N.
  I had a Wall Street Journal op-ed a couple of months ago when 
President Biden was getting ready to go to make his last major speech 
at the U.N. I strongly but respectfully requested the President make 
his speech about focusing on the systemic anti-Semitism that has 
existed at the United Nations for years and to call out the true 
terrorist in the world, which is Iran. President Biden didn't make that 
speech.
  I had a meeting with the U.N. Secretary General and now former 
Senator Ben Cardin, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. It was 
a bipartisan meeting with the U.N. Secretary General. You know, we 
pressed him. We pressed him hard on his leadership of the U.N. and the 
systemic anti-Semitism that exists in these international bodies, in 
these international organizations.
  The U.N. is going to have a wake-up call with our new Ambassador, 
Elise Stefanik. I think she is going to really raise these issues, 
really press these issues. She is going to be a modern-day Jeane 
Kirkpatrick, who, in my view, was the best U.N. Ambassador ever under 
President Reagan. She is going to bring it.
  So, to the U.N. Secretary General, stand by. You are going to hear a 
lot more of this from our incoming U.N. Ambassador. She is going to do 
a great job.