[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15030-15031]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        OUTRAGEOUS RULING BY THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, this is a dark day in the history of 
international law. Today, the International Court of Justice, at the 
request of the United Nations General Assembly, ruled, ``The 
construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying power in 
the occupied Palestinian territory, including in and around east 
Jerusalem and its associated regime, is contrary to international 
law.''
  With this extraordinarily biased decision, the International Court of 
Justice has become an international disgrace. This outrageous ruling 
confirms what many of us have feared, that opponents of Israel have 
overtaken the judicial process at the U.N.'s highest judicial court and 
have begun to use it for political aims on the world stage.
  Mr. Speaker, the referral of this issue itself was biased and 
prejudged Israel. The referral actually used contestable political 
language such as ``occupied Palestinian territory'' and referred to the 
Israeli security fence repeatedly as a wall. It is as if the court 
simply did a cut and paste of those terms and issued them in their 
ruling today, completely failing in their multipage ruling to talk 
about context, namely years of brutal terrorism at the hands of 
Palestinian extremists against Israeli civilians.
  Mr. Speaker, it is crucial today that we make a pair of points that 
the International Court of Justice completely ignored. Number one, 
Israel's security fence prevents terrorism; and, number two, the ICJ 
had no authority to hear this case.
  These two points, Mr. Speaker, are actually reflected in a resolution 
that I authored along with the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley) 
that has garnered nearly 163 co-sponsors, Republicans and Democrats 
alike. The Pence-Berkley resolution resolves, in effect, that Congress 
supports the construction by Israel of a security fence to prevent 
Palestinian terrorist attacks; and, number two, that Congress condemns 
the decision by the UN General Assembly to request the Court of Justice 
to act.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise humbly today to say Congress would do well in the 
coming days to act with all expeditious speed on this legislation, on 
this resolution, and make a statement that America stands with Israel.
  I authored this resolution after my wife, Karen, and I toured Israel 
in January of this year. Seen in this photograph, we are standing with 
Israeli defense forces along the side of a chain-linked fence, which 
the International Court of Justice today repeatedly described as a 
wall. A chain-linked fence that nevertheless has proven to be an 
effective tool in thwarting terrorist attacks.
  In the north of Israel, where a section of the fence has been 
completed, there has not been a single suicide attack in more than 8 
months. Before the first stage of the fence became operational in July 
of 2003, the average number of attacks was 8.6 per month. In the past 
11 months, that figure has dropped dramatically to only 3.2 attacks per 
month.
  In the 2 hours that we toured the security fence this day in January 
in Israel, the security officials traveling with us received in my 
presence three separate calls on their radios about attempted terrorist 
incursions. In 2 hours, three separate terrorist incursions. These 
incursions, while they do not succeed but on an intermittent basis, the 
reality is that the attempts are a daily reality for Israelis. The 
truth is the Israeli Security Fence has prevented terrorism, and that 
was a fact completely lost on the International Court of Justice.
  Also lost is that under international norms, the Israeli Supreme 
Court, just like if it was the United States Supreme Court and not the 
court in the Hague, has sole jurisdiction over this matter. In fact, 
the Israeli Supreme Court is an independent judiciary of a sovereign 
and democratic nation. Its rulings on the Israeli Security Fence has 
struck a fair balance between the rights of Israelis to live free from 
suicide bombings and the right of Palestinians to their economic well-
being, and there is no legal basis for the court in the Hague to usurp 
its authority.
  So I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to urge this Congress to act on House 
Concurrent Resolution 371 that the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. 
Berkley) and I introduced and enjoys 163 cosponsors and to act 
deliberately. Or if not on our resolution, that in the next several 
days to rise with one voice, Democrats and Republicans alike, to 
condemn this unjust decision by the International Court of Justice.

[[Page 15031]]

  I also challenge my colleagues, as we think about funding issues and 
resources that will be spent in the direction of the United Nations, 
that we seriously reconsider any effort to direct U.S. taxpayer dollars 
to this international court, if I may say, of injustice.
  Like so many million Americans I pray for the peace of Jerusalem and 
I stand with Israel, believing as those same millions do that He will 
bless those who bless her, He will curse those who curse her.
  Let the voice of the American people be heard. Let us condemn this 
unjust and disgraceful decision by the International Court of Justice.

                          ____________________