Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. I rise today as a proud American and a staunch believer in the noble ideals this country was founded upon. This country, which was built on the idea of equality and justice, today is a leader on the world stage that can boast of its commitment and success in spreading these values. We have established a world order based on the rule of law, a commitment to advancing human rights, and deference to international institutions.

Yet, flagrantly contravening all of these principals, the House of Representatives has before it a bill that would punish the International Criminal Court (ICC) as it seeks justice for the Palestinean people. This legislation explicitly imposes sanctions on the ICC for ``any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies''.

I love my country, and I truly believe that at our core, Americans do want global peace. For this reason, I staunchly oppose these efforts to undermine the international order merely because the agents of that order are taking legal action against one of our allies. Many of our closest allies are intimately involved with the funding and proceedings of the ICC, meaning they would be exposed to the sanctions created by this bill. This includes many of the United States' closest allies, such as Germany, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom, where the current Chief Prosecuter of the ICC is from.

This partisan bill is evidently not concerned about protecting all American allies, who would face severe sanctions should this legislation pass into law, but rather one American ally in particular. While Palestinians in Gaza continue to endure the most dire of circumstances and as their death toll for children only continues to tick upward, this Congress is instead intent on protecting Israeli politicians from scrutiny at the expense of maintaining the international order at large that we helped establish. I continue to ask for mercy for the Palestinian people and hope that all people of the region, both Israeli and Palestinian, receive the justice that they deserve.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I wish to underscore my strong support of H.R. 23, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, and highlight the immediate need to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its dangerous abuse of power and for the United States to repudiate these actions.

The ICC's outrageous issuance of arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister Gallant is a grotesquely bad decision by a court that is corrupted by blatant antisemitism.

Israel's right to defend itself from this brutal invasion is absolute. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in the past that he would never allow a second holocaust--nor should we.

Antisemitism is at the root of Hamas violence against Israel and every Jewish man woman, and child, and is explicitly expressed in Hamas' 1988 Charter which demands the absolute destruction of the state of Israel and proclaims: ``Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.''

In its 2017 charter, Hamas reiterates its goal of wiping Israel off the face of the earth: ``There is no alternative to a fully sovereign Palestinian State on the entire national Palestinian soil, with Jerusalem as its capital.''

Mr. Speaker, the ICC's actions support Hamas' explicitly antisemitic and genocidal campaign of terror against Israel, and Congress must respond in the most forceful way possible.

The ICC is a rogue actor on the world stage, and the United States must have a more effective long-term approach for how to respond to it.

Their latest action is a further manifestation of the same antisemitism that is rampant at the United Nations and related international organizations. Last Congress alone, I chaired four congressional hearings on how they are absolutely infiltrated by antisemitic personnel who on a daily basis go after Israel with such cruelty.

Israel needs the ability to defend itself--and they need friends and partners who will stand beside them.

It is long-past time the United States held international organizations accountable for their antisemitism and their corruption. Furthermore, it is incumbent upon the United States to use its full voice to support Israel and ensure international organizations and venues are not used to promote antisemitism and the persecution of the Jewish people, and encourage our allies to do the same.

I thank Congressman Roy for introducing this legislation, underscoring this House's resolve to stand by an ally.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 23.

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