[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4484 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4484
To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons of the
International Criminal Court engaged in any effort to investigate,
arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States
and its allies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 5, 2024
Mr. Cotton (for himself, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Risch, Mr. Graham, Mr.
Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cruz, Ms. Collins, Mr.
Sullivan, and Mr. Ricketts) introduced the following bill; which was
read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons of the
International Criminal Court engaged in any effort to investigate,
arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States
and its allies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Illegitimate Court Counteraction
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States and Israel are not parties to the
Rome Statute or members of the International Criminal Court,
and therefore the International Criminal Court has no
legitimacy or jurisdiction over the United States or Israel.
(2) On May 20, 2024, the Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced arrest warrant
applications for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and should be condemned in the
strongest possible terms.
(3) The bipartisan American Servicemembers' Protection Act
(22 U.S.C. 7421 et seq.) was enacted in 2002 to protect United
States military personnel, United States officials, and
officials and military personnel of certain allied countries
against criminal prosecution by an international criminal court
to which the United States is not party, stating, ``In addition
to exposing members of the Armed Forces of the United States to
the risk of international criminal prosecution, the Rome
Statute creates a risk that the President and other senior
elected and appointed officials of the United States Government
may be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.''.
(4) The International Criminal Court's actions against
Israel are illegitimate and baseless, including the preliminary
examination and investigation of Israel and applications for
arrest warrants against Israeli officials, which create a
damaging precedent that threatens the United States, Israel,
and all United States partners who have not submitted to the
International Criminal Court's jurisdiction.
(5) The United States must oppose any action by the
International Criminal Court against the United States, Israel,
or any other ally of the United States that has not consented
to International Criminal Court jurisdiction or is not a state
party to the Rome Statute.
SEC. 3. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and on an ongoing basis thereafter, if the
International Criminal Court is engaging in any attempt to investigate,
arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person, the President shall
impose--
(1) the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect
to any foreign person the President determines--
(A) has directly engaged in or otherwise aided any
effort by the International Criminal Court to
investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected
person;
(B) has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided
financial, material, or technological support for, or
goods or services to or in support of any effort by the
International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest,
detain, or prosecute a protected person; or
(C) is owned or controlled by, or is currently
acting or purports to have acted, directly or
indirectly, for or on behalf of any person that
directly engages in any effort by the International
Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain, or
prosecute a protected person; and
(2) the sanctions described in subsection (b)(2) with
respect to the immediate family members of each foreign person
who is subject to sanctions pursuant to paragraph (1).
(b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this
subsection with respect to a foreign person described in subsection (a)
are the following:
(1) Property blocking.--The President shall exercise all of
the powers granted by the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to
block and prohibit all transactions in all property and
interests in property of any foreign person described in
subsection (a)(1) if such property and interests in property
are in the United States, come within the United States, or are
or come within the possession or control of a United States
person.
(2) Aliens inadmissible for visas, admission, or parole.--
(A) Visas, admission, or parole.--In the case of an
alien described in subsection (a), the alien is--
(i) inadmissible to the United States;
(ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other
documentation to enter the United States; and
(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted
or paroled into the United States or to receive
any other benefit under the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
(B) Current visas revoked.--
(i) In general.--The visa or other entry
documentation of an alien described in
subparagraph (A) shall be revoked, regardless
of when such visa or other entry documentation
was issued.
(ii) Immediate effect.--A revocation under
clause (i) shall--
(I) take effect immediately; and
(II) automatically cancel any other
valid visa or entry documentation that
is in the alien's possession.
(c) Implementation; Penalties.--
(1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all
authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and
1704) to carry out this section.
(2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this
section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry
out this section shall be subject to the penalties set forth in
subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same
extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in
subsection (a) of that section.
(d) Notification to Congress.--Not later than 10 days after any
imposition of sanctions pursuant to subsection (a), the President shall
brief and provide written notification to the appropriate congressional
committees regarding the imposition of sanctions that shall include--
(1) a description of the foreign person or persons subject
to the imposition of such sanctions, including the foreign
person's role at or relation to the International Criminal
Court;
(2) a description of any activity undertaken by such
foreign person or persons in support of efforts to investigate,
arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person; and
(3) the specific sanctions imposed on such foreign person
or persons.
(e) Waiver.--
(1) In general.--The President may, on a case-by-case basis
and for periods not to exceed 90 days each, waive the
application of sanctions imposed or maintained with respect to
a foreign person under this section if the President submits to
the appropriate congressional committees before the waiver is
to take effect a report that contains a determination of the
President that the waiver is vital to the national security
interests of the United States.
(2) Contents.--Each report required by paragraph (1) with
respect to a waiver of the application of sanctions imposed or
maintained with respect to a foreign person under this section,
or the renewal of such a waiver, shall include--
(A) a specific and detailed rationale for the
determination that the waiver is vital to the national
security interests of the United States;
(B) a description of the activity that resulted in
the foreign person being subject to sanctions; and
(C) a detailed description and list of actions the
United States has taken to--
(i) stop the International Criminal Court
from engaging in any effort to investigate,
arrest, detain, or prosecute all protected
persons; and
(ii) permanently close, withdraw, end, or
otherwise terminate any preliminary
examination, investigation, or any other effort
to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute
all protected persons.
(3) Form.--Each report required by paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified
annex.
(f) Special Rule.--The President may terminate the sanctions with
respect to the foreign persons described in subsection (a) if the
President certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional
committees that the International Criminal Court--
(1) has ceased engaging in any effort to investigate,
arrest, detain, or prosecute all protected persons; and
(2) has permanently closed, withdrawn, ended, and otherwise
terminated any preliminary examination, investigation, or any
other effort by the International Criminal Court to
investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute all protected
persons.
SEC. 4. RESCISSION OF FUNDS FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT.
(a) In General.--Effective on the date of the enactment of this
Act, any amounts appropriated for the International Criminal Court and
available for obligation as of such date of enactment are hereby
rescinded.
(b) Prohibition on Future Appropriations.--On and after the date of
the enactment of this Act, no appropriated funds may be used for the
International Criminal Court.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Admitted alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien''
have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
(2) Ally of the united states.--The term ``ally of the
United States'' means--
(A) a government of a member country of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization; or
(B) a government of a major non-NATO ally, as that
term is defined by section 2013(7) of the American
Service-Members' Protection Act (22 U.S.C. 7432(7)).
(3) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee
on Financial Services, and the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
(4) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a
person that is not a United States person.
(5) Immediate family member.--The term ``immediate family
member'', with respect to a foreign person, means the spouse,
parent, sibling, or adult child of the person.
(6) International criminal court; rome statute.--The terms
``International Criminal Court'' and ``Rome Statute'' have the
meaning given those terms in section 2013 of the American
Service-Members' Protection Act (22 U.S.C. 7432).
(7) Protected person.--The term ``protected person''
means--
(A) any United States person, unless the United
States provides formal consent to International
Criminal Court jurisdiction and is a state party to the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
including--
(i) current or former members of the Armed
Forces of the United States;
(ii) current or former elected or appointed
officials of the United States Government; and
(iii) any other person currently or
formerly employed by or working on behalf of
the United States Government; and
(B) any foreign person that is a citizen or lawful
resident of an ally of the United States that has not
consented to International Criminal Court jurisdiction
or is not a state party to the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court, including--
(i) current or former members of the Armed
Forces of such ally of the United States;
(ii) current or former elected or appointed
government officials of such ally of the United
States; and
(iii) any other person currently or
formerly employed by or working on behalf of
such a government.
(8) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means--
(A) an individual who is a United States citizen or
an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to
the United States;
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the
United States or any jurisdiction within the United
States, including a foreign branch of such an entity;
or
(C) any person in the United States.
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