Hageman Votes to Sanction Illegitimate International Criminal Court

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman voted in favor of H.R. 8282, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act. This legislation would impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and any foreign actor who supports their effort to arrest, detain, or prosecute protected persons of the United States and its allies, including Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant. 

Representative Hageman stated, “The ICC is a failed and biased organization, as evidenced by the fact that it has ignored atrocities by Iran and the Hamas terrorists but threatens a democracy like Israel with baseless charges and arrest warrants for its leaders – leaders that are simply responding to the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023 and ensuring that they are not further threatened.

“Neither Israel nor the United States of America are under the jurisdiction of the ICC and the sovereignty of our nations can never be surrendered. H.R. 8282 will block any U.S. funding of the ICC and require the president to impose sanctions on any foreign person found to be engaged in or aiding any ICC case.

“I am proud to have cosponsored this legislation. America must stand with Israel, and it must ensure that our own fate is never determined by globalist foreign entities.”

Background on the ICC:

• Established by a 1998 treaty known as the “Rome Statute,” the ICC prosecutes

individuals for “atrocity crimes”. Intended to serve as a “court of last resort,” the ICC is supposed to complement existing national judicial systems and may exercise jurisdiction only when national courts are unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute.

• The Rome Statute permits the ICC to bring charges against individuals if an atrocity crime was

committed on the territory of a member State or by a national of a member State. Neither Israel    nor the United States are parties to the Rome Statute or members of the ICC, given longstanding concerns about infringements on national sovereignty.

• The largely unaccountable ICC Prosecutor has broad discretion to initiate cases, and the absence of external checks and balances open the door for the ICC to pursue politically motivated prosecutions, without the due process protections guaranteed to Americans by our Constitution.

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Contact: Chris Berardi, Sr. Advisor/Communications Director