What This Bill Does
This bill requires the President to place economic and immigration penalties (called sanctions) on workers and associates of the International Criminal Court if that court is investigating certain U.S. military members, U.S. government employees, or military members of U.S. allied countries. The bill also penalizes family members and anyone helping the court with these investigations.
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Who It Affects
- International Criminal Court employees and associates involved in investigations
- Foreign nationals working for or assisting the International Criminal Court
- Immediate family members (spouses, parents, siblings, adult children) of targeted court employees
- U.S. businesses and individuals who do business with sanctioned people
- U.S. citizens traveling to or doing business abroad
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Key Provisions
- The President must block all money and property belonging to targeted International Criminal Court employees if that property is in the U.S. or controlled by U.S. persons (Sec. 2(b)(1))
- The President must make targeted people inadmissible to the United States and revoke their visas immediately, canceling any other valid visas they hold (Sec. 2(b)(2))
- People who violate these sanctions face penalties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (Sec. 2(c)(2))
- The bill does not require sanctions on imported goods (Sec. 2(d)(1))
- Sanctions do not apply if admitting someone would help important U.S. law enforcement or meet U.S. obligations to the United Nations (Sec. 2(d)(2))
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What Changes
If this becomes law, the President gains the power to punish International Criminal Court workers and their families financially and prevent them from entering the United States when they are involved in investigating specified U.S. military personnel, U.S. government employees helping the military, or military members from countries that are U.S. treaty allies but not members of the International Criminal Court.
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Important Definitions
- **Protected Person**: U.S. military members, former military members being investigated by the International Criminal Court, U.S. government employees or contractors helping the military, and military members of U.S. treaty allies (such as NATO members, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Taiwan, Sweden, and Finland) who are not members of the International Criminal Court (Sec. 3(5))
- **Covered International Criminal Court Employee or Associate**: A foreign person who directly or indirectly helped the court investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute a protected person, or provided money, materials, technology, goods or services to support such efforts (Sec. 3(2))
- **Foreign Person**: Anyone who is not a U.S. person (Sec. 3(3))
- **Immediate Family Member**: A spouse, parent, sibling or adult child (Sec. 3(4))
- **United States Person**: A U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, any entity organized under U.S. law, or any person in the United States (Sec. 3(7))
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Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 224
To impose sanctions with respect to associates of the International Criminal
Court engaged in investigations of personnel of the United States and
its allies.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 1, 2023
Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. CRUZ, and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
A BILL
To impose sanctions with respect to associates of the Inter-
national Criminal Court engaged in investigations of per-
sonnel of the United States and its allies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Illegitimate Court
4
Counteraction Act of 2023’’.
5
SEC.
2.
SANCTIONS
WITH
RESPECT
TO
THE
INTER-
6
NATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT.
7
(a) IN GENERAL.—If the International Criminal
8
Court is conducting an active investigation of, is engaged
9
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•S 224 IS
in a preliminary examination of, or is pursuing charges
1
against a protected person, the President shall impose—
2
(1) the sanctions described in subsection (b)
3
with respect to a covered International Criminal
4
Court employee or associate; and
5
(2) the sanctions described in subsection (b)(2)
6
with respect to any foreign person who is—
7
(A) an employee of the International
8
Criminal Court;
9
(B) determined to be acting as an agent of
10
the International Criminal Court or an em-
11
ployee of the International Criminal Court; or
12
(C) an immediate family member of a cov-
13
ered International Criminal Court employee or
14
associate.
15
(b) SANCTIONS
DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de-
16
scribed in this subsection that shall be imposed with re-
17
spect to a covered International Criminal Court employee
18
or associate are the following:
19
(1) PROPERTY BLOCKING.—The President shall
20
exercise all of the powers granted by the Inter-
21
national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
22
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block
23
and prohibit all transactions in all property and in-
24
terests in property of the covered International
25
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3
•S 224 IS
Criminal Court employee or associate if such prop-
1
erty and interests in property are in the United
2
States, come within the United States, or are or
3
come within the possession or control of a United
4
States person.
5
(2) ALIENS INADMISSIBLE FOR VISAS, ADMIS-
6
SION, OR PAROLE.—
7
(A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR
PAROLE.—In
8
the case of an alien, the alien is—
9
(i) inadmissible to the United States;
10
(ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other
11
documentation to enter the United States;
12
and
13
(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted
14
or paroled into the United States or to re-
15
ceive any other benefit under the Immigra-
16
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et
17
seq.).
18
(B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.—
19
(i) IN GENERAL.—The visa or other
20
entry documentation of an alien described
21
in subparagraph (A) shall be revoked, re-
22
gardless of when such visa or other entry
23
documentation was issued.
24
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•S 224 IS
(ii) IMMEDIATE
EFFECT.—A revoca-
1
tion under clause (i) shall—
2
(I) take effect immediately; and
3
(II) automatically cancel any
4
other valid visa or entry documenta-
5
tion that is in the alien’s possession.
6
(c) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.—
7
(1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex-
8
ercise all authorities provided under sections 203
9
and 205 of the International Emergency Economic
10
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out
11
this section.
12
(2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at-
13
tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a
14
violation of this section or any regulation, license, or
15
order issued to carry out this section shall be subject
16
to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c)
17
of section 206 of the International Emergency Eco-
18
nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same ex-
19
tent as a person that commits an unlawful act de-
20
scribed in subsection (a) of that section.
21
(d) EXCEPTIONS.—
22
(1) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF
23
GOODS.—
24
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•S 224 IS
(A) IN GENERAL.—A requirement to block
1
and prohibit all transactions in all property and
2
interests in property under this section shall not
3
include the authority or a requirement to im-
4
pose sanctions on the importation of goods.
5
(B) GOOD.—In this paragraph, the term
6
‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or manmade
7
substance, material, supply or manufactured
8
product, including inspection and test equip-
9
ment, and excluding technical data.
10
(2) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA-
11
TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT AND LAW EN-
12
FORCEMENT
OBJECTIVES.—Sanctions under sub-
13
section (b)(2) shall not apply with respect to an
14
alien if admitting or paroling the alien into the
15
United States—
16
(A) would further important United States
17
law enforcement objectives; or
18
(B) is necessary to permit the United
19
States to comply with the Agreement regarding
20
the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed
21
at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered
22
into force November 21, 1947, between the
23
United Nations and the United States, or other
24
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•S 224 IS
applicable international obligations of the
1
United States.
2
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
3
In this Act:
4
(1) ADMITTED ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’
5
and ‘‘alien’’ have the meanings given those terms in
6
section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
7
(8 U.S.C. 1101).
8
(2) COVERED INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
9
EMPLOYEE
OR
ASSOCIATE.—The term ‘‘covered
10
International Criminal Court employee or associate’’
11
means a foreign person that—
12
(A) has directly or indirectly engaged in or
13
otherwise aided any effort or action by the
14
International Criminal Court to investigate, ar-
15
rest, detain, or prosecute a protected person;
16
(B) has materially assisted, sponsored, or
17
provided financial, material, or technological
18
support for, or goods or services to or in sup-
19
port of such efforts by the International Crimi-
20
nal Court described in subparagraph (A); or
21
(C) is owned or controlled by, or has acted
22
or purports to have acted, directly or indirectly,
23
for or on behalf of any person that engages in
24
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7
•S 224 IS
such efforts by the International Criminal
1
Court described in subparagraph (A).
2
(3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per-
3
son’’ means a person that is not a United States
4
person.
5
(4) IMMEDIATE
FAMILY
MEMBER.—The term
6
‘‘immediate family member’’, with respect to a for-
7
eign person, means the spouse, parent, sibling, or
8
adult child of the person.
9
(5) PROTECTED PERSON.—The term ‘‘protected
10
person’’ means—
11
(A) a member of the Armed Forces of the
12
United States;
13
(B) a former member of the Armed Forces
14
of the United States who is being investigated
15
by the International Criminal Court for alleged
16
actions that occurred while the individual was a
17
member of the Armed Forces;
18
(C) an employee or contractor of the
19
United States Government who—
20
(i) assists the Armed Forces of the
21
United States; or
22
(ii) has any role in creating or imple-
23
menting policies of the Armed Forces;
24
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•S 224 IS
(D) a former employee or contractor of the
1
United States Government who—
2
(i) as an employee or contractor, as-
3
sisted the Armed Forces or had any role in
4
creating or implementing policies of the
5
Armed Forces; and
6
(ii) is being investigated by the Inter-
7
national Criminal Court for alleged actions
8
that occurred while the individual was an
9
employee or contractor of the United
10
States Government;
11
(E) a member of the armed forces of a
12
country that—
13
(i) is a treaty ally or partner of the
14
United States;
15
(ii) is not a state party to the Rome
16
Statute of the International Criminal
17
Court; and
18
(iii) has not consented to the involve-
19
ment of the International Criminal Court
20
in the relevant investigation; or
21
(F) an individual who—
22
(i) is a former member of the armed
23
forces of a country that—
24
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•S 224 IS
(I) is a treaty ally or partner of
1
the United States;
2
(II) is not a state party to the
3
Rome Statute of the International
4
Criminal Court; and
5
(III) has not consented to the in-
6
volvement of the International Crimi-
7
nal Court in the relevant investiga-
8
tion; and
9
(ii) is being investigated by the Inter-
10
national Criminal Court for alleged actions
11
that occurred while the individual was a
12
member of the armed forces of such coun-
13
try.
14
(6) TREATY ALLY OR PARTNER OF THE UNITED
15
STATES.—The term ‘‘treaty ally or partner of the
16
United States’’ means any of the following:
17
(A) A foreign country that is a party to
18
any of the following:
19
(i) The North Atlantic Treaty, signed
20
at Washington, April 4, 1949.
21
(ii) The Security Treaty Between
22
Australia, New Zealand, and the United
23
States of America, signed at San Fran-
24
cisco, September 1, 1951.
25
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•S 224 IS
(iii) The Mutual Defense Treaty Be-
1
tween the United States of America and
2
the Republic of the Philippines, signed at
3
Washington, August 30, 1951.
4
(iv) The Treaty of Mutual Coopera-
5
tion and Security Between the United
6
States of America and Japan, signed at
7
Washington, January 19, 1960.
8
(v) The Mutual Defense Treaty Be-
9
tween the United States of America and
10
the Republic of Korea, signed at Wash-
11
ington, October 1, 1953.
12
(B) Israel.
13
(C) Taiwan.
14
(D) Sweden.
15
(E) Finland.
16
(7)
UNITED
STATES
PERSON.—The
term
17
‘‘United States person’’ means—
18
(A) an individual who is a United States
19
citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for perma-
20
nent residence to the United States;
21
(B) an entity organized under the laws of
22
the United States or any jurisdiction within the
23
United States, including a foreign branch of
24
such an entity; or
25
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•S 224 IS
(C) any person in the United States.
1
Æ
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