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 Congressional
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The Washington Working Group for the ICC (WICC)
is the center of ICC advocacy efforts in Washington,
D.C. Information on action directed at the Administration
and Congress can be found on the WICC
website.
Please send us copies of
letters you have sent to your representatives and their responses
so that we can include them in this section.
Nethercutt Amendment
The last version of the Nethercutt provision expired on September 30, 2008 and was not renewed in the FY 2009 omnibus appropriations bill, Public Law 111-8.
Congress last included the Nethercutt Amendment HR 2764, passed December 17, 2007, a comprehensive
Consolidated Appropriations Act which reinstates the so-called Nethercutt provision cutting off Economic
Support Funds (ESF) to nations unwilling to enter into Bilateral Immunity Agreements (BIAs) shielding U.S.
nationals from the jurisdiction of the ICC. President Bush signed
the bill into law on December 26 and it became Public Law 110-161. President Bush issued waivers for FY 2008 on June 20, 2008 with respect to 14 nations and on January 16, 2009
with respect to 16 nations. Earlier versions of the Nethercutt provision was included in the
Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Acts for FY 2006 (HR 3057), signed into law on November 14, 2005, and FY 2005 (HR 4818), signed into law December 7, 2004. Congress did not pass a foreign operations appropriations bill or any other bill containing
the Nethercutt provision for FY 2007 or FY 2009. Congress established ESF to promote economic and political stability in strategically important regions where the U.S. has special security interests. Existing Status of Forces Agreements and other bilateral agreements already provide full
U.S. jurisdiction over U.S. personnel and officials serving abroad. What the Nethercutt Amendment does is exempt all U.S. nationals and contractors with the U.S. from accountability for widespread and systematic war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed on the territory
of a signatory country. Many countries which have refused BIAs are wary of exempting individuals on their territory who are neither working for the U.S. government or military. Although Congress did not pass a foreign operations appropriations bill or any other bill containing the Nethercutt
provision for FY 2009, it is uncertain whether a future bill will include the Nethercutt language. Click here for further details on the Nethercutt Amendment.
Next year, we must again be vigilant to ensure that the Nethercutt Amendment does not once again become law. During holiday breaks when most legislators will be back home for recesses, it will be an opportune time to set up meetings with your elected representatives, to inform them on the Nethercutt Amendment, and the dangers it poses not just to the ICC, but to the war on terrorism and our relations with our allies. Letter writing campaigns should be organized to flood their mailboxes on Nethercutt and the dangers of its passage. Legislators have been paying close attention to the letters received on the ICC.
Post-ASPA
The American Servicemembers' Protection Act of 2002 (ASPA)'s
jumbled combination of provisions expressing uncompromising
hostility to the ICC and states parties, including broad presidential
waiver authority for all operative provisions, and incorporating
the Dodd Amendment — which essentially reverses the
effect of ASPA by authorizing the US government to participate
in a wide-range of international justice efforts — makes
it a toothless mess. This is very largely due to the work
of members of the Washington Working Group for the ICC (WICC),
both independently and collectively. Nonetheless it has been
hailed by congressional leaders like Tom DeLay (R-TX) and by the
administration as a powerful statement of US will and intent.
It has outraged Europeans and sharply affected U.S.-Dutch
relations.
In discussing ASPA in the United States, AMICC members feel
that this ideological hostility to the Court shows how far
the work of the Coalition has to go, that eliminating ASPA
must be one of supporters' prime objectives, but also that
the limits and contradictions built into the Act and the resistance
to it in Congress show that there is an encouraging base to
build on in achieving those objectives. With ASPA now law,
there is increased opportunity to move beyond its heated ideological
environment to educate and inform a broad spectrum of legislators
about the ICC and the moral and political dividends it can
bring to the US.
In communications with your representatives:
- Point out that ASPA does not require anyone to do anything,
and that the Administration should be held directly responsible
for any actions it takes against the ICC;
- Ask them to call for US participation as an observer in
the ICC's Assembly of States Parties and to act to support
US engagement in the formation of the Court and in cases
that are important to US national interests;
Ask them to work to eliminate substative contraditions between
the Craig and Hyde
amendments, sections
705-706 of Public Law 106-113, and ASPA
2002 so that the US is not prevented from cooperating
with the Court in specific cases involving foreign nationals
as the Dodd Amendment
provides.
USA for ICC
is a website dedicated to building U.S. support for the International
Criminal Court (ICC). Their site provides ICC advocacy tools,
including a click-and-send feature that makes it easy to share
your views with elected officials.
Senators
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MI,
Sen. Jean Carnahan, May 2002 |
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MI,
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, May 2002 |
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PA,
Sen. Rick Santorum, November 7, 2002 |
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PA,
Sen. Arlen Specter, November 5, 2002 |
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UT,
Sen. Robert Bennett May
16, 2002 September
12, 2002 |
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UT,
Sen. Orrin Hatch, April 23, 2002 |
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VA,
Sen. George Allen, July 22, 2002 |
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VA,
Sen. John Warner, November 8, 2002 |
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WA,
Sen. Maria Cantwell, July 10, 2002 |
Representatives
Votes 2001-2002
Description of Bills
Bills on which votes indicate support or hostility toward
ICC:
Senate
- ASPA 2001,
Helms amendment S AMDT 2336 to Department of Defense Appropriations
Act HR3338 passed 78-21 December 7, 2001, dropped in conference
committee.
- Dodd Amendment
S AMDT 227 to Department of Defense Appropriations Act HR3338,
requesting President Bush to provide guidance on ICC before
Senate vote, rejected 48-51-1 December 7, 2001. Loss led
to passage of Helms ASPA 2001, above.
- ASPA 2002,
Warner amendment S AMDT 3597 to Supplemental Appropriations
Act of 2002 (HR4775) passed 75-19-6 June 6, 2002 (Dodd amendment
language, below, added to final version.) President signed
into law August 2, 2002.
- Dodd Amendment
S AMDT 3787 to Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2002 HR4775
tabled 55-40-5 June 6, 2002 (operative language added later
by consensus; language that would have caused the ASPA to
automatically expire at the end of September 30, 2002 was
not retained).
House of Representatives
- ASPA 2001,
DeLay amendment H AMDT 31 to the Foreign Relations Authorization
Act of 2002-2003 HR1646 passed 282-137 May 10, 2001. This
version lacks presidential waivers and was not acceptable
to the administration.
- Paul amendment
to Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2003, H AMDT 480 to HR4546, a sense of Congress resolution
calling for no funds in the bill to be used to support the
ICC. Passed 264 - 152.
- ASPA 2002,
Delay amendment to Supplemental Appropriation's Bill of
2002 HR4775 passed House Appropriation's Committee 38-18-5
May 9, 2002. President signed into law August 2, 2002.
- Nethercutt Amendment, H.AMDT.706 (A015) to the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2005 HR4818 passed by 241 – 166 on July 15, 2004. President signed into law December 7, 2004. (cuts Economic Support Fund aid to all countries that refuse to sign Article 98 or bilateral immunity agreements with the U.S.)
Chronology of ICC-related legislation
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