HR 23: Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act

Congress: 119 · Status: active · Israel/Palestine classification: pro-Israel

Data (JSON) — machine-readable record of this bill (identifiers, sponsor, classification, actions, and the member-by-member vote breakdown).

Official record on Congress.gov — full text, actions, and cosponsor history for HR 23.

Sponsor: Roy, Chip (R-Texas)

Summary

Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act This bill imposes sanctions against foreign persons (individuals and entities) who assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting certain individuals. The bill categorizes as protected persons (1) any U.S. individual, U.S. entity, or person in the United States, unless the United States is a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC and provides formal consent to ICC jurisdiction; and (2) any foreign person that is a citizen or lawful resident of a U.S. ally that is not a state party to the Rome Statute or has not consented to ICC jurisdiction. If the ICC attempts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute a protected person, the President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions against the foreign persons that engaged in or materially assisted in such actions, as well as against foreign persons owned by, controlled by, or acting on behalf of such foreign persons. The President must also apply visa-blocking sanctions to the immediate family members of those sanctioned. Upon enactment, the bill rescinds all funds appropriated for the ICC and prohibits the subsequent use of appropriated funds for the ICC.

Editorial Explainer

This bill sanctions foreign individuals and entities that help the International Criminal Court investigate or prosecute Americans or citizens of U.S. allies who haven't agreed to ICC jurisdiction. It also immediately cuts all U.S. funding to the ICC and blocks future appropriations for the organization.

Why it matters

The ICC has opened investigations into potential war crimes by Israeli officials and soldiers. This bill would penalize any country or person assisting those investigations and defund the court itself, effectively shielding Israeli personnel from ICC accountability mechanisms.

Cosponsors (38)

Roll-call votes (434)