A BILL

To provide that the International Criminal Court is not valid with respect to the United States, 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 `American Servicemember and Citizen Protection Act of 2002'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) In December 1997, the General Assembly of the United Nations called for the convening of a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy, from June 15 through July 17, 1998, to adopt a Convention on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court.

(3) According to article 127 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Statute of the International Criminal Court shall take effect upon the `ratification, acceptance, or approval' of 60 member states.

(4) As of April 1, 2002, 57 member states have ratified, accepted, or approved the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

(5) According to articles 12 and 25 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court shall extend to individual United States citizens even if the United States does not `ratify, accept, or approve' the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

(6) As of April 1, 2002, the United States Senate has not ratified the Statute of the International Criminal Court, and although a designee of former President William J. Clinton has signed that statute on behalf of the United States, President George W. Bush has indicated that he will not submit the Statute of the International Criminal Court to the United States Senate…

(8) According to the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, no nation may be bound by a treaty to which that nation has not consented; therefore the United States, which has not consented to the Statute of the International Criminal Court in the manner prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, cannot be bound by the Statute of the International Criminal Court even if 60 countries ratify, accept, or approve it.

(10) The Statute of the International Criminal Court also contravenes the principle of government only by the consent of the governed that is enshrined in the American national charter, the Declaration of Independence, because the International Criminal Court claims jurisdiction over citizens of the United States without their consent or without the consent of the United States Government.

(12) The International Criminal Court, by design and effect, is an illegitimate court, established contrary to the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the American Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States, and as such, puts United States citizens in jeopardy of unlawful and unconstitutional criminal prosecution, with members of the United States Armed Forces placed especially at risk of politically motivated arrests, prosecutions, fines, and imprisonments for acts engaged in for the protection of the sovereignty and independence of the United States.

SEC. 3. RESCISSION OF SIGNATURE.

The President of the United States should formally rescind the signature approving the Statute of the International Criminal Court made on behalf of the United States and should take such steps as are necessary to prevent the establishment of the International Criminal Court.

SEC. 5. PROTECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES AND UNITED STATES CITIZENS AND NATIONALS.

(a) ACTIONS AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES- Any action taken by or on behalf of the International Criminal Court against any member of the United States Armed Forces shall be considered to be an act of aggression against the United States.

(b) ACTIONS AGAINST UNITED STATES CITIZENS OR NATIONALS- Any action taken by or on behalf of the International Criminal Court against any individual who is a citizen or national of the United States shall be considered to be an offense against the law of nations.