Particularly galling, Members said, was the vote to deny the United States a seat on the Human Rights Commission, a panel that this country founded more than 50 years ago, but which now includes acknowledged human rights abusers Cuba, China, Sudan and Sierra Leone.
Actions have consequences.
The commission includes some of the world s premier human rights violators. Senate sources told the Washington Post that the International Relations Committee will soon take up companion legislation and that such a bill would have a good chance of clearing that chamber as well. President Clinton signed the treaty establishing the ICC, Dec. 31, but never submitted the agreement to the Senate for ratification, likely because he knew the votes were not there. DeLay said his amendment would ensure that American soldiers are not brought before an international tribunal, easily guided by political considerations and vendettas, where they could be prosecuted and imprisoned for simply carrying out orders. Without the legislation, the possibility exists that U.S. military personnel could be brought before the ICC, even though this country has not ratified the treaty.