I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5351 
To safeguard the sovereignty and right to self-defense of the United States 
and its allies, to prohibit United States participation in the International 
Criminal Court, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 20, 2010 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. KING of 
New York, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. PENCE, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. 
LAMBORN, and Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To safeguard the sovereignty and right to self-defense of 
the United States and its allies, to prohibit United States 
participation in the International Criminal Court, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Self-Defense 
Protection Act of 2010’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) On July 17, 1998, the United Nations Dip-
lomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Es-
tablishment of an International Criminal Court, 
meeting in Rome, Italy, adopted the ‘‘Rome Statute 
of the International Criminal Court’’. The vote on 
whether to proceed with the statute was 120 in favor 
to 7 against, with 21 countries abstaining. The 
United States voted against final adoption of the 
Rome Statute. 
(2) During testimony before the Congress fol-
lowing the adoption of the Rome Statute, the lead 
United 
States 
negotiator, 
Ambassador 
David 
Scheffer, stated that the United States could not 
sign the Rome Statute because certain critical nego-
tiating objectives of the United States had not been 
achieved. As a result, he stated: ‘‘We are left with 
consequences that do not serve the cause of inter-
national justice.’’. 
(3) Ambassador Scheffer went on to tell the 
Congress that: ‘‘Multinational peacekeeping forces 
operating in a country that has joined the treaty can 
be exposed to the Court’s jurisdiction even if the 
country of the individual peacekeeper has not joined 
the treaty. Thus, the treaty purports to establish an 
arrangement whereby United States Armed Forces 
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operating overseas could be conceivably prosecuted 
by the international court even if the United States 
has not agreed to be bound by the treaty. Not only 
is this contrary to the most fundamental principles 
of treaty law, it could inhibit the ability of the 
United States to use its military to meet alliance ob-
ligations and participate in multinational operations, 
including humanitarian interventions to save civilian 
lives. Other contributors to peacekeeping operations 
will be similarly exposed.’’. 
(4) Notwithstanding these concerns, President 
Clinton directed that the United States sign the 
Rome Statute on December 31, 2000. In a state-
ment issued that day, he stated that in view of the 
unremedied deficiencies of the Rome Statute, ‘‘I will 
not, and do not recommend that my successor sub-
mit the Treaty to the Senate for advice and consent 
until our fundamental concerns are satisfied.’’. 
(5) In a 2002 letter to the Secretary-General of 
the United Nations, Under Secretary of State John 
Bolton stated that ‘‘. . . in connection with the 
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 
. . . the United States does not intend to become a 
party to the treaty. Accordingly, the United States 
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has no legal obligations arising from its signature on 
December 31, 2000.’’. 
(6) On July 1, 2002, the Rome Statute entered 
into force, and the International Criminal Court was 
enacted. 
(7) Any American prosecuted by the Inter-
national Criminal Court will, under the Rome Stat-
ute, be denied procedural protections to which all 
Americans are entitled under the Bill of Rights to 
the United States Constitution, such as the right to 
trial by jury. 
(8) Members of the Armed Forces should be 
free from the risk of prosecution by the Inter-
national Criminal Court, especially when they are 
stationed or deployed around the world to protect 
the vital national interests of the United States. The 
United States Government has an obligation to pro-
tect the members of its Armed Forces, to the max-
imum extent possible, against criminal prosecutions 
carried out by the International Criminal Court. 
(9) In addition to exposing members of the 
Armed Forces to the risk of international criminal 
prosecution, the Rome Statute creates a risk that 
the President and other senior elected and appointed 
officials of the United States Government may be 
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mine the existence of any . . . act of aggression’’ 
would contravene the charter of the United Nations 
and undermine deterrence. 
(13) In a letter dated November 29, 2000, a bi-
partisan group of twelve former senior United States 
Government officials expressed concern regarding 
the ‘‘threat to American sovereignty and inter-
national freedom of action posed by the Inter-
national Criminal Court (ICC)’’. The signatories 
were the following: 
(A) Lawrence Eagleburger, former Sec-
retary of State. 
(B) Brent Scowcroft, former National Se-
curity Advisor. 
(C) Caspar Weinberger, former Secretary 
of Defense. 
(D) Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National 
Security Advisor. 
(E) James Woolsey, former Director of 
Central Intelligence. 
(F) Jeane Kirkpatrick, former Permanent 
Representative of the United States to the 
United Nations. 
(G) Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of 
State. 
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(H) Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of 
Defense. 
(I) Richard V. Allen, former National Se-
curity Advisor. 
(J) George Shultz, former Secretary of 
State. 
(K) James A. Baker, III, former Secretary 
of State. 
(L) Robert M. Gates, former Director of 
Central Intelligence, and present Secretary of 
Defense. 
(14) In their November 29, 2000, letter, the 
twelve bipartisan signatories added that ‘‘any Ameri-
cans prosecuted by the ICC will be denied basic con-
stitutional rights guaranteed them under our Bill of 
Rights’’. 
(15) In their November 29, 2000, letter, the 
twelve bipartisan signatories further added that 
‘‘Naturally we think it is essential that our nation’s 
military personnel be safely beyond the reach of an 
unaccountable international prosecutor operating 
under procedures inconsistent with our Constitution. 
War crimes and other human rights violations have 
long been subject to criminal penalties under United 
States law, and the United States has a far better 
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record of enforcing its laws against human rights 
violations than some of the countries that support 
the ICC.’’. 
(16) In their November 29, 2000, letter, the 
twelve bipartisan signatories further added that ‘‘we 
think it equally important that the President, cabi-
net officers, and other national security decision- 
makers not have to fear international criminal pros-
ecution as they go about their work. The risk of 
international criminal prosecution will certainly chill 
decision-making within our government, and could 
limit the willingness of our national leadership to re-
spond forcefully to acts of terrorism, aggression, and 
other threats to American interests. Indeed, we be-
lieve that American leadership in the world could be 
the first casualty of the ICC.’’. 
(17) The United States has entered into bilat-
eral agreements with over 100 countries pursuant to 
article 98 of the Rome Statute preventing the Inter-
national Criminal Court from proceeding against 
United States personnel present in those countries. 
(18) On August 2, 2002, the American 
Servicemembers’ Protection Act of 2002 was signed 
into law as title II of the 2002 Supplemental Appro-
priations Act for Further Recovery From and Re-
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sponse To Terrorist Attacks on the United States 
(Public Law 107–206). 
(19) Among other things, the American 
Servicemembers’ Protection Act of 2002 prohibits 
United States cooperation with the International 
Criminal Court and specifies restrictions on— 
(A) participation by covered United States 
persons in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping 
and peace enforcement operations; and 
(B) transfer to the International Criminal 
Court of United States classified national secu-
rity and law enforcement information. 
(20) Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton 
stated on August 6, 2009, that ‘‘[It] is a great re-
gret that we are not a signatory’’ of the Rome Stat-
ute of the International Criminal Court. 
(21) Ambassador Susan Rice, Permanent Rep-
resentative of the United States to the United Na-
tions, stated at a meeting of the United Nations Se-
curity Council on January 29, 2009, that the Inter-
national Criminal Court ‘‘looks to become an impor-
tant and credible instrument’’. She further stated on 
August 12, 2009, that ‘‘We have changed course. 
. . . We no longer oppose mentions of . . . the 
International Criminal Court’’. 
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(22) In November of 2009, the United States 
for the first time sent an observer delegation to the 
Assembly of States Parties of the International 
Criminal Court. 
(23) Stephen J. Rapp, Ambassador-at-Large 
for War Crimes Issues, has expressed the willingness 
of the United States to participate in the Review 
Conference of the Rome Statute of the International 
Criminal Court, which is scheduled to be held from 
May 31 to June 11, 2010, in Kampala, Uganda. 
(24) Ambassador Rapp has stated that the 
United States ‘‘will return to engagement at the 
ICC’’. 
(25) On December 1, 2009, the President an-
nounced his determination ‘‘that it is in our vital na-
tional interest to send an additional 30,000 United 
States troops to Afghanistan’’ in his ‘‘Address to the 
Nation on the Way Forward in Afghanistan and 
Pakistan’’, delivered at the United States Military 
Academy at West Point, New York. 
(26) During their testimony before the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs of the United States 
House of Representatives on December 10, 2009, 
General Karl W. Eikenberry (retired), United States 
Ambassador to Afghanistan, and General Stanley A. 
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