WASHINGTON, Dec 8, 2000 (LSN.ca) – The bill proposed in the United States Senate and Congress to fight the implementation of the UN’s International Criminal Court has received backing from influential leaders across the political spectrum. The New York Times reported yesterday that on Nov. 29, 12 former high-level officials backed the American Servicemen’s Protection Act (ASPA) in a letter to House majority whip Tom DeLay. Signatures on the letter included that of four former secretaries of state, James A. Baker III, Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Henry A. Kissinger and George P. Shultz, and three former national security advisers, Richard V. Allen, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft. The letter said the ASPA is “an appropriate response to the threat to American sovereignty and international freedom of action posed by the International Criminal Court.”
LifeSite reported in June that the ASPA would bar any U.S. cooperation with the ICC, so long as the U.S. has not signed and ratified the Rome Treaty. Given that the UN depends heavily on US personnel for its peacekeeping operations, the bill hits hard, requiring that “U.S. personnel be immunized from the ICC’sjurisdiction before the U.S. can participate in any UN peacekeeping operation.” Moreover the bills sponsor in the Senate Jesse Helms said “it prevents the transfer of classified national security information to the Court, and bans U.S. military assistance to any country that has ratified the Rome Treaty (with a waiver for U.S. allies who have agreements that protect Americans from extradition).” And finally it “authorizes the President to use all means necessary and appropriate to bring home any U.S. or Allied personnel detained against their will by or on behalf of the Court.”
See the NYT (with subscription only) https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/07/world/07NATI.html
See LifeSite’s coverage of the ASPA: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/june/000616.html#2
See LifeSite critiques of the ICC at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/dec/991213.html#1 https://www.lsn.ca/ldn/2000/mar/000314a.html