May 7, 2002

This is a great day for Americans who know the supreme law of our land is
the Constitution of the United States and not some United Nations’ world
court. Yesterday, the U.S. officially announced it was reversing the
previous administration’s decision to become a signatory to the
International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty.

The ICC treaty is “unsigned!” Our efforts paid off!

But as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld made chillingly clear in his
statement supporting this historic victory for U.S. sovereignty:
“Unfortunately, the ICC will not respect the U.S. decision to stay out of
the treaty. To the contrary, the ICC provisions claim the authority to
detain and try American citizens — U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and
Marines, as well as current and future officials — even though the United
States has not given its consent to be bound by the treaty.”

The threat to U.S. servicemembers and citizens remains very real, because
unbelievable thought it may seem, from the beginning, the ICC was set up to
claim jurisdiction over every person on the planet even if a person’s
country might not be a party to the treaty. The battle lines are clearly
drawn.

It is more urgent than ever that Congress speak to support President Bush’s
decision. We are working on a sense of Congress resolution to put the full
force of the United States Congress on record to affirm President Bush’s
“unsigning” of the treaty. We are building momentum to pass H.R. 4169 –
The American Servicemember and Citizens Protection Act of 2002.

President Bush’s decision to renounce America’s participation in the ICC was
delivered yesterday morning by Marc Grossman, Under Secretary for Political
Affairs, U.S. Department of State. To read the full text of his remarks, go
to http://www.state.gov/p/9949.htm>

To read the full text of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld’s statement and
warning “There is a risk that the ICC could attempt to assert jurisdiction
over U.S. servicemembers, as well as civilians….” go to
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2002/b05062002_bt233-02.html>

To read the Liberty Committee’s press release in response to President
Bush’s decision, go to
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/first/0506-146.html>

Kent Snyder
The Liberty Committee
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org>