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...of those arguments, however, thought it might be helpful to give you a report from the front, describing current efforts by the United States to protect its citizens from the illegitimate assertion of authority over them. As President Bush has argued as far back as the 2000 campaign, the problems inherent in the ICC are more than abstract legal issues; they are matters that touch directly on our national interests and security, and therefore also affect the security of our friends and allies worldwide. As a result, the United States is engaged in a global campaign to conclude bilateral agreements that will ensure US persons are not subjected to the ICC's jurisdiction.
For numerous reasons, the United States decided that the ICC had unacceptable consequences for our national sovereignty. Specifically, the ICC is an organization that runs contrary to fundamental American precepts and basic constitutional principles of popular sovereignty, checks and balances, and national independence.
United Sates military forces and civilian personnel and private citizens are currently active in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions in almost one-hundred countries at any given time. It is essential that we remain steadfast in preserving the independence and flexibility that America needs to defend our national interests around the world. As President Bush said:
The United States cooperates with many other nations to keep the peace, but we will not submit American troops to prosecutors and judges whose jurisdiction we do not accept. Every person who serves under the American flag will answer to his or her own superiors and to military law, not to the rulings of an unaccountable International Criminal Court.
Accordingly, in order to protect all of our citizens, the United States is engaged in a worldwide effort to conclude legally binding, bilateral agreements that would prohibit the surrender of US persons to the Court. These Article 98 agreements, so named because they are specifically contemplated under Article 98 of the Rome Statute that created the ICC, provide US persons with essential protection against the court's purported jurisdictional claims, and allow us to remain engaged internationally with our friends and allies.
Thus far, the United States has concluded and signed Article 98 agreements with seventy countries all over the globe, representing over 40 percent of the world's population. Each Article 98 agreement meets our key objective, ensuring that all US persons are covered by the terms of the agreement. This broad scope of coverage is essential to ensuring that...
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