RESOLUTION 01/7-7
CALIFORNIA CONGRESS OF REPUBLICANS
Board of Directors

RESOLUTION TO MOBILIZE OPPOSITION TO THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TREATY, AND TO SUPPORT H. CON. RES. 23
Resolution Tabled July 29, 2001 until November 4, 2001 by
The California Congress Of Republicans Board Of Directors

WHEREAS The International Criminal Court Treaty would establish the International Criminal Court as an international authority with power to threaten the ability of the United States to engage in military action to provide for its national defense, AND

WHEREAS The term 'crimes of aggression', as used in the treaty, is not specifically defined and therefore would, by design and effect, require the United States to receive prior United Nations Security Council approval and International Criminal Court confirmation before engaging in military action, thereby putting United State military officers in jeopardy of an International Criminal Court prosecution, AND

WHEREAS The treaty would subject United States individuals who appear before the International Criminal Court to trial and punishment without the rights and protections that the United States Constitution guarantees, including trial by a jury of one's peers, protection from double jeopardy, the right to know the evidence brought against one, the right to confront one's accusers, and the right to a speedy trial, AND

WHEREAS The Supreme Court stated in Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 416, 433 (1920), Reid v. Covert, 354 U.S. 1 (1957, and DeGeofrey v. Riggs, 133 U.S. 258, 267 (1890) that the United States Government may not enter into a treaty that contravenes prohibitory words in the United States Constitution because the treaty power does not authorize what the Constitution forbids, AND

WHEREAS The 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties provides that a party is not bound to a treaty unless it has consented to be bound, AND

WHEREAS The International Criminal Court Treaty breaks substantially with accepted norms of international law because it extends its jurisdiction even to the nationals of countries that do not sign and ratify the treaty, AND

WHEREAS Approval of the International Criminal Court Treaty is in fundamental conflict with the constitutional oaths of the President and Senators, because the United States Constitution clearly provides that '[a]ll legislative powers shall be vested in a Congress of the United States', and vested powers cannot be transferred, AND

WHEREAS The International Criminal Court Treaty creates a supranational court that would exercise the judicial power constitutionally reserved only to the United States and thus is in direct violation of the United States Constitution, AND

WHEREAS In order to make a treaty, the United States Constitution requires the President to obtain the advice and consent of the Senate and the concurrence of the Senate by a 2/3 vote, AND

WHEREAS Former President Clinton signed the International Criminal Court Treaty but expressed his intention not to submit the treaty to the Senate, thereby rendering his act procedurally inadequate and unconstitutional, AND

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED By the California Congress of Republicans, that it is the sense of this congress that--

(1) the International Criminal Court Treaty, also referred to as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, undermines United States sovereignty and security, conflicts with the United States Constitution, contradicts customs of international law, and violates the inalienable rights of self-government, individual liberty, and popular sovereignty, AND

(2) President George W. Bush should declare to all nations that the United States does not intend to assent to or ratify the treaty and the signature of former President Clinton to the treaty should not be construed otherwise, AND

(3) that we call upon the California Republican Party, and all Republican members of the U.S. Congress to cosponsor, endorse and support Congressman Ron Paul's (R-TX) H. CON. RES. 23 (expressed here almost in its entirety), which already has 22 cosponsors including California Republican Congressman Ken Calvert.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED That this Resolution be presented as a Resolution of this body at the next California Republican Party Convention for their consideration and adoption and place a copy of this Resolution in the official CCR Book of Resolutions.

Submitted by Gerald S. Burchell