Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) is expected on Tuesday to call on his fellow senators to pass legislation sanctioning the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza. 

Barrasso, the No. 2 Senate Republican, plans to condemn the ICC in a floor speech for its embrace of “the legal fiction and the moral fraud that Israel violates human rights, that sovereignty doesn’t matter and that Israel has no right to defend itself.” 

Barrasso will deliver the remarks, the text of which was obtained by Jewish Insider, ahead of a Tuesday afternoon vote to advance the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, which passed the House last year and again this month but was stalled in the previously Democratic-controlled Senate. 

“Today, the Senate will hold a critical vote on a bipartisan bill to hold the International Criminal Court accountable,” Barrasso plans to say. “Passing this bill sends a strong message that America will not tolerate the ICC’s lawfare against Israel. If the ICC attacks America or its allies, the consequences will be swift, serious and severe. This is about more than Israel. The ICC also threatens America’s safety, security and sovereignty.”

“The Senate could have passed ICC sanctions last Congress. The Democrat leader chose to drag his feet instead. He blocked it from coming to the floor. He refused to even debate it,” he will say, a reference to then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blocking the bill with former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) amid opposition to the legislation from the Biden administration and other Democrats.

Barrasso will also use his remarks to take aim at rogue activity from the ICC, pointing to the court’s attempt to target the United States after former President Joe Biden withdrew U.S. forces from Afghanistan — in addition to commenting about the institution’s anti-Israel bias.

“Israel is not a member of the ICC. The court has no jurisdiction over it. Israel is a democracy. Israel’s judiciary is robust and independent. The ICC is deaf to these facts. It lives in an anti-Israel echo chamber. Because of this prejudice against Israel, the ICC has also attacked Israel’s allies,” Barrasso will say.

“In 2020, the ICC started to investigate American service members in Afghanistan for alleged war crimes. President Trump responded swiftly and strongly. He froze the assets of ICC officials who were involved in the corrupt investigation. He also imposed visa restrictions on ICC officials and their families. Former President Biden wrongly and weakly overturned these sanctions. President Trump restored the sanctions on his first day back in office last week,” his speech continues. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) had pledged to make passing the legislation, which passed the House comfortably, a top priority for this Congress. The bill will need 60 votes, the filibuster threshold, to pass the upper chamber. Republicans currently control the Senate by a 53-47 margin, so they’ll need all of their members and seven Democrats to vote yes to send it to the president’s desk. 
Democrats are currently negotiating for changes to the legislation.