Arrington Celebrates Passage of Bill Protecting Israel

The House passed a bill this week to sanction International Criminal Court (ICC) officials, eliciting cheers from Republicans. Texas Rep. Jodey Arrington (R) celebrated the anti-ICC bill's passage, vowing to aggressively counter the ICC and support Israel.

The bill, sponsored by Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R), is a response to the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Florida Rep. Brian Mast (R), the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, co-sponsored the bill and made it a top priority for the 119th Congress. According to a GOP congressional aide, the Florida Republican made the bill a priority because he wanted to make it clear that the United States is standing by Israel.

Ultimately, the bill received support from both Republicans and Democrats who argued that the ICC has no legal jurisdiction to pursue warrants against Israeli officials.

Rep. Arrington, the House Budget Chairman, voted in favor of the bill.

In a statement, he commented that "the International Criminal Court lacks any formal jurisdiction to infringe on the sovereign authority of any democratic country or its people." "Last year, I was proud to lead an effort to sanction the ICC for issuing phony warrants for Israel public officials, and I will continue to expose these bogus sanctions and stand up for Israel's inherent right of self-defense," Rep. Arrington added.

Speaking on the House Floor ahead of the vote, Rep. Mast voiced his disapproval of the ICC, saying that "a kangaroo court is seeking to arrest the prime minister of our great ally, Israel, which is not only responding to an enemy which conducted a genocide but an enemy who still holds 100 hostages."

The House passed the bill in the 118th Congress by a vote of 247 to 155. 42 Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the bill, but the bill was not brought to a vote in the Senate.

Given that both the House and the Senate are now under Republican control, the bill was brought back up for a vote.