HR1839-119

What This Bill Does

The Move the ICC Out of NYC Act responds to the International Criminal Court's office at United Nations headquarters in New York. The findings stress that the United States joined the United Nations through the Charter, authorized the U.N. headquarters through the United Nations Headquarters Agreement Act, has not ratified the Rome Statute, and does not recognize ICC jurisdiction inside the United States or over U.S. persons. The operative section requires the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, within 30 days after the opening date of the 80th U.N. General Assembly, to seek negotiations for a supplemental agreement to the U.N. Headquarters Agreement. The requested agreement would prohibit the United Nations from hosting, leasing, or otherwise allowing the ICC to use U.N. facilities located in the United States.

Who Benefits and How

U.S. officials opposing ICC jurisdiction benefit because the bill creates a diplomatic mandate to push the ICC out of U.N. facilities in the United States. U.S. persons concerned about ICC activity benefit from a congressional effort to limit ICC physical presence at U.N. headquarters. Members of Congress on foreign affairs committees benefit from a clear statutory negotiating instruction to the U.N. Ambassador. United Nations headquarters agreement negotiators benefit from a defined congressional position for supplemental-agreement talks.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations must seek negotiations within 30 days after the 80th General Assembly opens. The Department of State must support negotiations over a supplemental U.N. Headquarters Agreement. The United Nations Secretariat would face pressure to stop hosting, leasing, or allowing ICC use of facilities in the United States. International Criminal Court staff in New York risk losing access to U.N. facilities in the United States if negotiations succeed.

Key Provisions

• Requires the U.N. Ambassador to seek supplemental headquarters-agreement negotiations.
• Targets U.N. hosting, leasing, or facility use by the International Criminal Court in the United States.
• Defines ICC, Rome Statute, and U.N. Headquarters Agreement terms.
• Uses U.S.-U.N. diplomacy rather than direct domestic eviction authority.