(22 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington DC – 22 May 2024
1. Cutaway of House Republican leaders walking out for press conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House:
"The the death of the the passing of Iran’s president. We would just say clearly that the world is a little bit safer place this morning because of that. He was a clearly a malign force to the Iranian people and to Israel and the Wes. While he engaged in torture and terror, the International Criminal Court, I think it’s important to note this morning, maybe ironically, they never targeted him or even considered arresting him. But instead, what we see right now is the ICC has chosen to target Israel with baseless and illegitimate arrest warrants, and it’s attempting to equate Israel’s just war for its existence with the horrific acts of the October 7th massacre. To us, this is just unconscionable. You have international bureaucrats, we’re not going to allow them to use warfare to undermine state sovereignty or usurp the authority of democratic nations. "
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3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House:
"America should punish the ICC and put Karim Khan back in his place. And if the ICC is allowed to threaten Israel’s leaders, we know that America will be next. There is a reason that we’ve never endorsed the International Criminal Court because it is a direct affront to our own sovereignty. We don’t put any international body among or above American sovereignty and Israel does that. It doesn’t do that either. Congress is reviewing all of our options right now. We have some very aggressive legislation that we’re going to push. Is as quickly as possible. It will impose sanctions. And if the ICC moves forward with its absurd warrant arrest or request, this all this is going to be an even bigger international problem."
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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House:
"And I will tell you that Israel is in a fight, an existential war for their very existence. And Hamas has made clear they want to eliminate the state of Israel. Hamas is a proxy of Iran who has said the same thing. This is a high stakes battle for the survival of a nation and our our very close friend and ally, and a very important one. And it it destabilizes all global affairs. I mean, the Middle East is a tinderbox. And now you’ve got hot war going on there. We have to stand with Israel unequivocally. And we have to protect and help do everything we can to protect, Jewish, the Jewish people."
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5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House:
6. Cutaway of Johnson walking out of press conference
STORYLINE:
House Speaker Mike Johnson says Congress is "reviewing all our options right now" against the International Criminal Court, following their announcement they are seeking arrest warrants against the Israeli leaders.
"If the ICC is allowed to threaten Israel’s leaders, we know that America will be next. There is a reason that we’ve never endorsed the International Criminal Court because it is a direct affront to our own sovereignty," said Johnson Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill.
"We don’t put any international body among or above American sovereignty and Israel does that. It doesn’t do that either. Congress is reviewing all of our options right now. We have some very aggressive legislation that we’re going to push."
Khan is also seeking warrants against three Hamas leaders over the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack that ignited the war.
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