Today, on the eve of September the 11th, I want to deliver a clear and unambiguous message on behalf of the president of the United States: The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court. We will not cooperate with the I.C.C., we will provide no assistance to the I.C.C. and we certainly will not join the I.C.C. [applause] We will let the I.C.C. die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the I.C.C. is already dead to us. According to the Rome Statute, the I.C.C. has authority to prosecute genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. It claims automatic jurisdiction, meaning that it can prosecute individuals, even if their own governments have not recognized, signed or ratified the treaty. Thus, American soldiers, politicians, civil servants, private citizens and even all of you sitting in this room today are purportedly subject to the court’s prosecution. This afternoon, we also make a new pledge to the American people: If the court comes after us, Israel or other U.S. allies, we will not sit quietly. We will negotiate even more binding, bilateral agreements to prohibit nations from surrendering U.S. persons to the I.C.C. and we will ensure that those we already have entered are honored by our counterpart governments. We will respond against the I.C.C. and its personnel to the extent permitted by U.S. law. We will ban its judges and prosecutors from entering the United States. We will sanction their funds in the U.S. financial system and we will prosecute them in the U.S. criminal system. We will do the same for any company or state that assists an I.C.C. investigation of Americans.