On July 1, 2002, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court ( ICC ) entered into force, establishing the first permanent international criminal tribunal. Although seventy-six countries had ratified the Rome Statute by that date, the United States was not among them. Instead, Congress responded to the creation of the ICC by passing a bill sponsored by House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) that Republican legislators had been trying to get through the House and Senate for several years. On August 2, 2002, the American Servicemembers\u27 Protection Act of 2002 ( ASPA ) became law. The Act was designed to prevent United States participation in the ICC and to discourage other members of the international community from participating in the Court or assisting it in any way
