Subcommittee Ranking Member Johnson’s Opening Statement At Hearing On Trump’s Attacks On American Global Leadership

Image September 15, 2026 Press Release WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 15, 2026)—Today, Rep. Hank Johnson, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet, delivered opening remarks at a hearing on the International Criminal Court (ICC), highlighting how President Trump’s attacks on international institutions and America’s closest allies are weakening U.S. sovereignty and global leadership. Below are Ranking Member Johnson’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at today’s hearing. WATCH Ranking Member Johnson’s opening statement. Ranking Member Hank Johnson Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Hearing on “The International Criminal Court’s Threat to the Sovereignty of the United States and its Allies” September 15, 2026 I thank the Chairman for yielding. Normally, I would thank him for holding this very important, very timely hearing, but this is far afield from what the American people want us to be talking about right now. You know, they’re concerned with paying the bills, groceries, gas, diesel, rent. They’re concerned about living in America and being able to make ends meet. They can’t do it, but yet they look up and they see a few millionaires and billionaires corruptly, you know, soaking their profits—soaking money directly out of the pockets and pocketbooks of regular working people. And they don’t like what they see, and they don’t like what they’re hearing when they see us addressing issues like the International Criminal Court, which has nothing to do with their cost of living. America’s commitment to the rule of law should not end at our borders. If we believe accountability is the foundation of justice at home, then we should not undermine or ignore it when the crimes are committed abroad. But for some reason, that is exactly what we are doing here today. On its face, this hearing serves to benefit Donald Trump and his friends like Vladamir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Bukele. And this all while he leaves the American people to suffer under the consequences of his failed policies. Because while we are allegedly here today to discuss how the International Criminal Court “threatens” our sovereignty and that of our allies, much like the Trump administration’s other manufactured crises, it is a farce. A smokescreen. A pathetic excuse to mask the true nature behind this hearing: To distract from the corruption and greed of Donald Trump and his cronies here in Congress. While Trump and MAGA Republicans are here talking about “sovereignty,” American families are worried about how they are going to pay for gas and groceries and everything else that inevitably gets more expensive when war sends energy prices soaring. Over the weekend, the cost of diesel fuel hit an all-time record high, while Trump is encouraging Big Tech to continue building enormous data centers in our backyards, putting unprecedented demands on our already-strained energy grid. That is the reality for millions of Americans. Not an abstract debate about international law. This hearing will not put gas in the tank or food on the table. It will help my colleagues across the aisle talk about anything other than the consequences of his self-serving policies. This administration is asking Americans to look abroad and fear an international court that we don’t even belong to, when the American people don’t need another distraction. They need a government focused on making their lives more affordable – not one manufacturing new enemies abroad to distract from the fact that President Trump is increasing the economic pressures facing American families every single day. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle can talk about sovereignty all they want. But I believe the American people deserve a government that understands their actual problems, not one that is only concerned with the president’s ego and helping him get richer on the backs of American workers. This manufactured attack on international cooperation comes at a time when our world faces threats that no one country can solve alone – from climate change to the increasingly unchecked development of artificial intelligence. In July, an Open AI test became uncontrollable when agents hacked into the servers of AI company, Hugging Face. Just last week, Anthropic disclosed another instance of one of their models hacking an external system during testing. Nobody instructed the AI to take these actions. Now, each of these incidents is concerning on its own, and they raise real questions about the soundness of the evaluation setups. But the larger question is what happens when these same capabilities are in the hands of someone who intends harm? We should be having conversations about robust safety standards here at home. The reason we have not is because Donald Trump has told his cronies in Congress that they cannot regulate AI. That is why this very subcommittee had a hearing last year to try to preempt all state laws that try to regulate AI. We have a narrow window to get this right. And while we should be collaborating with our allies to address AI augmented cybersecurity and autonomous weaponry concerns, my colleagues across the aisle are instead busy trying to take the ICC apart “brick by brick.” All on Donald Trump’s orders. Working together with our allies to solve these problems is not a surrender of American sovereignty; it is what responsible leadership looks like. The United States cannot solve these problems alone. We need our allies. We need international institutions that allow nations to work together to confront problems that no single country can solve alone. Yet it has become clear that Trump and MAGA Republicans are incapable of understanding that distinction. Instead, they confuse sovereignty with isolation and strength with intimidation. They confuse putting America first with putting America alone. History has shown that America is strongest when we lead; when we stand with our allies and understand that the choice before us is not between sovereignty and international cooperation. We can either choose to confront these challenges together, or we can confront their consequences alone. It is my sincere hope that we choose the former. Thank you to our witnesses for being here today and I yield back the balance of my time. ### Issues : Justice & Court Reform