Trump is Weakening U.S. Sovereignty and Global Leadership: RM Johnson Condemns Attacks on ICC

Normally I would say something that's very short-term, very timely, but this is far ahead of what America has been doing. And I don't have much to say about that. I think it's important that we understand that we are not alone. I've attended many meetings with people in this country, and I think I have a great deal to say about it. In the media, you can tell what's going on. But you don't expect the world to understand that. And that's why I've been saying it's so important that we You're talking about the question of this. I think it's important to understand what people dislike about us. They don't like what we're doing, they don't like what they're hearing. And they think it's a reaction to this right here in the world. Americans believe that the pursuit of love knows no borders. If we hold that accountability is the foundation of justice at home, then we must not undermine or ignore it when it calls upon us abroad. But for some reason, that is not exactly what we are doing here today. On its face, it is here in service to the United States of America and its allies, such as Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Mike Kelly. And this all while we believe the American people are suffering the consequences of their own policies. Because while we are allegedly here today to discuss how the International Criminal Court, quote, threatens, end quote, our sovereignty and that of our allies, much like the Trump administration and other manufactured white people, It's a farce, a smokescreen, a pathetic excuse to conceal the true nature of these hearings, to divert attention from the corruption, greed, and cruelty of Donald Trump and his allies in Congress. Over the weekend, the price of diesel fuel reached an all-time record high, while Trump is urging major tech companies to continue constructing massive data centers in our region, placing unprecedented pressure on our already strained industry. This administration is asking Americans to look abroad and see an international court 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 creating new enemies of war to distract from the fact that President Trump is increasing economic pressure on American families every single day. This manufactured attack on international cooperation comes at a crucial time when the world faces a threat that no one could overcome alone, that no country could overcome alone: the proliferation of nuclear weapons. President Trump has instructed our military to resume testing of nuclear bombs. We are facing nuclear proliferation. We are facing climate change and the increasingly unchecked development of artificial intelligence. Our artificial intelligence company's head has told us that humanity may no longer exist within ten years or less. Some say by the end of the decade—that's only four years or less. We're experiencing an exponential slowdown in the development of artificial intelligence. And what do we do in Congress? We go back on vacation. After being on vacation for four weeks, five weeks, we return for a six-week vacation. It's also my colleague on the other side of the aisle who was lecturing, saying all of this is an exponential state. In July, an open AI test became uncontrollable when agents hacked into the servers of an AI company, Hudson Space. The AI detects the exact presence of an AI, thinking for itself. It is programmed to think for itself, escaping the dark web of human beings and their wisdom and intelligence set. But it was not enough. It was prominent in where we're headed. And speaking in a language that human beings can't even decipher or understand, what then? We should be having conversations about robust safety standards here at home. The reason we haven't is because Donald Trump has told his allies in Congress that they cannot regulate AI. That is why this very subcommittee held a hearing last year to try to preempt all state laws attempting to regulate AI. Instead of dismantling international cooperative organizations, we need to be strengthening them—all on Donald Trump's order. Working together with our allies, we should be capturing Washington in another Cold War, where we spend billions upon billions upon billions of dollars trying to build a bigger nuclear bomb, trying to build a more powerful AI capacity. Yet it has become clear that Trump and many Republicans are incapable of moving in that direction. 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 stronger when we lead, when we stand with our allies and our adversaries, and understand that the choice before us is not between sovereignty and international cooperation.