{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://spartz.house.gov/media/press-releases/spartzs-war-crimes-bill-passes-both-chambers-heads-presidents-desk", "Spartz's War Crimes Bill Passes Both Chambers, Heads to President\u2019s Desk", "2022-12-22", "2022", "2022-12", "Republican", "House", "IN", "Victoria Spartz", "S000929", "spartz.house.gov", "spartz", "https://spartz.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act, led by Reps. Victoria Spartz (IN-05), David Cicilline (RI-01), Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT). This bipartisan, bicameral legislation passed the Senate by unanimous consent earlier this week.\n\n\u201cWar criminals should never be able to escape justice in the United States,\u201d said Rep. Spartz. \u201cI was proud to co-lead this bipartisan, bicameral legislation with Rep. Cicilline and I am grateful to my colleagues for voting to close this loophole for good.\u201d\n\nIf enacted, the Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act would close a loophole in the federal statute to enable prosecution of war criminals who commit atrocities against non-U.S. citizens overseas. Currently, aliens who commit war crimes abroad could be immune to prosecution on U.S. soil, effectively giving them safe haven in the United States. This legislation would ensure that all war crimes are prosecutable under our law.\n\n\u201cWe cannot allow the United States to be a safe haven for war criminals to avoid accountability. With this legislation, we will ensure that any person present in the United States, regardless of nationality, can be brought to justice for their brutal, unwarranted, and illegal human rights violations committed under the guise of war. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation finally negates the \u2018get out of jail free card\u2019 that has existed in our judicial system for far too long,\u201d said Rep. Cicilline.\n\nFollowing the House and Senate\u2019s unanimous passage of this legislation this week, the Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act will head to the President\u2019s desk for signature.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:32:05Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://spartz.house.gov/media/press-releases/spartzs-war-crimes-bill-passes-both-chambers-heads-presidents-desk"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.301757223904133, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}