Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

In one of his early comedies, Woody Allen had a stereotypical pompous U.S. ambassador bellow to an equally stereotypical group of thuggish Eastern European cops that no American could be shot without his personal approval.

The ambassador's shout was an understandable, if tortured, explication of something we all value — our diplomatic and consular officials overseas have a responsibility to protect the rights of our citizens traveling and working away from home. The right of such people to have immediate assistance from their consulates is enshrined in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, a global treaty endorsed by the United States and some 170 other nations.

No citizen needs consular support more than one who faces the terrifying ordeal of arrest and imprisonment under a foreign legal system. Immediate access to a consular representative provides trustworthy guidance through the bewildering judicial process. In some regions, consular assistance is all that stands between foreign prisoners and abuse or even death.

Since thousands of U.S. citizens are jailed abroad every year (sometimes for no good reason), anything that diminishes the power of American consuls to assist them is cause for concern. Yet current developments in our own nation are threatening that power.

At issue are the cases of 51 Mexican nationals who, arrested and sentenced to death in the United States, were not provided with consular notification and access. Mexico sought a remedy from the International Court of Justice — the judicial arm of the United Nations that the U.S. and other Vienna Convention signatories had agreed would resolve such disputes. The United States, the strongest proponent of the ICJ, was the first nation to invoke its jurisdiction in a case filed against Iran during the 1980 hostage crisis.

The ICJ, hearing the case filed by Mexico, directed a modest remedy consistent with our commitment to the rule of law: a judicial proceeding in each of the cases to determine if the defendant's case was prejudiced by failure to receive consular access. In 2004, the Bush administration attempted to enforce the ICJ judgment by directing states to provide that judicial review.

In the Medellín v. Texas decision issued last March, however, our Supreme Court held that while the U.S. — and individual states — are bound by international law to comply with the ICJ decision, neither that decision nor the president's directive is enforceable in domestic courts without congressional action. The House introduced legislation last month calling for the implementation of the ICJ's judgment, a move followed by the ICJ issuing another order directing the United States to prevent the imminent execution of five Mexican nationals on death row in Texas.

The state of Texas, thus far refusing to stay its hand until Congress can act, is proceeding toward an execution for one of the nationals subject to the ICJ decision, currently scheduled for today.

So we now find ourselves on the brink of violating the most important treaty governing consular assistance for our citizens detained in other countries. A failure to comply would significantly impair the ability of our diplomats and leaders to protect the interests — individual and collective — of Americans abroad. Were the tables turned, our leaders would rightly demand that compliance be forthcoming.

I am not personally opposed to the death penalty. But this case is not about the United States' or Texas' right to implement its criminal laws. This case is about our unequivocal treaty obligation to comply with an ICJ judgment. The Vienna Convention is one of the most significant treaties to which we are a party, allowing diplomats such as myself to save hundreds if not thousands of American lives.

The proposed legislation is a laudable step, but it is only a first step. Congress should move swiftly to pass legislation and ensure this country's commitment to its treaty obligations. Texas, in the meantime, should not move forward with its planned executions while the political branches of the U.S. work to ensure compliance with the ICJ judgment. A failure to honor our own obligation to comply here may undercut our ability to protect our own citizens overseas.