[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1828 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  1st Session

                               H. R. 1828

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 To halt Syrian support for terrorism, end its occupation of Lebanon, 
  and stop its development of weapons of mass destruction, and by so 
  doing hold Syria accountable for the serious international security 
   problems it has caused in the Middle East, and for other purposes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1828

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To halt Syrian support for terrorism, end its occupation of Lebanon, 
  and stop its development of weapons of mass destruction, and by so 
  doing hold Syria accountable for the serious international security 
   problems it has caused in the Middle East, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Syria Accountability and Lebanese 
Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On September 20, 2001, President George Bush stated at 
        a joint session of Congress that ``[e]very nation, in every 
        region, now has a decision to make . . . [e]ither you are with 
        us, or you are with the terrorists . . . [f]rom this day 
        forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support 
        terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile 
        regime''.
            (2) On June 24, 2002, President Bush stated ``Syria must 
        choose the right side in the war on terror by closing terrorist 
        camps and expelling terrorist organizations''.
            (3) United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 
        (September 28, 2001) mandates that all states ``refrain from 
        providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities 
        or persons involved in terrorist acts'', take ``the necessary 
        steps to prevent the commission of terrorist acts'', and ``deny 
        safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit 
        terrorist acts''.
            (4) The Government of Syria is currently prohibited by 
        United States law from receiving United States assistance 
        because it has repeatedly provided support for acts of 
        international terrorism, as determined by the Secretary of 
        State for purposes of section 6(j)(1) of the Export 
        Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)) and 
        other relevant provisions of law.
            (5) Although the Department of State lists Syria as a state 
        sponsor of terrorism and reports that Syria provides ``safe 
        haven and support to several terrorist groups'', fewer United 
        States sanctions apply with respect to Syria than with respect 
        to any other country that is listed as a state sponsor of 
        terrorism.
            (6) Terrorist groups, including Hizballah, Hamas, 
        Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation 
        of Palestine, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of 
        Palestine-General Command, maintain offices, training camps, 
        and other facilities on Syrian territory, and operate in areas 
        of Lebanon occupied by the Syrian armed forces and receive 
        supplies from Iran through Syria.
            (7) United Nations Security Council Resolution 520 
        (September 17, 1982) calls for ``strict respect of the 
        sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political 
        independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority 
        of the Government of Lebanon through the Lebanese Army 
        throughout Lebanon''.
            (8) Approximately 20,000 Syrian troops and security 
        personnel occupy much of the sovereign territory of Lebanon 
        exerting undue influence upon its government and undermining 
        its political independence.
            (9) Since 1990 the Senate and House of Representatives have 
        passed seven bills and resolutions which call for the 
        withdrawal of Syrian armed forces from Lebanon.
            (10) On March 3, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell 
        declared that it is the objective of the United States to ``let 
        Lebanon be ruled by the Lebanese people without the presence of 
        [the Syrian] occupation army''.
            (11) Large and increasing numbers of the Lebanese people 
        from across the political spectrum in Lebanon have mounted 
        peaceful and democratic calls for the withdrawal of the Syrian 
        Army from Lebanese soil.
            (12) Israel has withdrawn all of its armed forces from 
        Lebanon in accordance with United Nations Security Council 
        Resolution 425 (March 19, 1978), as certified by the United 
        Nations Secretary General.
            (13) Even in the face of this United Nations certification 
        that acknowledged Israel's full compliance with Security 
        Council Resolution 425, Syrian- and Iranian-supported Hizballah 
        continues to attack Israeli outposts at Shebaa Farms, under the 
        pretense that Shebaa Farms is territory from which Israel was 
        required to withdraw by Security Counsel Resolution 425, and 
        Syrian- and Iranian-supported Hizballah and other militant 
        organizations continue to attack civilian targets in Israel.
            (14) Syria will not allow Lebanon--a sovereign country--to 
        fulfill its obligation in accordance with Security Council 
        Resolution 425 to deploy its troops to southern Lebanon.
            (15) As a result, the Israeli-Lebanese border and much of 
        southern Lebanon is under the control of Hizballah, which 
        continues to attack Israeli positions, allows Iranian 
        Revolutionary Guards and other militant groups to operate 
        freely in the area, and maintains thousands of rockets along 
        Israel's northern border, destabilizing the entire region.
            (16) On February 12, 2003, Director of Central Intelligence 
        George Tenet stated the following with respect to the Syrian- 
        and Iranian-supported Hizballah: ``[A]s an organization with 
        capability and worldwide presence [it] is [al Qaeda's] equal if 
        not a far more capable organization . . . [T]hey're a notch 
        above in many respects, in terms of in their relationship with 
        the Iranians and the training they receive, [which] puts them 
        in a state-sponsored category with a potential for lethality 
        that's quite great.''.
            (17) In the State of the Union address on January 29, 2002, 
        President Bush declared that the United States will ``work 
        closely with our coalition to deny terrorists and their state 
        sponsors the materials, technology, and expertise to make and 
        deliver weapons of mass destruction''.
            (18) The Government of Syria continues to develop and 
        deploy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.
            (19) According to the December 2001 unclassified Central 
        Intelligence Agency report entitled ``Foreign Missile 
        Developments and the Ballistic Missile Threat through 2015'', 
        ``Syria maintains a ballistic missile and rocket force of 
        hundreds of FROG rockets, Scuds, and SS-21 SRBMs [and] Syria 
        has developed [chemical weapons] warheads for its Scuds''.
            (20) The Government of Syria is pursuing the development 
        and production of biological and chemical weapons and has a 
        nuclear research and development program that is cause for 
        concern.
            (21) According to the Central Intelligence Agency's 
        ``Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of 
        Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced 
        Conventional Munitions'', released January 7, 2003: ``[Syria] 
        already holds a stockpile of the nerve agent sarin but 
        apparently is trying to develop more toxic and persistent nerve 
        agents. Syria remains dependent on foreign sources for key 
        elements of its [chemical weapons] program, including precursor 
        chemicals and key production equipment. It is highly probable 
        that Syria also is developing an offensive [biological weapons] 
        capability.''.
            (22) On May 6, 2002, the Under Secretary of State for Arms 
        Control and International Security, John Bolton, stated: ``The 
        United States also knows that Syria has long had a chemical 
        warfare program. It has a stockpile of the nerve agent sarin 
        and is engaged in research and development of the more toxic 
        and persistent nerve agent VX. Syria, which has signed but not 
        ratified the [Biological Weapons Convention], is pursuing the 
        development of biological weapons and is able to produce at 
        least small amounts of biological warfare agents.''.
            (23) According to the Central Intelligence Agency's 
        ``Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of 
        Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced 
        Conventional Munitions'', released January 7, 2003: ``Russia 
        and Syria have approved a draft cooperative program on 
        cooperation on civil nuclear power. In principal, broader 
        access to Russian expertise provides opportunities for Syria to 
        expand its indigenous capabilities, should it decide to pursue 
        nuclear weapons.''.
            (24) Under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear 
        Weapons (21 UST 483), which entered force on March 5, 1970, and 
        to which Syria is a party, Syria has undertaken not to acquire 
        or produce nuclear weapons and has accepted full scope 
        safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency to detect 
        diversions of nuclear materials from peaceful activities to the 
        production of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive 
        devices.
            (25) Syria is not a party to the Chemical Weapons 
        Convention or the Biological Weapons Convention, which entered 
        into force on April 29, 1997, and on March 26, 1975, 
        respectively.
            (26) Syrian President Bashar Assad promised Secretary of 
        State Powell in February 2001 to end violations of Security 
        Council Resolution 661, which restricted the sale of oil and 
        other commodities by Saddam Hussein's regime, except to the 
        extent authorized by other relevant resolutions, but this 
        pledge was never fulfilled.
            (27) Syria's illegal imports and transshipments of Iraqi 
        oil during Saddam Hussein's regime earned Syria $50,000,000 or 
        more per month as Syria continued to sell its own Syrian oil at 
        market prices.
            (28) Syria's illegal imports and transshipments of Iraqi 
        oil earned Saddam Hussein's regime $2,000,000 per day.
            (29) The Government of Syria also utilized the railway 
        network linking Mosul, Iraq, to Aleppo, Syria, to transfer a 
        wide range of weaponry and weapon systems to Saddam Hussein's 
        regime.
            (30) On March 28, 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald 
        Rumsfeld warned: ``[W]e have information that shipments of 
        military supplies have been crossing the border from Syria into 
        Iraq, including night-vision goggles . . . These deliveries 
        pose a direct threat to the lives of coalition forces. We 
        consider such trafficking as hostile acts, and will hold the 
        Syrian government accountable for such shipments.''.
            (31) According to Article 23(1) of the United Nations 
        Charter, members of the United Nations are elected as 
        nonpermanent members of the United Nations Security Council 
        with ``due regard being specially paid, in the first instance 
        to the contribution of members of the United Nations to the 
        maintenance of international peace and security and to other 
        purposes of the Organization''.
            (32) Despite Article 23(1) of the United Nations Charter, 
        Syria was elected on October 8, 2001, to a 2-year term as a 
        nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council 
        beginning January 1, 2002, and served as President of the 
        Security Council during June 2002 and August 2003.
            (33) On March 31, 2003, the Syrian Foreign Minister, Farouq 
        al-Sharra, made the Syrian regime's intentions clear when he 
        explicitly stated that ``Syria's interest is to see the 
        invaders defeated in Iraq''.
            (34) On April 13, 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald 
        Rumsfeld charged that ``busloads'' of Syrian fighters entered 
        Iraq with ``hundreds of thousands of dollars'' and leaflets 
        offering rewards for dead American soldiers.
            (35) On September 16, 2003, the Under Secretary of State 
        for Arms Control and International Security, John Bolton, 
        appeared before the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central 
        Asia of the Committee on International Relations of the House 
        of Representatives, and underscored Syria's ``hostile actions'' 
        toward coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Under 
        Secretary Bolton added that: ``Syria allowed military equipment 
        to flow into Iraq on the eve of and during the war. Syria 
        permitted volunteers to pass into Iraq to attack and kill our 
        service members during the war, and is still doing so . . . 
        [Syria's] behavior during Operation Iraqi Freedom underscores 
        the importance of taking seriously reports and information on 
        Syria's WMD capabilities.''.
            (36) During his appearance before the Committee on 
        International Relations of the House of Representatives on 
        September 25, 2003, Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, III, 
        Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, 
        stated that out of the 278 third-country nationals who were 
        captured by coalition forces in Iraq, the ``single largest 
        group are Syrians''.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Government of Syria should immediately and 
        unconditionally halt support for terrorism, permanently and 
        openly declare its total renunciation of all forms of 
        terrorism, and close all terrorist offices and facilities in 
        Syria, including the offices of Hamas, Hizballah, Palestinian 
        Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of 
        Palestine, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of 
        Palestine-General Command;
            (2) the Government of Syria should--
                    (A) immediately and unconditionally stop 
                facilitating transit from Syria to Iraq of individuals, 
                military equipment, and all lethal items, except as 
                authorized by the Coalition Provisional Authority or a 
                representative, internationally recognized Iraqi 
                government;
                    (B) cease its support for ``volunteers'' and 
                terrorists who are traveling from and through Syria 
                into Iraq to launch attacks; and
                    (C) undertake concrete, verifiable steps to deter 
                such behavior and control the use of territory under 
                Syrian control;
            (3) the Government of Syria should immediately declare its 
        commitment to completely withdraw its armed forces, including 
        military, paramilitary, and security forces, from Lebanon, and 
        set a firm timetable for such withdrawal;
            (4) the Government of Lebanon should deploy the Lebanese 
        armed forces to all areas of Lebanon, including South Lebanon, 
        in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 
        520 (September 17, 1982), in order to assert the sovereignty of 
        the Lebanese state over all of its territory, and should evict 
        all terrorist and foreign forces from southern Lebanon, 
        including Hizballah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards;
            (5) the Government of Syria should halt the development and 
        deployment of medium- and long-range surface-to-surface 
        missiles and cease the development and production of biological 
        and chemical weapons;
            (6) the Governments of Lebanon and Syria should enter into 
        serious unconditional bilateral negotiations with the 
        Government of Israel in order to realize a full and permanent 
        peace;
            (7) the United States should continue to provide 
        humanitarian and educational assistance to the people of 
        Lebanon only through appropriate private, nongovernmental 
        organizations and appropriate international organizations, 
        until such time as the Government of Lebanon asserts 
        sovereignty and control over all of its territory and borders 
        and achieves full political independence, as called for in 
        United Nations Security Council Resolution 520; and
            (8) as a violator of several key United Nations Security 
        Council resolutions and as a nation that pursues policies which 
        undermine international peace and security, Syria should not 
        have been permitted to join the United Nations Security Council 
        or serve as the Security Council's President, and should be 
        removed from the Security Council.

SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States that--
            (1) Syria will be held responsible for attacks committed by 
        Hizballah and other terrorist groups with offices, training 
        camps, or other facilities in Syria, or bases in areas of 
        Lebanon occupied by Syria;
            (2) the United States shall impede Syria's ability to 
        support acts of international terrorism and efforts to develop 
        or acquire weapons of mass destruction;
            (3) the Secretary of State will continue to list Syria as a 
        state sponsor of terrorism until Syria ends its support for 
        terrorism, including its support of Hizballah and other 
        terrorist groups in Lebanon and its hosting of terrorist groups 
        in Damascus, and comes into full compliance with United States 
        law relating to terrorism and United Nations Security Council 
        Resolution 1373 (September 28, 2001);
            (4) efforts against Hizballah will be expanded given the 
        recognition that Hizballah is equally or more capable than al 
        Qaeda;
            (5) the full restoration of Lebanon's sovereignty, 
        political independence, and territorial integrity is in the 
        national security interest of the United States;
            (6) Syria is in violation of United Nations Security 
        Council Resolution 520 (September 17, 1982) through its 
        continued occupation of Lebanese territory and its encroachment 
        upon Lebanon's political independence;
            (7) Syria's obligation to withdraw from Lebanon is not 
        conditioned upon progress in the Israeli-Syrian or Israeli-
        Lebanese peace process but derives from Syria's obligation 
        under Security Council Resolution 520;
            (8) Syria's acquisition of weapons of mass destruction and 
        ballistic missile programs threaten the security of the Middle 
        East and the national security interests of the United States;
            (9) Syria will be held accountable for any harm to 
        Coalition armed forces or to any United States citizen in Iraq 
        due to its facilitation of terrorist activities and its 
        shipments of military supplies to Iraq; and
            (10) the United States will not provide any assistance to 
        Syria and will oppose multilateral assistance for Syria until 
        Syria ends all support for terrorism, withdraws its armed 
        forces from Lebanon, and halts the development and deployment 
        of weapons of mass destruction and medium- and long-range 
        surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.

SEC. 5. PENALTIES AND AUTHORIZATION.

    (a) Penalties.--Until the President makes the determination that 
Syria meets all the requirements described in paragraphs (1) through 
(4) of subsection (d) and certifies such determination to Congress in 
accordance with such subsection--
            (1) the President shall prohibit the export to Syria of any 
        item, including the issuance of a license for the export of any 
        item, on the United States Munitions List or Commerce Control 
        List of dual-use items in the Export Administration Regulations 
        (15 C.F.R. part 730 et seq.); and
            (2) the President shall impose two or more of the following 
        sanctions:
                    (A) Prohibit the export of products of the United 
                States (other than food and medicine) to Syria.
                    (B) Prohibit United States businesses from 
                investing or operating in Syria.
                    (C) Restrict Syrian diplomats in Washington, D.C., 
                and at the United Nations in New York City, to travel 
                only within a 25-mile radius of Washington, D.C., or 
                the United Nations headquarters building, respectively.
                    (D) Prohibit aircraft of any air carrier owned or 
                controlled by Syria to take off from, land in, or 
                overfly the United States.
                    (E) Reduce United States diplomatic contacts with 
                Syria (other than those contacts required to protect 
                United States interests or carry out the purposes of 
                this Act).
                    (F) Block transactions in any property in which the 
                Government of Syria has any interest, by any person, or 
                with respect to any property, subject to the 
                jurisdiction of the United States.
    (b) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of paragraph 
(2) of subsection (a) for one or more 6-month periods if the President 
determines that it is in the vital national security interest of the 
United States to do so and transmits to Congress a report that contains 
the reasons therefor.
    (c) Authority to Provide Assistance to Syria.--If the President--
            (1) makes the determination that Syria meets the 
        requirements described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of 
        subsection (d) and certifies such determination to Congress in 
        accordance with such subsection;
            (2) determines that substantial progress has been made both 
        in negotiations aimed at achieving a peace agreement between 
        Israel and Syria and in negotiations aimed at achieving a peace 
        agreement between Israel and Lebanon; and
            (3) determines that the Government of Syria is strictly 
        respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and 
        political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive 
        authority of the Government of Lebanon through the Lebanese 
        army throughout Lebanon, as required under paragraph (4) of 
        United Nations Security Council Resolution 520 (1982),
then the President is authorized to provide assistance to Syria under 
chapter 1 of Part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to 
development assistance).
    (d) Certification.--A certification under this subsection is a 
certification transmitted to the appropriate congressional committees 
of a determination made by the President that--
            (1) the Government of Syria has ceased providing support 
        for international terrorist groups and does not allow terrorist 
        groups, such as Hamas, Hizballah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, 
        the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the 
        Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command 
        to maintain facilities in territory under Syrian control;
            (2) the Government of Syria has withdrawn all Syrian 
        military, intelligence, and other security personnel from 
        Lebanon;
            (3) the Government of Syria has ceased the development and 
        deployment of medium- and long-range surface-to-surface 
        ballistic missiles, is not pursuing or engaged in the research, 
        development, acquisition, production, transfer, or deployment 
        of biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons, has provided 
        credible assurances that such behavior will not be undertaken 
        in the future, and has agreed to allow United Nations and other 
        international observers to verify such actions and assurances; 
        and
            (4) the Government of Syria has ceased all support for, and 
        facilitation of, all terrorist activities inside of Iraq, 
        including preventing the use of territory under its control by 
        any means whatsoever to support those engaged in terrorist 
        activities inside of Iraq.

SEC. 6. REPORT.

    (a) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and every 12 months thereafter until the 
conditions described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 5(d) are 
satisfied, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on--
            (1) Syria's progress toward meeting the conditions 
        described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 5(d);
            (2) connections, if any, between individual terrorists and 
        terrorist groups which maintain offices, training camps, or 
        other facilities on Syrian territory, or operate in areas of 
        Lebanon occupied by the Syrian armed forces, and the attacks 
        against the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001, 
        and other terrorist attacks on the United States or its 
        citizens, installations, or allies; and
            (3) how the United States is increasing its efforts against 
        Hizballah given the recognition that Hizballah is equally or 
        more capable than al Qaeda.
    (b) Form.--The report submitted under subsection (a) shall be in 
unclassified form but may include a classified annex.

SEC. 7. DEFINITION OF APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.

    In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means the Committee on International Relations of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

            Passed the House of Representatives October 15, 2003.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.