[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 520 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 520

    Calling for an end to attacks on Syrian civilians and expanded 
                          humanitarian access.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2014

     Mr. Royce (for himself and Mr. Engel) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Calling for an end to attacks on Syrian civilians and expanded 
                          humanitarian access.

Whereas March 2014 marks the third year of the crisis in Syria, which has 
        resulted in the world's largest ongoing humanitarian disaster, and the 
        urgent need for a resolution to the conflict;
Whereas Bashar al-Assad and supporting militias, including Hezbollah, continue 
        to carry out sectarian mass atrocities, which have included mass 
        targeted killings, mass graves, the extermination of entire families, 
        including their children, incidents of ethnic cleansing, sexual 
        violence, widespread torture, aerial bombardment of residential areas, 
        and otherwise forced displacement of certain Syrian civilians especially 
        from areas in western Syria where Assad is attempting to increase the 
        dominance of his own loyalists;
Whereas the United States Government should not continue to officially recognize 
        a regime that is guilty of such vicious abuses of basic human rights on 
        such a vast scale;
Whereas the United States Department of State took appropriate action on March 
        5, 2014, in restricting the movements of Assad's loyal representative to 
        the United Nations, Bashar al-Jaafari, to within a 25-mile radius of New 
        York City;
Whereas approximately 140,000 people have been killed, including more than 
        11,000 children, many more have been seriously wounded, and civilian 
        casualties continue to mount as widespread and systematic attacks on 
        schools, hospitals, and other civilian facilities persist in violation 
        of international norms and principles;
Whereas the United Nations has registered more than 2,500,000 Syrian refugees 
        who have fled to neighboring countries, while regional governments and 
        the United Nations estimate that the total number of refugees already 
        has reached more than 3,000,000;
Whereas the United Nations expects the total refugee count to reach over 
        4,000,000 Syrians by the end of 2014;
Whereas approximately half of Syrian refugees are children, including nearly 
        500,000 under the age of 5, and thousands have been separated from their 
        parents and are especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation;
Whereas the United Nations estimates that over 9,000,000 civilians are in need 
        of humanitarian assistance within Syria, more than 40 percent of the 
        country's total population, including 6,500,000 internally displaced 
        persons;
Whereas Bashar al-Assad's forces, supporting militias, and other parties to the 
        conflict are systematically blocking humanitarian aid delivery, 
        including food and medical care, from many civilian areas in violation 
        of international norms and principles;
Whereas the United Nations estimates that 3,000,000 Syrians are trapped in hard-
        to-reach or besieged areas, with an estimated 250,000 cut off from 
        assistance for over a year;
Whereas the crisis has worsened already difficult conditions for Syrian women 
        and girls, who are especially vulnerable to economic hardship and 
        gender-based violence, including early marriage, forced marriage, 
        trafficking, sexual violence, or the fear of sexual violence;
Whereas over 5,000,000 children affected by the conflict desperately need food, 
        clean water, shelter, and medical care;
Whereas millions of Syrian children have been forced out of school, and an 
        entire generation of young Syrians are being shaped by violence, 
        displacement, and persistent lack of opportunity and are therefore at 
        high risk of exploitation, life-long underdevelopment, and 
        radicalization;
Whereas the World Health Organization estimates that 70 percent of Syria's 
        medical professionals, up to 80,000 people, have fled the country, while 
        remaining professionals are deliberately targeted by parties to the 
        conflict;
Whereas regional states, including Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq, are 
        hosting well over 2,000,000 refugees;
Whereas despite the attention and resources refugee camps receive, most refugees 
        from Syria, 83 percent regionally, do not live in formal refugee camps 
        but rather among host communities where resources and services, 
        including health, water and sanitation, electricity, and other systems 
        are strained at the municipal and national level;
Whereas many members of the Syrian-American community, especially medical 
        professionals, have generously donated their time and money, while 
        taking great personal risk, in heroic efforts to reach those in need 
        inside Syria with humanitarian assistance;
Whereas the United Nations launched its largest appeal in its history for a 
        single humanitarian emergency in December 2013, requesting an 
        unprecedented $6,500,000,000 in 2014 for the Syrian response, 
        representing nearly half of the United Nations entire global 
        humanitarian request; and
Whereas the United States has provided $1,700,000,000 in assistance to those 
        suffering inside Syria, as well as refugees and host communities in 
        neighboring countries and has committed to continue to increase its 
        humanitarian contributions for those affected by the conflict: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) strongly condemns all parties' attacks on civilians and 
        civilian infrastructure in Syria, including attacks on medical 
        personnel, schools, and health facilities, and the use of 
        explosive weapons, including ``barrel bombs'' and missiles, in 
        populated areas, and calls on Bashar al-Assad's regime and 
        supporting militias, as well as all other parties to the 
        conflict in Syria, to end the violence against civilians, 
        respect international norms and principles, and pursue all 
        appropriate diplomatic options to work toward a negotiated end 
        to the crisis;
            (2) demands that Bashar al-Assad's regime and supporting 
        militias, as well as all other parties to the conflict in 
        Syria, immediately cease attacks upon civilians and civilian 
        infrastructure, facilitate unfettered humanitarian access, 
        especially that of domestic and international medical 
        professionals, throughout the country, respect the safety and 
        security of humanitarian workers, and ensure freedom of 
        movement for humanitarian workers and organizations so they may 
        deliver aid to those most in need;
            (3) calls for the immediate and full implementation of the 
        provisions of the October 2013 United Nations Security Council 
        Presidential Statement, especially including facilitation of 
        the expansion of humanitarian relief operations in accordance 
        with international humanitarian norms;
            (4) calls for the immediate, full and United Nations-
        monitored implementation of the provisions of the 2014 United 
        Nations Security Council Resolution 2139 to promptly allow 
        unhindered humanitarian access, including across conflict lines 
        (for the United Nations and its partners) to people in need 
        throughout Syria;
            (5) urges the Administration and allies of the United 
        States to formally withdraw their recognition of Bashar al-
        Assad's regime as the rightful Government of Syria, unless and 
        until the Assad regime and its supporting militias discontinue 
        their barbaric slaughter, systematic starvation, and other 
        grave human rights abuses and are granted full and unfettered 
        access for deliveries of humanitarian assistance, even as other 
        negotiations with Assad's regime may continue;
            (6) further calls upon the United Nations Security Council, 
        acting under Article 5 of the Charter of the United Nations, to 
        suspend the Government of Syria's rights and privileges of 
        membership by the General Assembly until such time as the Assad 
        regime has ceased attacks upon civilians, and granted free and 
        unfettered access for deliveries of humanitarian assistance 
        throughout the territory of Syria;
            (7) urges all donors, regional and otherwise, to meet the 
        2014 United Nations humanitarian funding appeal;
            (8) commends regional governments and communities for 
        continuing to host Syrian refuges and urges them to keep their 
        borders open to civilians fleeing the Syria conflict;
            (9) calls upon the Assad regime, the Syrian opposition, and 
        all other parties to the conflict, the Administration, and the 
        United Nations to improve their facilitation and support for 
        the Syrian-American community, especially medical 
        professionals, as they work to aid the Syrian people with all 
        forms of humanitarian assistance;
            (10) calls for continued international support of 
        neighboring countries and host communities that are supporting 
        refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict;
            (11) calls for international investment in education in 
        host countries to expand learning opportunities for refugee 
        children, and support programs that help them gain access to 
        quality instruction, protect them from violence and abuse, and 
        provide counseling;
            (12) calls on the international community to ensure that 
        vulnerable refugee and displaced women and girls have access to 
        services and programs, implement steps to mitigate risks and 
        prevent gender-based violence, and assure the protection of 
        women and girls against sexual exploitation, early marriage, 
        human trafficking, and rape;
            (13) calls for the meaningful participation of Syrian civil 
        society, including women representatives, in the overall 
        humanitarian response, political processes, and peace 
        negotiations;
            (14) urges international donors and aid agencies to 
        integrate humanitarian relief and longer-term development 
        programs through a comprehensive strategy to address the 
        protracted Syrian crisis; and
            (15) calls on the President of the United States to develop 
        and submit to Congress within 60 days from adoption of this 
        resolution a strategy for United States engagement on the Syria 
        crisis, with a specific focus on humanitarian assistance and 
        development, and protecting human rights inside Syria and in 
        the region.
                                 <all>