[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.
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