[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 19 (Monday, February 6, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CONDEMNING CHINESE AND RUSSIAN SUPPORT FOR THE SYRIAN REGIME

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                          HON. GARY C. PETERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, February 6, 2012

  Mr. PETERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to condemn the Chinese and 
Russian actions on Saturday, February 4, 2012, that blocked the United 
Nations Security Council from endorsing the Arab League's plan for a 
cessation of violence and political transition in Syria.
  The United States joined with people of many faiths from countries 
around the world to ask the Security Council to hold Syria accountable 
for the bloodshed it has already committed, and continues to commit, 
against its own people.
  Unfortunately, the Chinese and Russian governments appear to place 
more value on weapons sales to President al-Assad's bloody regime than 
the lives and freedoms of the people of Syria, and together they vetoed 
a resolution that would have committed the international community to 
putting an end to the violence.
  Since the beginning of the uprising, I have called on President Obama 
and Secretary Clinton to hold the al-Assad regime accountable for its 
despicable actions and to speak up for the rights of the Syrian people 
who are dying for expressing their own independent political voice.
  It is not too late for President Bashar al-Assad to do the right 
thing--step down--for his sake and the sake of the Syrian people.

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