[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 4, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S2370]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





 SENATE RESOLUTION 116--CONDEMNING THE ASSAD REGIME FOR ITS CONTINUED 
           USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST THE SYRIAN PEOPLE

  Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. Corker, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Rubio, Mr. 
Kaine, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Udall, Mr. Coons, and Mr. Gardner) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 116

       Whereas on August 21, 2013, the Assad regime launched 
     rockets carrying sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent, against 
     Ghouta, a rebel-held suburb of Damascus, killing 1,429 men, 
     women, and children, according to United States Government 
     estimates, while injuring another 3,600 people;
       Whereas, on September 14, 2013, the Assad regime agreed to 
     enter the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, 
     Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical Weapons and on 
     their Destruction, done at Paris January 13, 1993, and 
     entered into force April 29, 1997 (referred to in this 
     Resolution as the ``Chemical Weapons Convention'') and to 
     allow a joint mission between the United Nations and the 
     Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (referred 
     to in this Resolution as the ``OPCW-UN'') to oversee the 
     removal and elimination of Syria's chemical weapons program;
       Whereas, on September 27, 2013, the United Nations Security 
     Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2118, which endorsed 
     the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons program and 
     agreed that in the event of noncompliance, it would take 
     action under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United 
     Nations;
       Whereas, on October 16, 2013, the OPCW-UN was formally 
     established to investigate and destroy Syria's chemical 
     weapons program and stockpiles;
       Whereas, on June 23, 2014, the OPCW-UN announced that the 
     last of Syria's declared chemical weapon stockpile had been 
     shipped out of Syria for destruction;
       Whereas, on September 30, 2014, the OPCW-UN announced that 
     it had completed its mandate and officially ended operations;
       Whereas on October 14, 2013, the Syria Government entered 
     into the Chemical Weapons Convention;
       Whereas the Chemical Weapons Convention has 192 member 
     states and bans all chemical weapons;
       Whereas, the Assad regime was subsequently accused of 
     committing more chemical weapons attacks on Syrian civilians 
     in opposition-held areas by using chlorine-based chemical 
     weapons, in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention;
       Whereas on August 7, 2015, the United Nations Security 
     Council adopted Resolution 2235, which established the UN-
     OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism to identify which 
     individuals and entities were responsible for the use of 
     chlorine-based chemical weapons attacks in Syria;
       Whereas, on October 27, 2016, the UN-OPCW Joint 
     Investigative Mechanism definitively confirmed that the Assad 
     regime was responsible for the use of chemical weapons in 
     Syria in Talmenes in April 2014, in Qmenas in March 2015, and 
     in Sarmin in March 2016;
       Whereas, the United Nation Security Council adopted 
     Resolution 2319 on November 17, 2016, which renewed the UN-
     OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism mandate for one year;
       Whereas, the Russian Federation, along with China, blocked 
     a United Nations Security Council Resolution on February 28, 
     2017, which would have implemented a sanctions regime against 
     the Assad regime for its use of chemical weapons;
       Whereas, on the morning of April 4, 2017, another chemical 
     weapons attack took place in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in 
     Idlib Province, killing at least 58 people, including 11 
     children, according to the Syrian Observatory For Human 
     Rights;
       Whereas Human Rights Watch reported that dozens of people 
     showed symptoms consistent with exposure to chemicals after 
     aircraft attacked the town;
       Whereas the Assad regime is the only entity operating in 
     Syria that the UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism has 
     confirmed use of aircraft to launch chemical weapons attacks;
       Whereas, United States Ambassador to the United Nations 
     Nikki Haley announced that the United Nations Security 
     Council would hold an emergency meeting on April 5, 2017, to 
     discuss the chemical weapons attack in Idlib province;
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) holds the Assad regime responsible for war crimes and 
     crimes against humanity, including its confirmed use of 
     chemical weapons;
       (2) condemns Russia for repeatedly blocking collective 
     response to Bashar al-Assad's confirmed use of chemical 
     weapons though the United Nations Security Council;
       (3) calls on the United Nations Security Council to take 
     immediate, decisive action in response to the Assad regime's 
     continued use of chemical weapons;
       (4) supports the critical work of the United Nations-
     Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Joint 
     Investigate Mechanism;
       (5) expresses alarm that the continued use of chemical 
     weapons by the Assad regime undermines the integrity of the 
     Chemical Weapons Convention;
       (6) reiterates that Bashar al-Assad has lost legitimacy as 
     Syria's leader; and
       (7) insists that Bashar al-Assad must be held accountable 
     for his war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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