[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 76--EXPRESSING DEEPEST CONDOLENCES TO AND SOLIDARITY 
    WITH THE PEOPLE OF TURKIYE AND SYRIA FOLLOWING THE DEVASTATING 
                     EARTHQUAKE ON FEBRUARY 6, 2023

  Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. Sullivan, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Cramer, 
and Mr. Durbin) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                               S. Res. 76

       Whereas, on February 6, 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake 
     struck southern and central Turkiye, a North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization (NATO) ally, and western Syria;
       Whereas this is the most powerful earthquake recorded in 
     Turkiye since 1939;
       Whereas, according to the United States Geological Survey 
     (USGS), the earthquake epicenter was located approximately 16 
     miles east of Nurdagi, in Turkiye's Gaziantep province;
       Whereas the USGS has registered more than 100 aftershocks 
     between magnitudes 4.5 and 7.5;
       Whereas the reported death toll has reached 42,000, 
     thousands more people have been reported injured, hundreds of 
     thousands have been displaced from their homes, and thousands 
     of buildings have collapsed;
       Whereas the World Health Organization estimates that 
     23,000,000 people, including 1,400,000 children, in Turkiye 
     and Syria have likely been affected by the earthquake and 
     more than 4,000,000 people already rely on humanitarian 
     assistance in the region of northwest Syria that was affected 
     by the earthquake;
       Whereas countless people in the region and across the world 
     have lost family, friends, and loved ones to the earthquakes 
     and will be mourning their loss;
       Whereas the United States Government responded immediately 
     to the disaster and the United States Agency for 
     International Development (USAID) has deployed a nearly 200-
     member Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to Turkiye, 
     including nearly 160 urban search-and-rescue teams, to 
     provide life-saving assistance on both sides of the Turkiye-
     Syria border;
       Whereas USAID has committed $85,000,000 to date for USAID's 
     humanitarian partners to deliver urgently-needed aid for 
     millions of people in Turkiye and Syria;
       Whereas individuals, businesses, and philanthropic and 
     humanitarian organizations across the United States and 
     throughout the international community have responded in 
     support of Turkiye and Syria;
       Whereas humanitarian access has been constrained by road 
     closures, infrastructural damage, and weather conditions in 
     Turkiye; and
       Whereas access to the one official crossing for cross-
     border aid from the United Nations from Turkiye to northern 
     Syria was heavily damaged, further delaying humanitarian 
     access: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) expresses its deepest condolences to and solidarity 
     with the people of Turkiye and Syria following the 
     devastating earthquake on February 6, 2023;
       (2) commends the efforts and honors the sacrifice of the 
     men and women engaged in the humanitarian response on the 
     ground in the affected regions of Turkiye and Syria;
       (3) commends as well the international humanitarian and 
     nongovernmental organizations engaged in this effort;
       (4) urges the United States Government, in coordination 
     with appropriate local authorities in Turkiye and 
     internationally recognized organizations and institutions in 
     Syria, as well as other donors, to continue to provide 
     emergency relief and reconstruction efforts in both countries 
     as provided in the humanitarian exemptions of the United 
     States Treasury's Syria Sanctions program;
       (5) urges the United States Government to ensure that 
     earthquake assistance does not--
       (A) violate the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 
     2019 (title LXXIV of Public Law 116-92; 22 U.S.C. 8791 note);
       (B) facilitate reconstruction efforts that directly benefit 
     the Assad regime;
       (C) signal or support normalization with the Assad regime; 
     or
       (D) fuel continued regime atrocities against the people of 
     Syria;
       (6) encourages efforts by the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization and allies to assist Turkiye by providing--
       (A) search-and-rescue teams;
       (B) firefighters and structural engineers;
       (C) medical personnel and supplies; and
       (D) technical experts;
       (7) urges the international community to continue to find 
     alternative border crossings to ensure aid gets into affected 
     areas in Syria;
       (8) calls on the United Nations Security Council, to pass a 
     resolution to allow for additional border crossings from 
     Turkiye into northern Syria for aid convoys; and
       (9) to allow full access for humanitarian aid 
     organizations, urges the immediate cessation of violence in 
     northern Syria.

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