[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 183 (Tuesday, December 10, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H6582]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FALL OF SYRIAN DICTATOR ASSAD

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, this past Sunday morning, a new day dawned 
in Syria. The world saw stunning images of liberty emerge in the 
world's oldest continuously inhabited capital city of Damascus.
  Syria was freed from the 55-year-old regime of Bashar al-Assad, who 
had turned it into a dictatorship.
  It was not totally clear who the rebel factions were that swarmed 
through the towns of Aleppo, Hama, and Homs, and then the capital city.
  As a result of the fall of Assad, the spiderweb of tyranny between 
Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China has been weakened.
  Iran and Russia could no longer prop up their puppet. The days ahead 
for Syria are uncertain, but the Syrian people deserve a chance to 
rebuild a civil nation of their choosing after decades of turmoil. 
Hopefully, it will be a tolerant society, accepting of people from all 
religious confessions.
  Under that dictatorship, over 500,000 people suffered horror and 
death at the hands of Assad. Others were held warrantlessly in 
captivity by this ruthless dictator. My hope is that the Syrian people 
may have the chance to write their own intelligent chapter in human 
history.

  While the future of Syria remains uncertain, we should recognize this 
spirit of triumph. Millions who fled the scourge of war will have a 
chance to return home free of bombs.

                          ____________________