[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6268-6269]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 173--CONDEMNING ATROCITIES COMMITTED BY BASHAR AL-
         ASSAD OF SYRIA AND HIS REGIME, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mr. REID (for himself, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Menendez, and 
Mr. Casey) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
agreed to:

                              S. Res. 173

       Whereas Bashar al-Assad, through his actions and decisions, 
     has lost his legitimacy as a leader of the Syrian people;
       Whereas forces loyal to the Assad regime have committed war 
     crimes and crimes against humanity, including starvation, 
     systematic murder, torture, rape and sexual violence, 
     enforced disappearance, and used weapons of mass destruction 
     including chemical weapons;
       Whereas the actions of the Assad regime have egregiously 
     violated international laws of war and shocked the global 
     conscience;
       Whereas the United Nations has documented the Assad 
     regime's campaign to defeat opposition forces by starving 
     rebels and civilians through calculated efforts to cut off 
     food supplies in opposition-controlled areas such as eastern 
     Aleppo and Homs;
       Whereas there is evidence that the Assad regime conducted 
     systematic torture and killing of people who were detained by 
     regime forces;
       Whereas rape and sexual violence against civilians by 
     regime forces has been cited as a primary reason families 
     flee Syria;
       Whereas it has been reported that more than 11,000 people 
     have disappeared after being taken into custody by forces 
     loyal to the Assad regime;
       Whereas the Assad regime continues to use helicopters to 
     indiscriminately drop barrel bombs, even after the United 
     Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2139 
     on February 22, 2014, that ``[d]emands that all parties 
     immediately cease all attacks against civilians, as well as 
     the indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas, 
     including shelling and aerial bombardment, such as the use of 
     barrel bombs. . .'';
       Whereas Syria once possessed one of the most advanced 
     chemical weapons programs in the Middle East;
       Whereas there were multiple documented cases of chemical 
     attacks committed by the Assad regime, including the 
     deployment of sarin gas in Aleppo in March and April 2013, as 
     well as the devastating sarin and conventional attack 
     committed near Damascus in August 2013 that killed more than 
     1,400 innocent civilians, including 426 children;
       Whereas sarin is banned under 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 
     (commonly known as the ``Chemical Weapons Convention'');
       Whereas, in September 2013, the Assad regime agreed to 
     eliminate its chemical weapons stockpile by handing over all 
     of its chemical weapons to international control, providing 
     inspectors immediate and unfettered access to all suspected 
     sites, and allowing international forces to destroy the 
     entire stockpile and production facilities;
       Whereas the September 2013 agreement mandated that Syria 
     accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention;
       Whereas, after Syria's accession to the Chemical Weapons 
     Convention, there continue to be numerous documented reports 
     that the Assad regime has repeatedly attacked civilians, 
     including women and children, and armed opposition groups 
     with chlorine gas, a substance that is banned for use as a 
     weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention;
       Whereas, on March 6, 2015, the United Nations Security 
     Council passed Resolution 2209 by a vote of 14 in favor, zero 
     against, and 1 abstention condemning in the strongest terms 
     the use of chlorine as a weapon in Syria and vowing that any 
     future use would result in the imposition of Chapter VII 
     measures;
       Whereas, on March 6, 2015, the United States Permanent 
     Representative to the United Nations Samantha Power stated, 
     ``Despite having acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention, 
     the Assad regime has again demonstrated its brutality by 
     turning to chlorine as another barbaric weapon in its arsenal 
     against the Syrian people. . .. Let's ask ourselves who has 
     helicopters in Syria? Certainly not the opposition. Only the 
     Assad regime does and we have seen them use their helicopters 
     in countless other attacks on innocent Syrians using barrel 
     bombs'';

[[Page 6269]]

       Whereas it is clear that Bashar al-Assad has repeatedly 
     lied to the international community about using chemical 
     weapons, deploying barrel bombs, and targeting civilians, 
     demonstrating again and again that he cannot be trusted;
       Whereas internationally recognized tribunals have been used 
     in the past to hold leaders accountable for war crimes;
       Whereas the conflict in Syria has resulted in the loss of 
     countless innocent lives, has displaced millions of people, 
     and has destabilized the Middle East; and
       Whereas the organization known as the Islamic State, the al 
     Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat Al Nusra, and other armed opposition 
     groups have also carried out atrocities in Syria: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

       The Senate--
       (1) condemns the actions of Bashar al-Assad and his regime 
     for committing brutal acts of violence against the Syrian 
     people, for committing systematic murder, torture, rape and 
     enforced disappearance against the Syrian people, and for 
     using weapons of mass destruction including chemical weapons 
     against the Syrian people;
       (2) condemns the loss of innocent civilian life during the 
     course of the civil war in Syria;
       (3) supports the diplomatic efforts of the international 
     coalition to drive Bashar al-Assad from office and preserve 
     the institutions of government required to restore stability 
     to Syria; and
       (4) objects to any role for Bashar al-Assad in any final 
     settlement to the civil war.

     SEC. 2. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

       Nothing in this resolution shall be construed as an 
     authorization for the use of military force.

                          ____________________