CHEMICAL ATTACK IN SYRIA; Congressional Record Vol. 163, No. 88

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CHEMICAL ATTACK IN SYRIA

(Mr. HILL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, stories from the survivors of Assad's bombings

and chemical attacks are almost impossible to read due to the grotesque

descriptions of innocent people and children suffocating, foaming at

the mouth, and suffering from seizures.

If, in 2013, the Obama administration had taken decisive leadership

against the use of chemical weapons, insisted on a U.N. strategy to

isolate Assad and Russia, verified the elimination of Syria's chemical

weapons stockpile, and created no-fly zones, we might have avoided

500,000 innocent deaths and millions of refugees.

Through his appropriate and proportionate bombing, President Trump

told Assad that America will no longer ignore the unspeakable acts of

violence against innocent people. We also learned that the U.S.-led

coalition aircraft bombed, last week, pro-regime forces after they

breached a deconfliction zone and advanced on a base occupied by U.S.

special forces.

I call on the United Nations to follow America's lead by pursuing a

ceasefire in Syria, creating safe zones, and holding Assad accountable

for his war crimes.

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