HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN SYRIA; Congressional Record Vol. 161, No. 72

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HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN SYRIA

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I would like to say, very briefly, a word

about the situation in Syria. On May 13, 1994, a Senator from Illinois

named Paul Simon was then chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations

Subcommittee on Africa. His ranking Republican was Senator Jim Jeffords

of Vermont. Senators Jim Jeffords and Paul Simon had been told that

there was a looming genocide about to occur in Rwanda. They went on the

phone together and spoke to U.N. General Romeo Dallaire in Kigali,

Rwanda, in May of 1994. They asked: What can we do to stop the killing

in Rwanda? General Dallaire said: If you would send 5,000 uniformed

troops, I could stop this genocide.

Senators Simon and Jeffords wrote to the Clinton White House

immediately at that time and asked for the administration to call on

the United Nations to act.

Their letter said in part: \\\`\\\`Obviously there are risks involved but

we cannot continue to sit idly by while this tragedy continues to

unfold.''

The Senators received no reply from the White House. In less than 8

weeks, 800,000 Rwandans were massacred. Today, President William

Clinton acknowledges that he should have done more--we should have done

more. What happened in Rwanda was a classic genocide. Today, what is

happening in Syria may not meet the classic definition of a genocide,

but it certainly meets every standard and every definition as the

looming humanitarian crisis of our time. The question before us and the

United States is this: What will we do?

I think it has reached the point where we must act. That is why I

have joined three of my colleagues--fellow Democrat Tim Kaine of

Virginia and Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John

McCain of Arizona--and we have written to President Obama, urging him

to call together world leaders and to establish a humanitarian zone--a

safe zone, a no-fly zone--in Syria, where modern medical treatment can

be provided and displaced persons can escape. We think it should be

done under the auspices--I do--of the United Nations and that the

United States can join other countries in providing a defensive

security force.

We need to turn to our NATO allies, such as Turkey. We need to reach

out to Saudi Arabia, even Iran, and try to find an international

consensus to spare the suffering and death which has been occurring now

for years. We do not know the exact number of casualties. We estimate

that some 400,000 may have died in Syria. Millions have been displaced.

This is a picture of just one of the refugee camps to which the

people of Syria have fled. I have visited camps such as this in Turkey.

They are in Lebanon and Jordan. They cannot accommodate all of the

people who are evacuating that country.

Once every few months a friend of mine comes to visit in Chicago. He

is an extraordinary man. His name is Dr. Sahloul. He heads up a group

of Syrian Americans who travel to Syria on a regular basis. They have

to sneak into the country--this war-torn country. As doctors, they are

providing basic medical care to the victims of the violence that is

taking place in Syria.

Dr. Sahloul brings heartbreaking photographs to show me. The last

photographs were of children who had been victims of barrel bombs,

which Bashar al-Assad, the leader of Syria, drops on

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his own people. These are literally garbage cans filled with munitions

and explosives that explode, killing civilian populations. The photos

showed children who had been maimed, lost their limbs, and some had

been killed by these barrel bombs that continue. Now Assad has decided

to up the ante. He is including chlorine gas in the barrel bombs as

well.

These doctors try to save these children and save these victims. Many

times they are operating on tables in abandoned schools. They are

begging for medicines, which are at a high premium. Many times they are

not successful. What will we do? What can the United States do?

I hope that we can be part of an effort--an international effort--to

provide safe zones for medical treatment and for the displaced persons

in Syria. I hope to join with others on a bipartisan basis in urging

that alternative.

I yield the floor.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.

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