SENATE RESOLUTION 173--CONDEMNING ATROCITIES COMMITTED BY BASHAR AL- ASSAD OF SYRIA AND HIS REGIME, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES; Congressional Record Vol. 161, No. 68

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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:

\[S. Res. 173\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-resolution/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;

\\\[\\\[\[Page\](https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-161/senate-section/page/S2694) \[S2694\](https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-161/senate-section/page/S2694)\\\]\\\]

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'';

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.

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