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Click on the picture above to watch Rep. Hill's remarks from the House floor today.
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WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, the House of Representatives unanimously passed bipartisan legislation cosponsored by Congressman French Hill (AR-02), H.R. 31, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which will impose new sanctions on Syrian human rights abusers and those who facilitate the regime’s atrocities. Prior to passage of the bill, Rep. Hill delivered remarks from the House floor in support of the legislation.
Highlights of Rep. Hill's remarks, as prepared, are copied below:
"The world has witnessed many examples of butchery and genocide by menaces, including Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and many others. But the last eight years have allowed us to recognize a new name for evil and cruelty in this millennia: Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian collaborators.
"Until President Trump’s strategic airstrikes, the world blustered and twiddled while these modern menaces murdered the innocent civilian population of Syria. Systematically, they bombed, bludgeoned, gassed, electrocuted, and tortured their own people.
"I commend President Trump for his leadership to carry out airstrikes against mass murder. So, I call on him again to strengthen his resolve against Assad’s barbarous acts and to think of the innocent Syrian people that face these terrible atrocities nearly every day. Finally, I call on the Senate to act with expedition and pass this legislation and not waste any more time in bringing Assad and his co-conspirators to justice."
Background:
The full text of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act can be found HERE.
This legislation imposes new sanctions on Syrian human rights abusers and those who facilitate the regime’s atrocities. It also authorizes the State Department to support entities that are collecting and preserving the chain of evidence for eventual prosecution of those who have committed war crimes in Syria since the war began in 2011.
The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act is named in honor of the former Syrian military photographer “Caesar” who risked his life to document Assad’s horrific brutality and revealed his findings to members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
