In the News

Hill’s bipartisan Syrian sanctions bill included in NDAA

12/11/2019
The Ripon Advance

U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) recently applauded the inclusion of a bipartisan bill he supports that would impose new sanctions on Syrian human rights abusers in larger legislation to authorize U.S. military appropriations.

The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, H.R. 31, which Rep. Hill introduced in January with U.S. Rep. Eliot Engle (D-NY), is now included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020, S. 1790, over which both houses of Congress are working to resolve their differences.

“With the inclusion of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act in the NDAA, the United States is sending a clear message that we will not turn away and ignore heinous acts committed against civilians by Assad, Iran, and Russia,” Rep. Hill said on Dec. 7. “I’m calling on President Donald J. Trump to sign this important legislation promptly after its passage.”

If enacted as part of S. 1790, Rep. Hill’s bipartisan bill would establish additional sanctions and financial restrictions on institutions and individuals related to the conflict in Syria, including blocking of financial and property transactions and barring of entry into the United States, according to the congressional record summary.

“Earlier this year, I met with ‘Caesar,’ a Syrian defector who risked his life to smuggle photographic proof of the atrocities committed by Bashar al-Assad and his brutal regime to the United States,” said Rep. Hill. “These photos, now known as the Caesar Files, depict more than 55,000 men, women, and children who suffered horrific torture and murder in Assad’s prisons throughout Syria.

“His message to me was this: do not let the 500,000 Syrians murdered by Assad and his henchmen die in vain,” the congressman added.