IIA 

Calendar No. 259 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 59 

Expressing the sense of Congress on the precipitous withdrawal of United 

States Armed Forces from Syria and Afghanistan, and Turkey’s 

unprovoked incursion into Syria. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 22, 2019 

Mr. MCCONNELL (for himself, Mr. BURR, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. 

RISCH, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. ISAKSON, Mrs. 

BLACKBURN, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. BLUNT, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. 

WICKER, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. SULLIVAN, Ms. ERNST, Mrs. 

FISCHER, and Mr. ROBERTS) introduced the following joint resolution; 

which was read the first time 

OCTOBER 23, 2019 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress on the precipitous withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Syria and 

Afghanistan, and Turkey’s unprovoked incursion into 

Syria. 

Whereas the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham, better known 

by its acronym ISIS, flourished in the chaos unleashed 

by the civil war in Syria and at one point controlled extensive territory in Iraq and Syria; 


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•SJ 59 PCS 

Whereas ISIS murdered thousands of innocent civilians, including Americans, and sought to ethnically cleanse the 

territory it controlled of religious minorities; 

Whereas the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which is 

composed of Kurdish and Arab fighters, remains an essential United States partner in the successful campaign 

to destroy ISIS’ so-called ‘‘caliphate’’; 

Whereas, backed by the United States and United States allies, the Syrian Democratic Forces liberated millions of 

Syrians from ISIS’ terrorist regime, and sustained approximately 11,000 casualties in the fight; 

Whereas ISIS, al Qaeda, and their affiliates have proven resilient and have regrouped when the United States and 

its partners have withdrawn from the fight against them; 

Whereas Turkey’s unprovoked incursion into northeastern 

Syria, which began on October 9, 2019, has displaced 

more than 166,000 civilians, according to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, and dozens of civilians have been killed on both sides; 

Whereas, as a result of Turkey’s incursion into northeastern 

Syria and the withdrawal of United States Armed 

Forces, the Syrian Democratic Forces have turned to 

Russia and the brutal Assad regime for support, while 

more than a hundred ISIS-affiliated detainees have escaped from detention facilities; and 

Whereas the Assad regime is responsible for murdering at 

least 500,000 civilians and displacing at least 12,000,000 

Syrians, or roughly half the country’s population at the 

time that the civil war began in 2011, and the regime’s 

return to northeastern Syria through its new partnership 

with the Syrian Democratic Forces will allow the regime 


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•SJ 59 PCS 

to extend its murderous campaign and again subjugate 

the Kurdish, Sunni Arab, and religious minorities of 

northeastern Syria: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 That Congress— 

4 (1) condemns in the strongest terms the Gov5 ernment of Turkey’s escalating hostilities against 

6 Kurdish partners of the United States in Syria, 

7 while recognizing the Government of Turkey’s legiti8 mate humanitarian, economic, and security concerns 

9 emanating from the conflict in Syria; 

10 (2) calls upon the United States Government to 

11 pressure the Government of Turkey, including 

12 through sanctions, to act with restraint, provide ac13 countability for human rights abuses conducted by 

14 militias acting in support of Turkish military oper15 ations, and curtail its hostilities against United 

16 States partner forces in Syria; 

17 (3) reiterates United States opposition to the 

18 forced repatriation of refugees from third countries 

19 into Syria, and calls upon all refugee returns to be 

20 safe, dignified, and voluntary; 

21 (4) urges the President to rescind his invitation 

22 to the White House to Turkish President Recep 

23 Tayyip Erdogan until a more enduring cease-fire has 


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•SJ 59 PCS 

1 been established between Turkish and Kurdish 

2 forces in northeastern Syria; 

3 (5) calls upon the United States Government to 

4 continue supporting liberated Syrian Kurdish and 

5 Arab communities in northeast Syria through hu6 manitarian support, including those displaced or oth7 erwise affected by ongoing violence in Syria, and 

8 calls upon other nations to increase support to sta9 bilization efforts in northeastern Syria; 

10 (6) strongly opposes any abandonment of our 

11 Kurdish and Arab partners in Syria; 

12 (7) calls for a halt to the withdrawal of United 

13 States Armed Forces from Syria where practical, 

14 and calls for the continued use of air power to target 

15 ISIS and provide protection of ethnic and religious 

16 minorities in northeastern Syria; 

17 (8) expresses support for a continued United 

18 States military presence in Iraq, along with efforts 

19 to help Iraqi forces control their border, protect 

20 their sovereignty, and counter ISIS; 

21 (9) recognizes the continuing threat to United 

22 States and United States allies posed by al Qaeda 

23 and ISIS, which maintain an ability to operate in 

24 Syria and Afghanistan; 


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1 (10) warns that a precipitous withdrawal of 

2 United States forces from the ongoing fight against 

3 these groups, without effective, countervailing efforts 

4 to secure gains in Syria and Afghanistan, could 

5 allow terrorists to regroup, destabilize critical re6 gions, and create vacuums that could be filled by 

7 Iran or Russia, to the detriment of United States in8 terests and those of our allies; 

9 (11) recognizes that an unbroken chain of Ira10 nian-controlled territory across Syria poses a signifi11 cant threat to Israel; 

12 (12) reiterates support for international diplo13 matic efforts to facilitate peaceful, negotiated resolu14 tions to the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Afghani15 stan on terms that respect the rights of innocent ci16 vilians and deny safe havens to terrorists; 

17 (13) encourages close collaboration between the 

18 executive branch and the legislative branch to ensure 

19 continuing strong, bipartisan support for United 

20 States military operations in Syria and Afghanistan; 

21 and 

22 (14) calls upon the President to certify whether 

23 conditions have been met for the enduring defeat of 

24 al Qaeda and ISIS before initiating any further sigVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SJ59.PCS SJ59

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1 nificant withdrawal of United States forces from the 

2 region. 


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Calendar No. 259 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 59 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress on the precipitous 

incursion into Syria. Syria and Afghanistan, and Turkey’s unprovoked withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from 

OCTOBER 23, 2019 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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