I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1828

To halt Syrian support for terrorism, end its occupation of Lebanon, stop 

its development of weapons of mass destruction, cease its illegal importation of Iraqi oil and illegal shipments of weapons and other military 

items to Iraq, and by so doing hold Syria accountable for the serious 

international security problems it has caused in the Middle East, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2003

Mr. ENGEL (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BACHUS, 

Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. BELL, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BRADY

of Pennsylvania, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. CROWLEY, 

Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, 

Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FROST, Mr. 

GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. JANKLOW, Mr. 

KING of New York, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mrs. MALONEY, 

Mr. MATSUI, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. 

MCNULTY, Mr. MICA, Mr. MOORE, Mr. NADLER, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. 

PENCE, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. ROSS, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. 

SHERMAN, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. TURNER of 

Texas, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. VITTER, Mr. WEINER, Mr. WELLER, and 

Mr. WEXLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To halt Syrian support for terrorism, end its occupation 

of Lebanon, stop its development of weapons of mass 

destruction, cease its illegal importation of Iraqi oil and 

illegal shipments of weapons and other military items 

to Iraq, and by so doing hold Syria accountable for 
2

•HR 1828 IH 

the serious international security problems it has caused 

in the Middle East, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Syria Accountability 

5 and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) On September 20, 2001, President George 

9 Bush stated at a joint session of Congress that 

10 ‘‘[e]very nation, in every region, now has a decision 

11 to make . . . [e]ither you are with us, or you are 

12 with the terrorists . . . [f]rom this day forward, any 

13 nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism 

14 will be regarded by the United States as a hostile re15 gime’’. 

16 (2) On June 24, 2002, President Bush stated 

17 ‘‘Syria must choose the right side in the war on ter18 ror by closing terrorist camps and expelling terrorist 

19 organizations’’. 

20 (3) United Nations Security Council Resolution 

21 1373 (September 28, 2001) mandates that all states 

22 ‘‘refrain from providing any form of support, active 

23 or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist 

24 acts’’, take ‘‘the necessary steps to prevent the com-
3

•HR 1828 IH 

1 mission of terrorist acts’’, and ‘‘deny safe haven to 

2 those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist 

3 acts’’. 

4 (4) The Government of Syria is currently pro5 hibited by United States law from receiving United 

6 States assistance because it has repeatedly provided 

7 support for acts of international terrorism, as deter8 mined by the Secretary of State for purposes of sec9 tion 6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 

10 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)) and other rel11 evant provisions of law. 

12 (5) Although the Department of State lists 

13 Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism and reports 

14 that Syria provides ‘‘safe haven and support to sev15 eral terrorist groups’’, fewer United States sanctions 

16 apply with respect to Syria than with respect to any 

17 other country that is listed as a state sponsor of ter18 rorism. 

19 (6) According to the most recent Department of 

20 State Patterns of Global Terrorism Report: ‘‘[Syria] 

21 continued in 2001 to provide safehaven and logistics 

22 support to a number of terrorist groups. Ahmad 

23 Jibrils Popular Front for the Liberation of Pal24 estine-General Command (PFLP–GC), the Palestine 

25 Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Abu Musa’s Fatah-the-
4

•HR 1828 IH 

1 Intifadah, George Habashs Popular Front for the 

2 Liberation of Palestine, and HAMAS continued to 

3 maintain offices in Damascus. Syria provided 

4 Hizballah, HAMAS, PFLP–GC, the PIJ, and other 

5 terrorist organizations refuge and basing privileges 

6 in Lebanons Bekaa Valley, under Syrian control.’’. 

7 (7) United Nations Security Council Resolution 

8 520 (September 17, 1982) calls for ‘‘strict respect of 

9 the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and polit10 ical independence of Lebanon under the sole and ex11 clusive authority of the Government of Lebanon 

12 through the Lebanese Army throughout Lebanon’’. 

13 (8) More than 20,000 Syrian troops and secu14 rity personnel occupy much of the sovereign territory 

15 of Lebanon exerting undue influence upon its gov16 ernment and undermining its political independence. 

17 (9) Since 1990 the Senate and House of Rep18 resentatives have passed seven bills and resolutions 

19 which call for the withdrawal of Syrian armed forces 

20 from Lebanon. 

21 (10) On March 3, 2003, Secretary of State 

22 Colin Powell declared that it is the objective of the 

23 United States to ‘‘let Lebanon be ruled by the Leba24 nese people without the presence of [the Syrian] oc25 cupation army’’. 
5

•HR 1828 IH 

1 (11) Large and increasing numbers of the Leb2 anese people from across the political spectrum in 

3 Lebanon have mounted peaceful and democratic 

4 calls for the withdrawal of the Syrian Army from 

5 Lebanese soil. 

6 (12) Israel has withdrawn all of its armed 

7 forces from Lebanon in accordance with United Na8 tions Security Council Resolution 425 (March 19, 

9 1978), as certified by the United Nations Secretary 

10 General. 

11 (13) Even in the face of this United Nations 

12 certification that acknowledged Israel’s full compli13 ance with Resolution 425, Syria permits attacks by 

14 Hizballah and other militant organizations on Israeli 

15 outposts at Shebaa Farms, under the false guise 

16 that it remains Lebanese land, and is also permit17 ting attacks on civilian targets in Israel. 

18 (14) Syria will not allow Lebanon—a sovereign 

19 country—to fulfill its obligation in accordance with 

20 Security Council Resolution 425 to deploy its troops 

21 to southern Lebanon. 

22 (15) As a result, the Israeli-Lebanese border 

23 and much of southern Lebanon is under the control 

24 of Hizballah which continues to attack Israeli posi25 tions, allows Iranian Revolutionary Guards and 
6

•HR 1828 IH 

1 other militant groups to operate freely in the area, 

2 and maintains thousands of rockets along Israel’s 

3 northern border, destabilizing the entire region.

4 (16) On February 12, 2003, Director of Central 

5 Intelligence George Tenet stated the following with 

6 respect to the Syrian-supported Hizballah: ‘‘[A]s an 

7 organization with capability and worldwide presence 

8 [it] is [al Qaeda’s] equal if not a far more capable 

9 organization . . . [T]hey’re a notch above in many 

10 respects, in terms of in their relationship with the 

11 Iranians and the training they receive, [which] puts 

12 them in a state-sponsored category with a potential 

13 for lethality that’s quite great.’’. 

14 (17) The United States is providing an esti15 mated $36,870,000 in fiscal year 2003 in assistance 

16 to the Lebanese people through private nongovern17 mental organizations, $6,180,000 of which is pro18 vided to Lebanese-American educational institutions. 

19 (18) In the State of the Union address on Jan20 uary 29, 2002, President Bush declared that the 

21 United States will ‘‘work closely with our coalition to 

22 deny terrorists and their state sponsors the mate23 rials, technology, and expertise to make and deliver 

24 weapons of mass destruction’’. 
7

•HR 1828 IH 

1 (19) The Government of Syria continues to de2 velop and deploy short and medium range ballistic 

3 missiles. 

4 (20) According to the December 2001 unclassi5 fied Central Intelligence Agency report entitled 

6 ‘‘Foreign Missile Developments and the Ballistic 

7 Missile Threat through 2015’’, ‘‘Syria maintains a 

8 ballistic missile and rocket force of hundreds of 

9 FROG rockets, Scuds, and SS–21 SRBMs [and] 

10 Syria has developed [chemical weapons] warheads 

11 for its Scuds’’. 

12 (21) The Government of Syria is pursuing the 

13 development and production of biological and chem14 ical weapons and has begun a suspicious nuclear re15 search program. 

16 (22) According to the Central Intelligence 

17 Agency’s ‘‘Unclassified Report to Congress on the 

18 Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of 

19 Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Muni20 tions’’, released January 7, 2003: ‘‘[Syria] already 

21 holds a stockpile of the nerve agent sarin but appar22 ently is trying to develop more toxic and persistent 

23 nerve agents. Syria remains dependent on foreign 

24 sources for key elements of its [chemical weapons] 

25 program, including precursor chemicals and key pro-
8

•HR 1828 IH 

1 duction equipment. It is highly probable that Syria 

2 also is developing an offensive [biological weapons] 

3 capability.’’. 

4 (23) On May 6, 2002, Under Secretary of State 

5 for Arms Control and International Security, John 

6 Bolton, stated: ‘‘The United States also knows that 

7 Syria has long had a chemical warfare program. It 

8 has a stockpile of the nerve agent sarin and is en9 gaged in research and development of the more toxic 

10 and persistent nerve agent VX. Syria, which has 

11 signed but not ratified the [Biological Weapons Con12 vention], is pursuing the development of biological 

13 weapons and is able to produce at least small 

14 amounts of biological warfare agents.’’. 

15 (24) According to the Central Intelligence 

16 Agency’s ‘‘Unclassified Report to Congress on the 

17 Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of 

18 Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Muni19 tions’’, released January 7, 2003: ‘‘Russia and Syria 

20 have approved a draft cooperative program on co21 operation on civil nuclear power. In principal, broad22 er access to Russian expertise provides opportunities 

23 for Syria to expand its indigenous capabilities, 

24 should it decide to pursue nuclear weapons.’’. 
9

•HR 1828 IH 

1 (25) Under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation 

2 of Nuclear Weapons (21 UST 483), which entered 

3 force on March 5, 1970, and to which Syria is a 

4 party, Syria has undertaken not to acquire or 

5 produce nuclear weapons and has accepted full scope 

6 safeguards of the International Atomic Energy 

7 Agency to detect diversions of nuclear materials 

8 from peaceful activities to the production of nuclear 

9 weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. 

10 (26) Syria is not a party to the Chemical Weap11 ons Convention or the Biological Weapons Conven12 tion, both of which entered into force on March 26, 

13 1975. 

14 (27) United Nations Security Council Resolu15 tion 661 (August 6, 1990) and subsequent relevant 

16 resolutions restrict the sale of oil and other commod17 ities by Iraq, except to the extent authorized by 

18 other relevant resolutions. 

19 (28) Syria, a nonpermanent United Nations Se20 curity Council member, has been receiving between 

21 150,000 and 200,000 barrels of oil per day from 

22 Iraq at a substantial discount per barrel in violation 

23 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 661 

24 and subsequent resolutions. Recent estimates indi25 cate that as much as 230,000 barrels of oil per day 
10

•HR 1828 IH 

1 were shipped from Iraq to Syria in March 2003, or 

2 up to 60,000 barrels per day more than in February 

3 2003. 

4 (29) Syria’s illegal imports and transshipments 

5 of Iraqi oil have earned Syria $50,000,000 or more 

6 per month as Syria continues to sell its own Syrian 

7 oil at market prices. 

8 (30) Syria’s illegal imports and transshipments 

9 of Iraqi oil have earned Iraq approximately 

10 $2,000,000 per day. 

11 (31) Syrian President Bashar Assad promised 

12 Secretary of State Powell in February 2001 to end 

13 violations of Security Council Resolution 661 but 

14 this pledge has not been fulfilled. 

15 (32) United Nations Security Council Resolu16 tion 661 (August 6, 1990) and subsequent relevant 

17 Security Council resolutions restrict the sale or sup18 ply of ‘‘weapons or any military equipment’’ to Iraq. 

19 (33) The Government of Syria has utilized the 

20 railway network linking Mosul, Iraq, to Aleppo, 

21 Syria, to transfer a wide range of weaponry and 

22 weapon systems to Iraq. 

23 (34) On March 28, 2003, Secretary of Defense 

24 Donald Rumsfeld warned: ‘‘[W]e have information 

25 that shipments of military supplies have been cross-
11

•HR 1828 IH 

1 ing the border from Syria into Iraq, including night2 vision goggles . . . These deliveries pose a direct 

3 threat to the lives of coalition forces. We consider

4 such trafficking as hostile acts, and will hold the 

5 Syrian government accountable for such ship6 ments.’’. 

7 (35) According to Article 23(1) of the United 

8 Nations Charter, members of the United Nations are 

9 elected as nonpermanent members of the United Na10 tions Security Council with ‘‘due regard being spe11 cially paid, in the first instance to the contribution 

12 of members of the United Nations to the mainte13 nance of international peace and security and to 

14 other purposes of the Organization’’. 

15 (36) Despite Article 23(1) of the United Na16 tions Charter, Syria was elected on October 8, 2001, 

17 to a 2-year term as a nonpermanent member of the 

18 United Nations Security Council beginning January 

19 1, 2002, and served as President of the Security 

20 Council during June 2002. 

21 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that—

23 (1) the Government of Syria should imme24 diately and unconditionally halt support for ter25 rorism, permanently and openly declare its total re-
12

•HR 1828 IH 

1 nunciation of all forms of terrorism, and close all 

2 terrorist offices and facilities in Syria, including the 

3 offices of Hamas, Hizballah, the Popular Front for 

4 the Liberation of Palestine, and the Popular Front 

5 for the Liberation of Palestine—General Command; 

6 (2) the Government of Syria should imme7 diately declare its commitment to completely with8 draw its armed forces, including military, para9 military, and security forces, from Lebanon, and set 

10 a firm timetable for such withdrawal; 

11 (3) the Government of Lebanon should deploy 

12 the Lebanese armed forces to all areas of Lebanon, 

13 including South Lebanon, in accordance with United 

14 Nations Security Council Resolution 520 (September 

15 17, 1982), in order to assert the sovereignty of the 

16 Lebanese state over all of its territory, and should 

17 evict all terrorist and foreign forces from southern 

18 Lebanon, including Hizballah and the Iranian Revo19 lutionary Guards; 

20 (4) the Government of Syria should halt the de21 velopment and deployment of medium and long 

22 range surface to surface ballistic missiles and cease 

23 the development and production of biological and 

24 chemical weapons; 
13

•HR 1828 IH 

1 (5) the Government of Syria should halt illegal 

2 imports and transshipments of Iraqi oil and illegal 

3 sales and supplies of weapons and military-related 

4 equipment to Iraq and come into full compliance 

5 with United Nations Security Council Resolution 

6 661 and subsequent relevant resolutions; 

7 (6) the Governments of Lebanon and Syria 

8 should enter into serious unconditional bilateral ne9 gotiations with the Government of Israel in order to 

10 realize a full and permanent peace; 

11 (7) the United States should continue to pro12 vide humanitarian and educational assistance to the 

13 people of Lebanon only through appropriate private, 

14 nongovernmental organizations and appropriate 

15 international organizations, until such time as the 

16 Government of Lebanon asserts sovereignty and con17 trol over all of its territory and borders and achieves 

18 full political independence, as called for in United 

19 Nations Security Council Resolution 520; and 

20 (8) being in violation of several key United Na21 tions Security Council resolutions and pursuing poli22 cies which undermine international peace and secu23 rity, Syria should not have been permitted to join 

24 the United Nations Security Council or serve as the 
14

•HR 1828 IH 

1 Security Council’s President, and should be removed 

2 from the Security Council. 

3 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

4 It is the policy of the United States that—

5 (1) Syria will be held responsible for attacks 

6 committed by Hizballah and other terrorist groups 

7 with offices or other facilities in Syria, or bases in 

8 areas of Lebanon occupied by Syria; 

9 (2) the United States shall impede Syria’s abil10 ity to support acts of international terrorism and ef11 forts to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruc12 tion; 

13 (3) the Secretary of State will continue to list 

14 Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism until Syria 

15 ends its support for terrorism, including its support 

16 of Hizballah and other terrorist groups in Lebanon 

17 and its hosting of terrorist groups in Damascus, and 

18 comes into full compliance with United States law 

19 relating to terrorism and United Nations Security 

20 Council Resolution 1373 (September 28, 2001); 

21 (4) efforts against Hizballah will be expanded 

22 given the recognition that Hizballah is equally or 

23 more capable than al Qaeda; 

24 (5) the full restoration of Lebanon’s sov25 ereignty, political independence, and territorial in-
15

•HR 1828 IH 

1 tegrity is in the national security interest of the 

2 United States; 

3 (6) Syria is in violation of United Nations Se4 curity Council Resolution 520 (September 17, 1982) 

5 through its continued occupation of Lebanese terri6 tory and its encroachment upon its political inde7 pendence; 

8 (7) Syria’s obligation to withdraw from Leb9 anon is not conditioned upon progress in the Israeli10 Syrian or Israeli-Lebanese peace process but derives 

11 from Syria’s obligation under Security Council Reso12 lution 520; 

13 (8) Syria’s acquisition of weapons of mass de14 struction and ballistic missile programs threaten the 

15 security of the Middle East and the national security 

16 interests of the United States; 

17 (9) Syria is in violation of United Nations Se18 curity Council Resolution 661 (August 6, 1990) and 

19 subsequent relevant resolutions through its contin20 ued purchase of oil from Iraq and shipments of 

21 weapons and other military equipment to Iraq; 

22 (10) Syria will be held accountable for any 

23 harm to Coalition armed forces of Operation Iraqi 

24 Freedom caused by shipments of military supplies 

25 from Syria to Iraq; and 
16

•HR 1828 IH 

1 (11) the United States will not provide any as2 sistance to Syria and will oppose multilateral assist3 ance for Syria until Syria withdraws its armed 

4 forces from Lebanon, halts the development and de5 ployment of weapons of mass destruction and me6 dium and long range surface to surface ballistic mis7 siles, and complies with Security Council Resolution 

8 661 and subsequent relevant resolutions. 

9 SEC. 5. PENALTIES AND AUTHORIZATION. 

10 (a) PENALTIES.—Until the President makes the de11 termination that Syria meets the requirements described 

12 in paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (d) and cer13 tifies such determination to Congress in accordance with 

14 such subsection—

15 (1) the President shall prohibit the export to 

16 Syria of any item, including the issuance of a license 

17 for the export of any item, on the United States Mu18 nitions List or Commerce Control List of dual-use 

19 items in the Export Administration Regulations (15 

20 C.F.R. part 730 et seq.); and 

21 (2) the President shall impose two or more of 

22 the following sanctions: 

23 (A) Prohibit the export of products of the 

24 United States (other than food and medicine) 

25 to Syria. 
17

•HR 1828 IH 

1 (B) Prohibit United States businesses from 

2 investing or operating in Syria. 

3 (C) Restrict Syrian diplomats in Wash4 ington, D.C., and at the United Nations in New 

5 York City, to travel only within a 25-mile ra6 dius of Washington, D.C., or the United Na7 tions headquarters building, respectively. 

8 (D) Prohibit aircraft of any air carrier 

9 owned or controlled by Syria to take off from, 

10 land in, or overfly the United States. 

11 (E) Reduce United States diplomatic con12 tacts with Syria (other than those contacts re13 quired to protect United States interests or 

14 carry out the purposes of this Act). 

15 (F) Block transactions in any property in 

16 which the Government of Syria has any inter17 est, by any person, or with respect to any prop18 erty, subject to the jurisdiction of the United 

19 States. 

20 (b) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica21 tion of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) for one or more 

22 6-month periods if the President determines that it is in 

23 the vital national security interest of the United States 

24 to do so and transmits to Congress a report that contains 

25 the reasons therefor. 
18

•HR 1828 IH 

1 (c) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO SYRIA

2 AND LEBANON.—If the President—

3 (1) makes the determination that Syria meets 

4 the requirements described in paragraphs (1) 

5 through (4) of subsection (d) and certifies such de6 termination to Congress in accordance with such 

7 subsection; 

8 (2) determines that substantial progress has 

9 been made both in negotiations aimed at achieving 

10 a peace agreement between Israel and Syria and in 

11 negotiations aimed at achieving a peace agreement 

12 between Israel and Lebanon; and 

13 (3) determines that the Government of Syria is 

14 strictly respecting the sovereignty, territorial integ15 rity, unity, and political independence of Lebanon 

16 under the sole and exclusive authority of the Govern17 ment of Lebanon through the Lebanese army 

18 throughout Lebanon, as required under paragraph 

19 (4) of United Nations Security Council Resolution 

20 520 (1982), 

21 then the President is authorized to provide assistance to 

22 Syria and Lebanon under chapter 1 of Part I of the For23 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to development as24 sistance). 
19

•HR 1828 IH 

1 (d) CERTIFICATION.—A certification under this sub2 section is a certification transmitted to the appropriate 

3 congressional committees of a determination made by the 

4 President that—

5 (1) the Government of Syria does not provide 

6 support for international terrorist groups and does 

7 not allow terrorist groups, such as Hamas, 

8 Hizballah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of 

9 Palestine, and the Popular Front for the Liberation 

10 of Palestine—General Command to maintain facili11 ties in Syria; 

12 (2) the Government of Syria has withdrawn all 

13 Syrian military, intelligence, and other security per14 sonnel from Lebanon; 

15 (3) the Government of Syria has ceased the de16 velopment and deployment of medium and long 

17 range surface to surface ballistic missiles and has 

18 ceased the development and production of biological 

19 and chemical weapons; and 

20 (4) the Government of Syria is no longer in vio21 lation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 

22 661 and subsequent relevant resolutions. 

23 SEC. 6. REPORT. 

24 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

25 of the enactment of this Act, and every 12 months there-
20

•HR 1828 IH 

1 after until the conditions described in paragraphs (1) 

2 through (4) of section 5(c) are satisfied, the Secretary of 

3 State shall submit to the appropriate congressional com4 mittees a report on—

5 (1) Syria’s progress toward meeting the condi6 tions described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of sec7 tion 5(d); 

8 (2) connections, if any, between individual ter9 rorists and terrorist groups which maintain offices, 

10 training camps, or other facilities on Syrian terri11 tory, or operate in areas of Lebanon occupied by the 

12 Syrian armed forces, and the attacks against the 

13 United States that occurred on September 11, 2001, 

14 and other terrorist attacks on the United States or 

15 its citizens, installations, or allies; and 

16 (3) how the United States is increasing its ef17 forts against Hizballah given the recognition that 

18 Hizballah is equally or more capable than al Qaeda. 

19 (b) FORM.—The report submitted under subsection 

20 (a) shall be in unclassified form but may include a classi21 fied annex. 

22 SEC. 7. DEFINITION OF APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL 

23 COMMITTEES. 

24 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means the Committee on International Relations 
21

•HR 1828 IH 

1 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

2 Foreign Relations of the Senate.

Æ