II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2935 

To prohibit any official action to recognize or normalize relations with any 

Government of Syria that is led by Bashar al-Assad. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2023 

Mr. RISCH (for himself and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To prohibit any official action to recognize or normalize 

relations with any Government of Syria that is led by 

Bashar al-Assad. 

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 ‘‘Assad Regime Anti5 Normalization Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO THE CAESAR SYRIA CIVILIAN 

7 PROTECTION ACT. 

8 (a) CAESAR SYRIA CIVILIAN PROTECTION ACT.— 

9 Section 7412 of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act 

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1 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2020; 22 U.S.C. 8791 note) is 

2 amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (a)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the 

5 President shall impose’’ and all that follows 

6 through the end of the paragraph and inserting 

7 ‘‘the President— 

8 ‘‘(A) shall impose the sanctions described 

9 in subsection (b) with respect to a foreign per10 son that the President determines— 

11 ‘‘(i) knowingly engages, on or after 

12 such date of enactment, in an activity de13 scribed in paragraph (2); 

14 ‘‘(ii) is an adult family member of a 

15 foreign person described in clause (i), un16 less the President determines there is clear 

17 and convincing evidence that such adult 

18 family member has disassociated them19 selves from the foreign person described in 

20 such clause and has no history of helping 

21 such foreign person conceal assets; or 

22 ‘‘(iii) is owned or controlled by a for23 eign person described in clause (i) or (ii); 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) may impose the sanctions described 

2 in subsection (b) with respect to a foreign per3 son that the President determines knowingly 

4 provides, on or after such date of enactment, 

5 significant financial, material, or technological 

6 support to a foreign person engaging in an ac7 tivity described in any of subparagraphs (B) 

8 through (H) of paragraph (2);’’. 

9 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

10 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

11 (I) by amending clause (i) to 

12 read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(i) the Government of Syria (includ14 ing any entity owned or controlled by the 

15 Government of Syria), a senior political 

16 figure of the Government of Syria, a mem17 ber of the People’s Assembly of Syria, or 

18 a senior foreign political figure (as such 

19 term is defined in section 101.605 of title 

20 31, Code of Federal Regulations) of the 

21 Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party of Syria, in22 cluding any such senior foreign political 

23 figure who is— 

24 ‘‘(I) a member of the Central 

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1 diting and Inspection Committee of 

2 such Party; or 

3 ‘‘(II) a leader of a local branch of 

4 such Party;’’; 

5 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 

6 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

7 (III) in clause (iii), by adding 

8 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; and 

9 (IV) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(iv) Syria Arab Airlines, Cham 

12 Wings, or any foreign person owned or 

13 controlled by Syria Arab Airlines or Cham 

14 Wings;’’; 

15 (ii) by amending subparagraph (C) to 

16 read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(C) knowingly sells or provides aircraft or 

18 spare aircraft parts— 

19 ‘‘(i) to the Government of Syria; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) for or on behalf of the Govern21 ment of Syria to any foreign person oper22 ating in an area directly or indirectly con23 trolled by the Government of Syria or for24 eign forces associated with the Government 

25 of Syria;’’; 


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1 (iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

2 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

3 (iv) in subparagraph (E)— 

4 (I) by striking ‘‘construction or 

5 engineering services’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘construction, engineering, or com7 mercial financial services’’; and 

8 (II) by striking the period at the 

9 end and inserting a semicolon; and 

10 (v) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(F) purposefully engages in or directs— 

12 ‘‘(i) the diversion of goods (including 

13 agricultural commodities, food, medicine, 

14 and medical devices), or any international 

15 humanitarian assistance, intended for the 

16 people of Syria; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) the dealing in proceeds from the 

18 sale or resale of such diverted goods or 

19 international humanitarian assistance, as 

20 the case may be; 

21 ‘‘(G) knowingly (directly or indirectly) en22 gages in or attempts to engage in, the seizure, 

23 confiscation, theft, or expropriation for personal 

24 gain or political purposes of property, including 


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1 real property, in Syria or owned by a citizen of 

2 Syria; 

3 ‘‘(H) knowingly (directly or indirectly) en4 gages in or attempts to engage in a transaction 

5 or transactions for or with such seized, con6 fiscated, stolen, or expropriated property de7 scribed in subparagraph (G); or 

8 ‘‘(I) knowingly provides significant finan9 cial, material, or technological support to a for10 eign person engaging in any activity described 

11 in subparagraph (A).’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(A) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM15 MITTEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional 

16 committees’ means— 

17 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Foreign Rela18 tions of the Senate; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Banking, 

20 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 

21 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Foreign Af22 fairs of the House of Representatives; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on Financial 

24 Services of the House of Representatives. 


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1 ‘‘(B) COMMERCIAL FINANCIAL SERV2 ICES.—The term ‘commercial financial services’ 

3 means any transaction between the Government 

4 of Syria and a foreign bank or foreign financial 

5 institution operating in an area under the con6 trol of the Government of Syria that has a valu7 ation of more than $5,000,000. 

8 ‘‘(C) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term 

9 ‘financial institution’ means a financial institu10 tion specified in any of subparagraphs (A) 

11 through (K), (M), (N), (P), (R), (T), (Y), or 

12 (Z) of section 5312(a)(2) of title 31, United 

13 States Code. 

14 ‘‘(D) SIGNIFICANT TRANSACTION.—The 

15 term ‘‘ ‘‘significant transaction’ ’’’ includes any 

16 natural gas, electricity, or other energy-related 

17 transaction. 

18 ‘‘(E) TRANSACTION.—In making a deter19 mination under subparagraph (a)(2)(A), the 

20 term ‘transaction’ includes in-kind trans21 actions.’’; and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(c) CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS.—Not later than 

24 120 days after receiving a request from the chairman and 

25 ranking member of 1 of the appropriate congressional 


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1 committees with respect to whether a foreign person know2 ingly engages in an activity described in subsection (a)(2) 

3 the President shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) make the determination specified in sub5 section (a)(1) with respect to such foreign person; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(2) submit, to the chairman and ranking mem8 ber who submitted the request, a report with respect 

9 to such determination that includes a statement ex10 plaining whether the President has imposed or in11 tends to impose the sanctions described in sub12 section (b) with respect to such foreign person.’’. 

13 (b) EXTENSION OF SUNSET.—Section 7438 of the 

14 Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (22 U.S.C. 

15 8791 note), is amended by striking ‘‘the date that is 5 

16 years after the date of the enactment of this Act’’ and 

17 inserting ‘‘December 31, 2032’’. 

18 (c) DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO SYRIA

19 TRUST FOR DEVELOPMENT.— 

20 (1) DEFINED TERM.—In this subsection, the 

21 term ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ 

22 means— 

23 (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 

24 the Senate; 


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1 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

2 the Senate; 

3 (C) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

4 and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 

5 (D) the Committee on Armed Services of 

6 the House of Representatives; 

7 (E) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

8 the House of Representatives; and 

9 (F) the Committee on Financial Services 

10 of the House of Representatives. 

11 (2) DETERMINATIONS.—Not later than 120 

12 days after the enactment of this Act, the President 

13 shall— 

14 (A) determine whether the nonprofit orga15 nization chaired by Asma Al-Assad, the First 

16 Lady of Syria, known as the ‘‘Syria Trust for 

17 Development’’ meets the criteria for the imposi18 tion of sanctions— 

19 (i) under section 7412(a) of the Cae20 sar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, 

21 as amended by subsection (a); 

22 (ii) under Executive Order 13894 (84 

23 Fed. Reg. 55851; relating to blocking 

24 property and suspending entry of certain 


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1 persons contributing to the situation in 

2 Syria); or 

3 (iii) by nature of being owned or con4 trolled by a person designated under any 

5 executive order or regulation administered 

6 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control; 

7 and 

8 (B) submit to the appropriate congres9 sional committees each such determination, in10 cluding a justification for the determination. 

11 (3) FORM.—The determination made pursuant 

12 to paragraph (2)(B) shall be submitted in unclassi13 fied form, but the justification specified in such 

14 paragraph may be included in a classified annex. 

15 The unclassified determination shall be made avail16 able on a publicly available website of the Federal 

17 government. 

18 (d) FINDINGS REGARDING APPLICABILITY WITH RE19 SPECT TO SYRIAN ARAB AIRLINES, CHAM WINGS AIR20 LINES, AND RELATED ENTITIES.—Congress finds the fol21 lowing: 

22 (1) In 2013, the President identified Syrian 

23 Arab Airlines as a blocked instrumentality or con24 trolled entity of the Government of Syria and con25 currently sanctioned Syrian Arab Airlines pursuant 


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1 to Executive Order 13224 for acting for or on behalf 

2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods 

3 Force of Iran. 

4 (2) In 2016, the President sanctioned Syria5 based Cham Wings Airlines pursuant to Executive 

6 Order 13582 for having materially assisted, spon7 sored, or provided financial, material, or techno8 logical support for, or goods or services in support 

9 of, the Government of Syria and Syrian Arab Air10 lines. 

11 (3) Section 7412(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the Caesar 

12 Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (22 U.S.C. 

13 8791 note) mandates the application of sanctions 

14 against any foreign person that ‘‘knowingly provides 

15 significant financial, material, or technological sup16 port to, or knowingly engages in a significant trans17 action with . . . a foreign person subject to sanc18 tions pursuant to the International Emergency Eco19 nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) with re20 spect to Syria or any other provision of law that im21 poses sanctions with respect to Syria,’’, which ap22 plies to airport service providers outside of Syria. 

23 (e) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 

24 the application of such provision to any person or cir25 cumstance, is found to be unconstitutional, the remainder 


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1 of this Act, or the application of that provision to other 

2 persons or circumstances, shall not be affected. 

3 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF RECOGNITION OF ASSAD REGIME. 

4 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

5 United States— 

6 (1) not to recognize or normalize relations with 

7 any Government of Syria that is led by Bashar al8 Assad due to the Assad regime’s ongoing crimes 

9 against the Syrian people, including failure to meet 

10 the criteria outlined in section 7431(a) of the Caesar 

11 Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (22 U.S.C. 

12 8791 note); 

13 (2) to actively oppose recognition or normaliza14 tion of relations by other governments with any Gov15 ernment of Syria that is led by Bashar Al-Assad, in16 cluding by fully implementing the mandatory pri17 mary and secondary sanctions in the Caesar Syria 

18 Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (title LXXIV of 

19 Public Law 116–92) and Executive Order 13894; 

20 and 

21 (3) to use the full range of authorities, includ22 ing those provided under the Caesar Syria Civilian 

23 Protection Act of 2019 and Executive Order 13894, 

24 to deter reconstruction activities in areas under the 

25 control of Bashar al-Assad. 


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1 (b) PROHIBITION.—In accordance with subsection 

2 (a), no Federal official or employee may take any action, 

3 and no Federal funds may be made available, to recognize 

4 or otherwise imply, in any manner, United States recogni5 tion of Bashar al-Assad or any Government in Syria that 

6 is led by Bashar al-Assad. 

7 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY STRATEGY TO COUNTER NORMAL8 IZATION WITH ASSAD REGIME. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT11 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com12 mittees’’ means— 

13 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

14 the Senate; 

15 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

16 Senate; 

17 (C) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

18 and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 

19 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

20 the Senate; 

21 (E) the Select Committee on Intelligence 

22 of the Senate; 

23 (F) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

24 the House of Representatives; 


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1 (G) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

2 House of Representatives; 

3 (H) the Committee on Financial Services 

4 of the House of Representatives; 

5 (I) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 House of Representatives; and 

7 (J) the Permanent Select Committee on 

8 Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

9 (2) COVERED TRANSACTION.—The term ‘‘cov10 ered transaction’’ means a transaction, including an 

11 investment, grant, contract, or donation (including a 

12 loan or other extension of credit) that— 

13 (A) is provided by a foreign person located 

14 in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, 

15 Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, the 

16 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria, 

17 Morocco, Libya, or Lebanon; and 

18 (B) is received by a person or entity in any 

19 area of Syria held by the Assad regime. 

20 (b) REPORT AND STRATEGY REQUIRED.— 

21 (1) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an23 nually thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of State, 

24 in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, 

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1 istration, and the heads of other appropriate Federal 

2 departments and agencies, shall submit to the ap3 propriate congressional committees a report and 

4 strategy to describe and counter actions taken or 

5 planned by foreign governments to normalize, en6 gage with, or upgrade political, diplomatic, or eco7 nomic ties with the regime led by Bashar al-Assad 

8 in Syria (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Assad 

9 regime’’). 

10 (2) ELEMENTS.—The elements of the report 

11 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

12 (A) a description of violations of inter13 national law and human rights abuses com14 mitted by Bashar al-Assad, the Government of 

15 the Russian Federation, or the Government of 

16 Iran and progress towards justice and account17 ability for the Syrian people; 

18 (B) a full list of diplomatic meetings at the 

19 Ambassador level or above, between the Syrian 

20 regime and any representative of the Govern21 ments of Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, 

22 Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, 

23 the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria, 

24 Morocco, Libya, or Lebanon, respectively; 

25 (C) a list including an identification of— 


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1 (i) any single covered transaction ex2 ceeding $500,000; and 

3 (ii) any combination of covered trans4 actions by the same source that, in aggre5 gate, exceed $500,000 and occur within a 

6 single year; 

7 (D) for each identified single transaction 

8 or aggregate transactions, as the case may be, 

9 included in the list described in subparagraph 

10 (C), a determination of whether such trans11 action subjects any of the parties to the trans12 action to sanctions under the Caesar Syria Ci13 vilian Protection Act of 2019, as amended by 

14 section 2; 

15 (E) a description of the steps the United 

16 States is taking to actively deter recognition or 

17 normalization of relations by other governments 

18 with the Assad regime, including specific diplo19 matic engagements and use of economic sanc20 tions authorized by statutes or implemented 

21 through Executive orders, including— 

22 (i) the Caesar Syria Civilian Protec23 tion Act of 2019 (22 U.S.C. 8791 note); 


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1 (ii) the Syria Accountability and Leb2 anese Sovereignty Restoration Act (22 

3 U.S.C. 2151 note); 

4 (iii) the Comprehensive Iran Sanc5 tions, Accountability, and Divestment Act 

6 of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.); 

7 (iv) Executive Order 13894 (84 Fed. 

8 Reg. 55851; relating to blocking property 

9 and suspending entry of certain persons 

10 contributing to the situation in Syria); 

11 (v) the Global Magnitsky Human 

12 Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 

13 10101 et seq.); 

14 (vi) the Countering America’s Adver15 saries Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 

16 9401 et seq.); and 

17 (vii) the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin 

18 Designation Act (21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.); 

19 and 

20 (F) an assessment of how recognition or 

21 normalization of relations by other governments 

22 with the Assad regime impacts the national se23 curity of the United States, prospects for imple24 mentation of the United Nations Security 

25 Council Resolution 2254, prospects for justice 


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1 and accountability for war crimes in Syria, and 

2 the benefits derived by the Government of the 

3 Russian Federation or the Government of Iran. 

4 (c) SCOPE.—The initial report required under sub5 section (b) shall address the period beginning on January 

6 1, 2021, and ending on the date of the enactment of this 

7 Act, and each subsequent report shall address the 1-year 

8 period following the conclusion of the scope of the prior 

9 report. 

10 (d) FORM.—Each report required under subsection 

11 (b) shall be submitted in an unclassified form, but may 

12 contain a classified annex. The unclassified section of such 

13 a report shall be made publicly available on a website of 

14 the United States Federal Government. 

15 SEC. 5. REPORTS ON MANIPULATION OF UNITED NATIONS 

16 BY ASSAD REGIME IN SYRIA. 

17 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the following 

19 5 years, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to 

20 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and 

21 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep22 resentatives describing the manipulation of the United Na23 tions by the regime led by Bashar al-Assad in Syria (re24 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Assad regime’’), includ25 ing— 


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1 (1) a description of conditions, both explicit and 

2 implicit, set by the Assad regime with respect to 

3 United Nations operations in Syria including with 

4 respect to implementing partners, hiring practices, 

5 allocation of grants and contracts, and procurement 

6 of goods and services; 

7 (2) a description of the extent to which the 

8 United Nations has rejected or otherwise opposed 

9 any of the conditions described in paragraph (1); 

10 (3) an identification of officials or employees of 

11 the United Nations (including funds, programs and 

12 specialized agencies of the United Nations) with ties 

13 to the Assad regime, including family ties, or per14 sons designated for sanctions by United Nations 

15 donor countries; 

16 (4) a full account of access restrictions imposed 

17 by the Assad regime and the overall impact on the 

18 ability of the United Nations to deliver international 

19 assistance to target beneficiaries in areas outside re20 gime control; 

21 (5) a description of ways in which United Na22 tions aid improperly benefits the Assad regime and 

23 its associates in defiance of basic humanitarian prin24 ciples; 


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1 (6) a description of the due diligence mecha2 nisms and vetting procedures in place to ensure enti3 ties contracted by the United Nations to ensure 

4 goods, supplies, or services provided to Syria do not 

5 have links to the Assad regime, known human rights 

6 abusers, or persons designated for sanctions by 

7 United Nations donor countries; 

8 (7) an identification of entities affiliated with 

9 the Assad regime, including the Syria Trust for De10 velopment and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, for11 eign government ministries, and private corporations 

12 owned or controlled directly or indirectly by the 

13 Assad regime, that have received United Nations 

14 funding, contracts, or grants or have otherwise en15 tered into a formalized partnership with the United 

16 Nations; 

17 (8) an assessment of how the Assad regime sets 

18 arbitrary or punitive exchange rates to extract fund19 ing from the United Nations, as well as the total 

20 amount extracted by such means; 

21 (9) an assessment of the degree to which the 

22 various forms of manipulation described in this sec23 tion has resulted in compromises of the humani24 tarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impar25 tiality, and independence of the United Nations; and 


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1 (10) a strategy to reduce the ability of the 

2 Assad regime to manipulate or otherwise influence 

3 the United Nations and other aid operations in 

4 Syria and ensure United States and international 

5 aid is delivered in a neutral and impartial manner 

6 consistent with basic humanitarian principles. 

Æ 


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