I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2056

To establish United States Government policy regarding the necessity of

requiring the full withdrawal of all Syrian military, security, intelligence

and proxy forces from Lebanon and the restoration of Lebanon’s independence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 8, 1999

Mr. FORBES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on

Ways and Means, and Banking and Financial Services, for a period to

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee

concerned

A BILL

To establish United States Government policy regarding the

necessity of requiring the full withdrawal of all Syrian

military, security, intelligence and proxy forces from Lebanon and the restoration of Lebanon’s independence.

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 ‘‘Lebanon Independence

5 Restoration Act of 1999’’.
2

•HR 2056 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) The people of Lebanon have a rich, proud,

4 and honorable history dating from biblical times to

5 the present, and Lebanon has been a free and demo6 cratic nation for much of its modern history.

7 (2) Lebanon and the United States have en8 joyed a history of friendship and cooperation which

9 has been witnessed by the immigration of millions of

10 Lebanese to the United States where they and their

11 descendants have contributed greatly to the fabric of

12 American life.

13 (3) Lebanon witnessed foreign incursions and

14 occupations during its 15-year civil war. Although

15 that war ended in 1990, non-Lebanese forces still

16 control much of the country. These forces include an

17 Israeli force that controls a 9-mile wide security

18 zone in Lebanon contiguous with Israel’s northern

19 border, and approximately 30,000 Syrian troops,

20 several armed Palestinian factions, and other ter21 rorist groups that control the remainder of the coun22 try.

23 (4) There is a crucial distinction between the

24 presence of Syrian and Israeli military forces in Leb25 anon. Israel exercises no control over the Govern26 ment of Lebanon and in 1998 offered to withdraw
3

•HR 2056 IH

1 unilaterally from the security zone in return for se2 curity guarantees, whereas Syria has never recog3 nized Lebanon’s independence, or exchanged ambas4 sadors with Lebanon, and effectively dictates the

5 major policies and actions of the Government of

6 Lebanon.

7 (5) Various Lebanese factions signed a peace

8 settlement in Taif, Saudi Arabia, in 1989 as a step

9 toward ending the civil war. This accord provided for

10 the phased redeployment and withdrawal of Syrian

11 forces from Lebanon beginning in 1992.

12 (6) The Government of Syria has refused to

13 carry out any redeployment as envisioned by the

14 Taif Accord. Syrian domination over Lebanese poli15 tics and political leaders is at the root of the Leba16 nese Government’s failure to press Syria for a with17 drawal of Syria’s occupying forces.

18 (7) In addition to its armed forces, Syria main19 tains a massive intelligence service presence in Leb20 anon to enforce its control over the Lebanese people.

21 (8) Syrian domination is so pervasive that Leb22 anon has effectively become a Syrian satellite state.

23 This relationship with Syria does not reflect the will

24 of the majority of the Lebanese public. Moreover,

25 Syria has sought to change Lebanon’s demographic
4

•HR 2056 IH

1 balance by the population transfer of as many as

2 1,000,000 Syrian laborers to Lebanon.

3 (9) Syrian domination has prevented Lebanon

4 from developing direct contacts with Israel and par5 ticipating in the multilateral track of the Middle

6 East peace process.

7 (10) Syrian domination has been associated

8 with a deterioration in Lebanon’s human rights situ9 ation. Syria has engineered Lebanese election results

10 to its liking, Syrian intelligence units have been im11 plicated in the disappearance of Lebanese citizens,

12 and the Syrian-controlled Lebanese Parliament has

13 imposed curbs on Lebanon’s media, once the freest

14 in the Arab world.

15 (11) Syrian domination has failed to curtail

16 international narcotics traffickers or terrorist

17 groups, including Hizballah and the Kurdish Work18 ers Party, that operate in Lebanon under Syrian

19 control.

20 (12) Syrian domination has prevented the Leb21 anese Army from entering southern Lebanon to re22 store order and stability in that region. Con23 sequently, southern Lebanon has been a staging

24 area for military provocations against Israel by ter25 rorist groups supported by Syria and Iran.
5

•HR 2056 IH

1 (13) The United States Congress is concerned

2 about the potential for a miscalculation between

3 Israel and Syria that could inadvertently lead to

4 large-scale hostilities, especially in southern Leb5 anon. In this regard the Congress views with grave

6 concern Syria’s acquisition of weapons of mass de7 struction, especially chemical and biological weapons

8 and missile delivery systems. Syrian surface-to-sur9 face missiles can reach major urban centers in

10 Israel, Turkey, and Jordan.

11 (14) The United States Congress has expressed

12 itself repeatedly in resolutions that insist that Syria

13 make good on its commitments to withdraw its mili14 tary and security forces from Lebanon.

15 (15) It is not in the interest of the United

16 States that freedom and democracy depart irrevers17 ibly from Lebanon. Lebanon has a constructive role

18 to play in the search for Middle East peace. It can

19 only do so when it is free, sovereign, and governed

20 by a truly representative government.

21 (16) The withdrawal of Syrian and other for22 eign forces from Lebanon would not only promote

23 regional stability, but also would create the nec24 essary conditions for the restoration of Lebanon’s

25 independence, freedom, and democracy. Truly free
6

•HR 2056 IH

1 elections are not possible with the presence of for2 eign military and security forces and terrorist

3 groups in Lebanon.

4 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

5 The Congress calls for the following:

6 (1) A complete, immediate, and unconditional

7 withdrawal of all Syrian military, intelligence, and

8 security forces and their proxies and all Palestinian

9 and other terrorist forces from Lebanon, to be fol10 lowed by the eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces.

11 (2) Following the withdrawals described in

12 paragraph (1) and restoration of a freely elected,

13 democratic government in Lebanon, the deployment

14 of the Lebanese Army to southern Lebanon to re15 store order and stability in that region, and for dis16 banding all armed groups in Lebanon with the ex17 ception of the legitimate national armed forces.

18 (3) At the same time as the deployment de19 scribed in paragraph (2), the assurance by the Gov20 ernment of Lebanon for the safety and well-being of

21 all members of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and

22 their families.
7

•HR 2056 IH

1 SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS RELATING TO FUTURE

2 PEACE AGREEMENT BETWEEN SYRIA AND

3 ISRAEL.

4 It is the sense of the Congress that the United States

5 should not ratify or in any other way affirm, support, rec6 ognize, or participate in any peace agreement between

7 Syria and Israel that does not provide for the full and

8 verifiable withdrawal of Syrian military, intelligence, and

9 security forces and their proxies from Lebanon.

10 SEC. 5. WITHDRAWAL OF NONDISCRIMINATORY TREAT11 MENT FOR IMPORTS FROM SYRIA AND LEB12 ANON.

13 (a) WITHDRAWAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro14 vision of law (except subsection (b)), nondiscriminatory

15 treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) shall not apply

16 with respect to any goods that—

17 (1) are the product of Syria or Lebanon; and

18 (2) are entered into the customs territory of the

19 United States on or after the 15th day after the

20 date of the enactment of this Act.

21 (b) RESTORATION OF NONDISCRIMINATORY TREAT22 MENT.—The President may restore nondiscriminatory

23 treatment to goods that—

24 (1) are the product of Lebanon beginning 30

25 days after the President certifies to the Congress

26 that Syrian military, security, and intelligence forces
8

•HR 2056 IH

1 and their proxies in Lebanon have been completely

2 withdrawn from Lebanon and that the Government

3 of Lebanon is certified to have been freely elected

4 and wholly democratic in nature; and

5 (2) are the product of Syria beginning 30 days

6 after the President certifies to the Congress that the

7 requirements described in paragraph (1) have been

8 met and that the Government of Syria is certified to

9 have been freely elected and wholly democratic in

10 nature.

11 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE TO SYRIA

12 AND LEBANON.

13 (a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provi14 sion of law, economic assistance may not be provided to

15 Syria or Lebanon.

16 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply—

17 (1) with respect to Lebanon beginning 30 days

18 after the President certifies to the Congress that

19 Syrian military, security, and intelligence forces and

20 their proxies in Lebanon have been completely with21 drawn from Lebanon and that the Government of

22 Lebanon is certified to have been freely elected and

23 wholly democratic in nature; and

24 (2) with respect to Syria beginning 30 days

25 after the President certifies to the Congress that the
9

•HR 2056 IH

1 requirements described in paragraph (1) have been

2 met and that the Government of Syria is certified to

3 have been freely elected and wholly democratic in

4 nature.

5 (c) ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE.—In this section, the

6 term ‘‘economic assistance’’ means any assistance under

7 part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.

8 2151 et seq.) or any related assistance under any other

9 provision of law.

10 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO THE

11 GOVERNMENT OF LEBANON.

12 (a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provi13 sion of law, military assistance may not be provided to

14 the Government of Lebanon.

15 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply be16 ginning 30 days after the President certifies to the Con17 gress that Syrian military, security, and intelligence forces

18 and their proxies in Lebanon have been completely with19 drawn from Lebanon and the Government of Lebanon is

20 certified to have been freely elected and wholly democratic

21 in nature.

22 (c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

23 Congress that any assistance prohibited by reason of the

24 application of subsection (a) should be redirected to assist-
10

•HR 2056 IH

1 ance for humanitarian, democracy building, human rights

2 and educational efforts in Lebanon.

3 (d) MILITARY ASSISTANCE.—In this section, the

4 term ‘‘military assistance’’—

5 (1) means any assistance under part II of the

6 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2301 et

7 seq.) and any assistance under the Arms Export

8 Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.); and

9 (2) includes any other form of military coopera10 tion with the Government of Lebanon.

11 SEC. 8. REQUIREMENT TO OPPOSE LOANS AND OTHER AS12 SISTANCE TO SYRIA AND LEBANON BY INTER13 NATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

14 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Beginning 15 days after the

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall in16 struct the United States representative to each inter17 national financial institution (including the International

18 Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Recon19 struction and Development) to which the United States

20 is a member to use the voice and vote of the United States

21 to oppose the initiation or renewal of any loan or other

22 form of assistance for Syria or Lebanon.

23 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply—

24 (1) with respect to Lebanon beginning 30 days

25 after the President certifies to the Congress that
11

•HR 2056 IH

1 Syrian military, security, and intelligence forces and

2 their proxies in Lebanon have been completely with3 drawn from Lebanon and that the Government of

4 Lebanon is certified to have been freely elected and

5 wholly democratic in nature; and

6 (2) with respect to Syria beginning 30 days

7 after the President certifies to the Congress that the

8 requirements described in paragraph (1) have been

9 met and that the Government of Syria is certified to

10 have been freely elected and wholly democratic in

11 nature.

12 SEC. 9. ANNUAL REPORTS.

13 As part of the annual human rights report required

14 under sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assist15 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b)), the

16 Secretary of State shall pay special attention to the report

17 on Lebanon and shall include in such report the following:

18 (1) A detailed assessment of Syrian influence in

19 the three branches of the Government of Lebanon.

20 (2) An assessment of human rights abuses at21 tributable to Syrian influence in the Government of

22 Lebanon.

23 (3) An assessment of the role played by Syrian

24 intelligence services in Lebanon.
12

•HR 2056 IH

1 (4) An estimate of the number of Syrian mili2 tary, security, and intelligence forces and their prox3 ies and terrorist groups in Lebanon.

4 (5) Progress made by the Government of Leb5 anon in disarming terrorist groups, and an assess6 ment of the causes for the Lebanese Government’s

7 failure to disarm such groups.

8 (6) The specific steps and concrete actions

9 taken by the Department of State to affect a with10 drawal of all Syrian military, security, and intel11 ligence forces and their proxies from Lebanon.

12 SEC. 10. DEFINITION.

13 As used in this Act, the term ‘‘Syrian military, secu14 rity, and intelligence forces and their proxies’’ includes

15 Syrian Army regulars, paramilitary forces, and plain

16 clothes intelligence and security officials.