I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2106 
To strengthen sanctions against the Government of Syria, to enhance multilat-
eral commitment to address the Government of Syria’s threatening poli-
cies, to establish a program to support a transition to a democratically 
elected government in Syria, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 3, 2011 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself and Mr. ENGEL) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 
to the Committees on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, Financial Services, 
and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To strengthen sanctions against the Government of Syria, 
to enhance multilateral commitment to address the Gov-
ernment of Syria’s threatening policies, to establish a 
program to support a transition to a democratically elect-
ed government in Syria, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Syria Freedom Support Act’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definitions. 
TITLE I—STRENGTHENING UNITED STATES SANCTIONS AGAINST 
SYRIA 
Sec. 101. Findings. 
Sec. 102. Declarations of policy. 
Sec. 103. Codification of existing sanctions and continuation of restrictions 
against the Government of Syria. 
Sec. 104. Mandatory sanctions with respect to development of weapons of mass 
destruction or other military capabilities. 
Sec. 105. Amendment to the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty 
Restoration Act of 2003. 
TITLE II—SANCTIONS TARGETING SYRIA’S ENERGY SECTOR 
Sec. 201. Findings. 
Sec. 202. Sense of Congress. 
Sec. 203. Declaration of policy. 
Sec. 204. Multilateral regime. 
Sec. 205. Imposition of sanctions. 
Sec. 206. Description of sanctions. 
Sec. 207. Advisory opinions. 
Sec. 208. Termination of sanctions. 
Sec. 209. Duration of sanctions. 
Sec. 210. Reports required. 
Sec. 211. Determinations not reviewable. 
Sec. 212. Exclusion of certain activities. 
Sec. 213. Effective date. 
TITLE III—SYRIA NUCLEAR WEAPONS PREVENTION 
Sec. 301. Findings. 
Sec. 302. Actions within the International Atomic Energy Agency. 
Sec. 303. Restrictions on nuclear cooperation with countries assisting the nu-
clear program of Syria. 
Sec. 304. Exclusion from the United States of senior officials of foreign persons 
who have aided the nuclear program of Syria. 
TITLE IV—DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS TO ISOLATE THE 
GOVERNMENT OF SYRIA 
Sec. 401. Sense of Congress relating to bilateral efforts. 
Sec. 402. Opposition to Syria’s membership and candidacy for leadership posts 
in United Nations institutions. 
Sec. 403. Report on assistance to, and commerce with, Syria. 
TITLE V—ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN SYRIA 
Sec. 501. Declarations of policy. 
Sec. 502. Assistance to support a transition to democracy in Syria. 
Sec. 503. Condemnation of Syrian human rights abuses. 
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Sec. 504. Imposition of sanctions on certain persons responsible for or complicit 
in human rights abuses committed against citizens of Syria or 
their family members. 
Sec. 505. Imposition of sanctions with respect to the transfer of goods or tech-
nologies to Syria that may be used to commit human rights 
abuses. 
Sec. 506. Comprehensive strategy to promote internet freedom and access to in-
formation in Syria. 
TITLE VI—GENERAL PROVISIONS 
Sec. 601. Denial of visas for Government of Syria. 
Sec. 602. Sunset. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ACT OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM.—The 
term ‘‘act of international terrorism’’ means an 
act— 
(A) which is violent or dangerous to 
human life and that is a violation of the crimi-
nal laws of the United States or of any State 
or that would be a criminal violation if com-
mitted within the jurisdiction of the United 
States or any State; and 
(B) which appears to be intended— 
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian 
population; 
(ii) to influence the policy of a govern-
ment by intimidation or coercion; or 
(iii) to affect the conduct of a govern-
ment by assassination or kidnapping. 
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(2) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate Congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
of Representatives; and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of 
the Senate. 
(3) COMPONENT PART.—The term ‘‘component 
part’’ has the meaning given that term in section 
11A(e)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 
(50 U.S.C. App. 2410a(e)(1)). 
(4) DEVELOP
AND
DEVELOPMENT.—To ‘‘de-
velop’’, or the ‘‘development’’ of, petroleum resources 
means the exploration for, or the extraction, refin-
ing, or transportation by pipeline of, petroleum re-
sources. 
(5) FINANCIAL
INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘fi-
nancial institution’’ includes— 
(A) a depository institution (as defined in 
section 3(c)(1) of the Federal Deposit Insur-
ance Act), including a branch or agency of a 
foreign bank (as defined in section 1(b)(7) of 
the International Banking Act of 1978); 
(B) a credit union; 
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(C) a securities firm, including a broker or 
dealer; 
(D) an insurance company, including an 
agency or underwriter; 
(E) any other company that provides fi-
nancial services including, but not limited to 
joint ventures, partnerships or investments with 
Syrian government-controlled entities or affili-
ated entities. 
(6) FINISHED PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘finished 
product’’ has the meaning given that term in section 
11A(e)(2) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 
(50 U.S.C. App. 2410a(e)(2)) and includes any Syr-
ian-origin petroleum or petroleum product. 
(7) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per-
son’’ means— 
(A) an individual who is not a United 
States person or an alien lawfully admitted for 
permanent residence into the United States; or 
(B) a corporation, partnership, joint ven-
ture, cooperative ventures or other nongovern-
mental entity which is not a United States per-
son. 
(8) GOODS
AND
TECHNOLOGY.—The terms 
‘‘goods’’ and ‘‘technology’’ have the meanings given 
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those terms in section 16 of the Export Administra-
tion Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2415). 
(9) INVESTMENT.—The term ‘‘investment’’ 
means any of the following activities if such activity 
is undertaken pursuant to an agreement, or pursu-
ant to the exercise of rights under such an agree-
ment, that is entered into with the Government of 
Syria or a nongovernmental entity in Syria on or 
after the date of the enactment of this Act: 
(A) The entry into a contract that includes 
responsibility for the development of petroleum 
resources located in Syria, or the entry into a 
contract providing for the general supervision 
and guarantee of another person’s performance 
of such a contract. 
(B) The purchase of a share of ownership, 
including an equity interest, in that develop-
ment. 
(C) The entry into a contract providing for 
the participation in royalties, earnings, or prof-
its in that development, without regard to the 
form of the participation. 
The term ‘‘investment’’ does not include the entry 
into, performance, or financing of a contract to sell 
or purchase goods, services, or technology. For pur-
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poses of this paragraph, an amendment or other 
modification that is made, on or after the date of en-
actment of this Act, to an agreement or contract 
shall be treated as the entry of an agreement or con-
tract. 
(10) SYRIA.—The term ‘‘Syria’’ includes any 
agency or instrumentality of Syria, including any 
Syrian-linked or Syrian-controlled entity. 
(11) SYRIAN
DIPLOMATS
AND
REPRESENTA-
TIVES OF OTHER GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY OR 
QUASI-GOVERNMENTAL
INSTITUTIONS
OF
SYRIA.— 
The term ‘‘Syrian diplomats and representatives of 
other government and military or quasi-govern-
mental institutions of Syria’’ includes employees, 
representatives, affiliates, agents, instrumentalities, 
or persons of the Government of Syria. 
(12) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, 
with respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 
means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 
have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 
result. 
(13) NUCLEAR EXPLOSIVE DEVICE.—The term 
‘‘nuclear explosive device’’ means any device, wheth-
er assembled or disassembled, that is designed to 
produce an instantaneous release of an amount of 
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nuclear energy from special nuclear material (as de-
fined in section 11(aa) of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954) that is greater than the amount of energy 
that would be released from the detonation of one 
pound of trinitrotoluene (TNT). 
(14) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means— 
(A) a natural person; 
(B) a corporation, business association, 
partnership, society, trust, financial institution, 
insurer, underwriter, guarantor, and any other 
business organization, any other nongovern-
mental entity, organization, or group, and any 
governmental entity operating as a business en-
terprise, a sole proprietorship, organization, as-
sociation, corporation, partnership, limited li-
ability company, venture, joint venture, or other 
entity, its subsidiary, or affiliate; 
(C) a company owned or controlled, either 
directly or indirectly, by the government of a 
foreign country, that is established or organized 
under the laws of, or has its principal place of 
business in, such foreign country and includes 
United States subsidiaries of the same; 
(D) any individual or entity that directly 
or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is 
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under common control with, the company, in-
cluding without limitation direct and indirect 
subsidiaries of a company; and 
(E) any successor to any entity described 
in subparagraph (B). 
The term ‘‘person’’ does not include a government 
or governmental entity that is not operating as a 
business enterprise. 
(15) PETROLEUM RESOURCES.—The term ‘‘pe-
troleum resources’’ includes petroleum and natural 
gas resources petroleum, refined petroleum products, 
oil or liquefied natural gas, natural gas resources, oil 
or liquefied natural gas tankers, and products used 
to construct or maintain pipelines used to transport 
oil or liquefied natural gas. 
(16) REFINED
PETROLEUM
PRODUCTS.—The 
term ‘‘refined petroleum products’’ means diesel, 
gasoline, jet fuel (including naphtha-type and ker-
osene-type jet fuel), and aviation gasoline. 
(17) UNITED
STATES
OR
STATE.—The term 
‘‘United States’’ or ‘‘State’’ means the several 
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the 
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United States Virgin Islands, and any other terri-
tory or possession of the United States. 
(18) UNITED
STATES
PERSON.—The term 
‘‘United States person’’ means— 
(A) a natural person who is a citizen of the 
United States or who owes permanent alle-
giance to the United States; and 
(B) a corporation or other legal entity 
which is organized under the laws of the United 
States, any State or territory thereof, or the 
District of Columbia, if natural persons de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) own, directly or in-
directly, more than 50 percent of the out-
standing capital stock or other beneficial inter-
est in such legal entity. 
(19) UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE.—The term 
‘‘United States assistance’’ means— 
(A) any assistance under the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), 
other than urgent humanitarian assistance or 
medicine; 
(B) sales and assistance under the Arms 
Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.); 
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(B) The United States Government shall 
suspend compliance with its obligations under 
any memorandum of understanding with such 
country for the codevelopment or coproduction 
of any item on the United States Munitions 
List (established under section 38 of the Arms 
Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778)), includ-
ing any obligation for implementation of such 
memorandum of understanding through the 
sale to such country of technical data or assist-
ance or the licensing for export to such country 
of any component part. 
(C) No item on the United States Muni-
tions List (established pursuant to section 38 of 
the Arms Export Control Act) may be exported 
to such country. 
(D) The United States Government shall 
not issue any license for any export by or to 
such country. 
(E) The President shall ban the importa-
tion of any article that is a product of such 
country. 
(F) The Secretary of the Treasury shall in-
struct the United States Executive Director at 
each international financial institution (as de-
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