IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 985 
Recognizing the 11th anniversary of the Syrian revolution against Bashar 
al-Assad. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 15, 2022 
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself and Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of 
Texas) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the 
Judiciary, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the 11th anniversary of the Syrian revolution 
against Bashar al-Assad. 
Whereas the Ba’ath Party has ruled Syria since March 8, 
1963, and the Assad family has ruled Syria since Novem-
ber 13, 1970; 
Whereas the Syrian people of all ethnicities and sects rose up 
on March 15, 2011, against the brutal Assad regime, 
calling for freedom, democracy, and dignity, in the start 
of the Syrian revolution; 
Whereas peaceful protesters were met by the Assad regime 
with bullets and widespread brutality; 
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•HRES 985 IH 
Whereas the Assad regime’s security forces and shabiha 
painted on the walls of numerous cities, ‘‘Assad or we 
burn the country;’’ 
Whereas peaceful activists such as Ghiyath Mattar gave 
water and flowers to Syrian soldiers only to be tortured 
to death by the Assad regime’s forces; 
Whereas the brutal Assad regime, with the support of Iran 
and the Russian Federation, has committed crimes 
against humanity against the people of Syria, leading to 
one of the worst humanitarian crises in over 70 years, in-
cluding the deaths of more than 500,000 people, the de-
struction of more than 50 percent of Syria’s critical in-
frastructure, and the forced displacement of more than 
14 million people; 
Whereas the Assad regime, with the support of Iran and the 
Russian Federation, has conducted violent attacks 
against humanitarian aid workers, supplies, facilities, 
transports, and assets, and impeded the access and se-
cure movement of humanitarian personnel, and has used 
chemical weapons against the Syrian people on numerous 
occasions; 
Whereas Iran is estimated to have deployed over 3,000 Is-
lamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and regular 
Iranian military advisers to Syria and approximately 
20,000 militia fighters, including Hezbollah; 
Whereas Iranian-backed militias have demolished civilian 
areas, implemented sieges, and evicted civilian residents 
throughout Syria in a campaign of forced displacement, 
where Iranian-funded reconstruction plans to sell housing 
developments to foreign militias risk establishing a per-
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•HRES 985 IH 
manent Iranian presence and obstacle for return of thou-
sands of Syrian families who fled Syria; 
Whereas the Assad regime has systematically diverted tens of 
millions of dollars in humanitarian aid from the United 
Nations to its own benefit; and 
Whereas a number of countries in the Gulf Cooperation 
Council (GCC) have accelerated efforts to normalize rela-
tions with the Assad regime in recent years: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the 11th anniversary of the Syr-
ian revolution against Bashar al-Assad; 
(2) affirms that it is the policy of the United 
States to support the Syrian people’s efforts to bring 
about a free and democratic Syria which respects 
the human rights of all Syrians from all ethnic and 
religious backgrounds, including women; 
(3) commends the bravery of the Syrian people 
who initially rose up on March 15, 2011, protesting 
the brutal Assad regime, as well as the bravery of 
democratic activists involved in the ongoing struggle 
against the brutal Assad regime in Syria; 
(4) opposes the normalization of relations by 
any country with the Assad regime; 
(5) recognizes that there is no solution to the 
crisis in Syria as long as the brutal Assad regime re-
mains in power; 
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•HRES 985 IH 
(6) calls upon the President to not recognize 
any Syrian Government led by Bashar al-Assad or 
the right of Bashar al-Assad to ever run in any fu-
ture election in Syria; 
(7) calls upon the President to vigorously en-
force the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 
2019, especially with regard to entities located with-
in the territories of governments which have normal-
ized with the Assad regime, and by stopping the 
Arab Gas Pipeline project, and other energy deals, 
which will provide the Assad regime with gas and 
electricity; 
(8) calls upon the President to reject any and 
all dialogue with the Russian Federation led by 
Vladimir Putin with regards to political negotiations 
over Syria; 
(9) calls upon the President to end all funding 
to any aid projects by the United Nations in Syria 
which are providing assistance to the brutal Assad 
regime, and instead ensure that aid is delivered di-
rectly to the people of Syria; and 
(10) calls on the President to establish a whole- 
of-government approach to countering the brutal 
Assad regime’s illicit Captagon trade. 
Æ 
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