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equipment to help security forces crack down on protests 
and curtail and monitor protesters’ use of the Internet, 
cell phones, and text-messaging; 
Whereas the White House Press Secretary has repeatedly 
condemned the Government of Syria’s brutal crackdown, 
including on May 6, 2011, when he stated, ‘‘The Syrian 
government continues to follow the lead of its Iranian ally 
in resorting to brute force and flagrant violations of 
human rights in suppressing peaceful protests.’’; 
Whereas the Department of State has repeatedly condemned 
the Government of Syria’s brutal crackdown, including on 
May 6, 2011, when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham 
Clinton condemned ‘‘in the strongest possible terms’’ the 
Government of Syria’s continued use of force and intimi-
dation against peaceful protestors and pledged to ‘‘hold 
to account senior Syrian officials and others responsible 
for the reprehensible human rights abuses’’; 
Whereas Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton de-
nounced the Government of Syria’s actions on May 11, 
2011, when she stated, ‘‘There may be some who think 
this is a sign of strength, but treating one’s own people 
in this way is in fact a sign of remarkable weakness.’’; 
Whereas Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also 
stated, ‘‘Syria’s future will only be secured by a govern-
ment that reflects the popular will of all of the people 
and protects their welfare’’; 
Whereas, on April 29, 2011, President Obama issued an Ex-
ecutive Order authorizing targeted sanctions against indi-
viduals and organizations responsible for the human 
rights abuses in Syria; 
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Whereas President Obama on April 29, 2011, designated 3 
individuals pursuant to the Executive Order issued that 
same day: Mahir al-Assad, the brother of Syrian Presi-
dent Bashar al-Assad and brigade commander in the Syr-
ian Army’s 4th Armored Division; Atif Najib, the former 
head of the Political Security Directorate for Daraa 
Province and a cousin of Bashar al-Assad; and Ali 
Mamluk, director of Syria’s General Intelligence Direc-
torate; 
Whereas President Obama on May 18, 2011, designated 
seven individuals pursuant to the Executive Order issue 
that same day, Bashar al-Assad, the President of the 
Syrian Arab Republic, Farouk al-Shara, Vice President 
of the Syrian Arab Republic, Adel Safar, Prime Minister 
of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mohammad Ibrahim al- 
Shaar, Minister of the Interior of the Syrian Arab Re-
public, Ali Habib Mahmoud, Minister of Defense of the 
Syrian Arab Republic, Abdul Fatah Qudsiya, Head of 
Syrian Military Intelligence, Mohammed Dib Zaitoun, Di-
rector of Political Security Directorate; 
Whereas, on May 18, 2011, the United States Department of 
the Treasury designated ten individuals and entities pur-
suant to Executive Order 13572 authorizing the United 
States to sanction any person that is owned or controlled 
by, or acts for or on behalf of any person designated pur-
suant to Executive Order 13460, Hafiz Makhluf, cousin 
of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and senior official 
of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorat, Qasem 
Soleimani, Commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolu-
tionary Guard Corps-Qods Force, Mohsen Chizari, Com-
mander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard 
Corps-Qods Force Operations and Training, Syrian Mili-
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tary Intelligence, Syrian National Security Bureau, Syr-
ian Air Force Intelligence, Cham Holdings and its Chair-
man Nabil Rafik al Kuzbari, Bena Properties, and Al 
Mashreq Investment Fund; 
Whereas, on May 6, 2011, envoys of the European Union’s 
27 nations agreed to impose sanctions on the Govern-
ment of Syria for the human rights abuses it is perpe-
trating, including asset freezes and visa bans on 13 mem-
bers of the Government of Syria and an arms embargo 
on the country; 
Whereas, on April 29, 2011, the United Nations Human 
Rights Council passed Resolution S–16/1, which con-
demns the Syrian regime for its human rights abuses and 
establishes a mandate for an international inquiry led by 
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Human Rights to investigate all alleged violations of 
international human rights law in Syria ‘‘with a view to 
avoiding impunity and ensuring full accountability’’; 
Whereas the Government of Syria, prior to March 2011, had 
a well-documented track record of human rights abuses 
against its own citizens and violations of international 
agreements and international law; 
Whereas, in February 1982, the Syrian army, under the or-
ders of then-Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, killed at 
least 10,000 civilians in the city of Hama in an effort to 
quell an uprising there; 
Whereas, according to the Department of State’s most recent 
Human Rights Country Report, published on April 8, 
2011, the Government of Syria commits unlawful killings 
against civilians; has severely and systematically re-
stricted basic freedoms of speech, press, assembly, asso-
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ciation, and religion; is responsible for ongoing politically 
motivated arrests, detentions, and disappearances; lacks 
an independent judiciary system; and maintains prisons 
where torture and physical abuse are widespread and 
where detainees lack access to food, proper clothing, and 
medical treatment; 
Whereas the Department of State has designated Syria since 
1979 as a ‘‘state sponsor of terrorism’’ and according to 
the Department of State’s most recent ‘‘Country Reports 
on Terrorism,’’ published in August 2010, the Govern-
ment of Syria provides ‘‘political and material support to 
Hizballah in Lebanon and allowed Iran to resupply this 
organization with weapons’’; 
Whereas the Government of Syria’s transfer of weapons to 
Hizballah in Lebanon is in violation of United Nations 
Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006), which estab-
lished an arms embargo requiring all states to prevent 
the supply of arms and weapons to militias and terrorists 
in Lebanon; 
Whereas the Government of Syria has violated the territorial 
integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon in contravention of 
United Nations Security Council resolutions, including 
Resolution 425 (1978), Resolution 520 (1982), and Reso-
lution 1701 (2006); 
Whereas Syria, as a party to the Treaty of the Non-Prolifera-
tion of Nuclear Weapons, is legally bound to declare all 
its nuclear activity to the International Atomic Energy 
Agency (IAEA) and to place such activity under the mon-
itoring of the IAEA; 
Whereas the IAEA issued a report on February 25, 2011, 
criticizing Syria’s implementation of the NPT Safeguards 
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Agreement, concluding that ‘‘Syria has not cooperated 
with the Agency since June 2008’’ in connection with the 
Agency’s investigation of the Dair Alzour site and 3 
other locations’’ and warning that ‘‘the Agency has not 
been able to make progress towards resolving the out-
standing issues related to those sites’’; 
Whereas it has been widely reported that the Government of 
Syria was developing a covert nuclear program, in viola-
tion of its international obligations under the NPT, until 
that site was bombed by Israel in September 2007; 
Whereas, on December 12, 2003, Congress passed the Syria 
Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act 
of 2003 (Public Law 108–175) in order to, among other 
purposes, hold the Government of Syria accountable for 
its actions and as expression of support consistent with 
these aims; and 
Whereas, on May 19, 2011, President Obama stated ‘‘Most 
recently, the Syrian regime has chosen the path of mur-
der and the mass arrests of its citizens.’’: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) expresses solidarity and support for the peo-
ple of Syria as they seek to exercise universal rights 
and pursue peaceful democratic change; 
(2) strongly condemns and deplores the human 
rights abuses of the Government of Syria, including 
the use of arbitrary and lethal violence and deploy-
ment of military forces against peaceful demonstra-
tors; 
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(3) strongly condemns and deplores the Govern-
ment of Syria’s extrajudicial killings, enforced dis-
appearances, torture, and arbitrary and mass arrests 
against civilians in Syria; 
(4) strongly condemns and deplores the delib-
erate cut-off of water, electricity, food, telecommuni-
cations, and other basic services to civilian popu-
lation centers in Syria; 
(5) strongly condemns the Government of Iran 
for assisting the Government of Syria in its cam-
paign of violence and repression against the people 
of Syria; 
(6) warns that international crimes are being 
committed by the Government of Syria against its 
people, for which the responsible officials must be 
held accountable; 
(7) finds that the Government of Syria, led by 
Bashar al-Assad, through its campaign of violence 
and gross human rights abuses, has lost legitimacy 
and expresses support for the people of Syria to de-
termine their future for themselves; 
(8) urges the President to speak out directly, 
and personally, to the people of Syria about the situ-
ation in their country; 
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(9) urges the President to work, in conjunction 
with international partners, to ensure access of hu-
manitarian relief organizations, medical workers, 
and international media to affected areas of Syria, 
and to impose consequences on the Government of 
Syria and its leaders if access by these organizations 
continues to be impeded; 
(10) urges the President to work, in conjunc-
tion with international partners, to ensure access by 
the people of Syria to accurate news and informa-
tion, as well as information and social networking 
technologies; 
(11) urges the President to continue to work 
with the European Union, the Government of Tur-
key, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, 
and other allies and partners to bring an end to 
human rights abuses in Syria, hold the perpetrators 
accountable, and support the aspirations of the peo-
ple of Syria; 
(12) encourages United States officials, includ-
ing through the United States Embassy in Damas-
cus, to engage with civil society in Syria, including 
human rights and democracy activists, political dis-
sidents, and opposition leaders; 
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(13) urges the President to work with our allies 
and partners at the United Nations Security Council 
to condemn and hold accountable human rights 
abusers in Syria and to support the human rights of 
the people of Syria; and 
(14) urges the United Nations Human Rights 
Council— 
(A) to swiftly implement United Nations 
Human Rights Council Resolution S–16/1 and 
to ensure that the international investigation 
into violations by the Government of Syria of 
international human rights law called for in the 
resolution is undertaken immediately; and 
(B) reinforce the crucial need for the 
United Nations General Assembly to reject Syr-
ia’s candidacy for membership on the Human 
Rights Council pending democratic reform. 
Æ 
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