IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 742 
Condemning the Government of the Russian Federation for providing weapons 
to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 26, 2012 
Ms. RICHARDSON (for herself, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Mr. CAMP, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Mr. PASCRELL, and Mrs. MYRICK) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning the Government of the Russian Federation for 
providing weapons to the regime of President Bashar 
al-Assad of Syria. 
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has an 
extensive history of providing weapons and political sup-
port to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, 
a country designated by the Secretary of State as a 
‘‘state sponsor of terrorism’’; 
Whereas, at the Port of Tartus in Syria, the Government of 
the Russian Federation maintains for the Russian Navy 
its only permanent warm-water naval port outside of the 
former Soviet Union, which bolsters the Assad regime; 
Whereas the Assad regime responded to the widespread, 
peaceful, and sustained calls for political reform that 
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began in March 2011 in a manner that has caused the 
deaths of more than 10,000 people in Syria, mostly civil-
ians, as of June 2012, according to an estimate by the 
United Nations; 
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation remains 
the top supplier of weapons to the Government of Syria, 
reportedly providing nearly $1,000,000,000 worth of 
arms to the Government of Syria in 2011 alone; 
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has 
unabatedly continued to ship arms to the Government of 
Syria during the ongoing popular uprisings; 
Whereas, on October 4, 2011, the Russian Federation, to-
gether with the People’s Republic of China, vetoed a 
United Nations Security Council resolution that would 
have condemned ‘‘grave and systematic human rights vio-
lations’’ in Syria and would have warned the Government 
of Syria of the actions, including sanctions, to be consid-
ered against it, if warranted; 
Whereas, on January 18, 2012, Foreign Minister of the Rus-
sian Federation Sergei Lavrov criticized ‘‘the sending of 
so-called humanitarian convoys to Syria’’; 
Whereas, on January 19, 2012, Foreign Minister Lavrov 
stated that, with regard to the Government of Syria, 
‘‘For us, the red line is fairly clearly drawn. We will not 
support any sanctions.’’; 
Whereas, on February 4, 2012, the Russian Federation, to-
gether with the People’s Republic of China, vetoed a 
United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an 
end to the violence in Syria, demanding that all parties 
in Syria cease all violence and reprisals and implement 
the plan set out by the League of Arab States, expressing 
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grave concern for the deteriorating situation in Syria, 
and condemning the widespread gross violations of 
human rights; 
Whereas, on March 13, 2012, Deputy Minister of Defence of 
the Russian Federation Anatoly Antonov stated that the 
Government of the Russian Federation would not halt 
arms shipments to Syria, acknowledging that the Govern-
ment of the Russian Federation has military instructors 
on the ground training the Syrian Arab Army and stat-
ing, ‘‘Russia enjoys good and strong military technical 
co-operation with Syria, and we see no reason to recon-
sider it. Russian-Syria military co-operation is perfectly 
legitimate.’’; 
Whereas, on May 30, 2012, Permanent Representative of the 
United States to the United Nations Susan Rice con-
demned recent reports of an arms shipment that arrived 
in Syria from the Russian Federation on May 26, 2012, 
as ‘‘reprehensible’’, stating that ‘‘this is obviously of the 
utmost concern given that the Syrian government con-
tinues to use deadly forces against civilians’’; 
Whereas, on May 31, 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clin-
ton stated that the policy of the Government of the Rus-
sian Federation toward the Government of Syria ‘‘is 
going to help contribute to a civil war’’, maintaining that 
Russian officials ‘‘are just vociferous in their claim that 
they are providing a stabilizing influence’’, and stating, 
‘‘I reject that. I think they are, in effect, propping up the 
regime at a time when we should be working on a polit-
ical transition.’’; 
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has thus 
far failed to effectively use its influence and relationship 
with the Assad regime to halt the murder of civilians in 
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Syria, including the massacre of over 100 people, many 
of them women and children, in Houla on May 25 to 26, 
2012; 
Whereas Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin re-
jected appeals by President of France Franc¸ois Hollande 
for tougher United Nations sanctions aimed at ending vi-
olence in Syria; 
Whereas, on June 5, 2012, Secretary of State Clinton stated 
that ‘‘it’s pretty clear that we all have to intensify our 
efforts to speed a political transition. . . . And we invite 
the Russians and the Chinese to be part of the solution 
of what is happening in Syria’’; 
Whereas, on June 7, 2012, Permanent Representative of the 
Russian Federation to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin 
publicly criticized the Governments of Saudi Arabia and 
Qatar for supporting the opposition in Syria; and 
Whereas, on June 12, 2012, Secretary of State Clinton stat-
ed that ‘‘there are attack helicopters on the way from 
Russia to Syria, which will escalate the conflict quite dra-
matically’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) condemns the Government of the Russian 
Federation for— 
(A) its longstanding and ongoing support 
for the criminal regime of President Bashar al- 
Assad in Syria; 
(B) continuing to transfer weapons to the 
Assad regime, which cannot be considered le-
gitimate for purposes of self-defense; and 
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(C) its troubling opposition to resolutions 
from the United Nations Security Council re-
garding Syria, including those recently tabled 
by the United States; 
(2) concludes that the actions of the Govern-
ment of the Russian Federation— 
(A) have enabled the Assad regime to 
maintain power and perpetrate mass atrocities 
against its own people; and 
(B) directly undermine the core national 
security interests of the United States, as well 
as the stability of the entire Middle East; and 
(3) urges the Government of the Russian Fed-
eration to— 
(A) immediately end all transfers of weap-
ons to the Assad regime; 
(B) call on the Assad regime to end all vio-
lence against civilians; 
(C) support international sanctions against 
Syria; and 
(D) support a peaceful transition of leader-
ship in the Government of Syria, starting with 
the early departure of Bashar al-Assad. 
Æ 
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