Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a bipartisan resolution today calling for the departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and urging the Obama Administration to support a transition to an inclusive democracy in Syria by providing material and technical assistance to the Syrian opposition and working with the international community to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected by Assad’s brutal attacks.
This resolution is introduced as the Assad regime continues its massacre of the Syrian people.
"Bashar al Assad is responsible for killing at least 6,000 Syrian men, women, and children. The regime's brutal violence has torn the country apart, and threatens to destabilize the entire region. The international community can and should do more to support the people of Syria during this terrible hour in their history,” said Casey, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs.
“The Syrian people can't expect Assad to heed calls for his departure, nor can they rely on the United Nations to act. For the sake of innocent lives in Syria and the security of the entire region, the United States must keep up the pressure on the regime and begin planning for a post-Assad Syria. We need to hasten Assad’s departure from power and also lay the groundwork for the difficult path towards a true inclusive democracy,” said Rubio, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Among other measures, this resolution strongly condemns Bashar al-Assad regime’s widespread and systemic human rights violations, calls upon Assad to step down from power, condemns the Governments of the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran for providing military and security equipment to Syria, and urges the President to begin taking steps to prepare for the fall of Assad’s regime. Additional co-sponsors of this bipartisan resolution include Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Jon Kyl (R-AZ).
The text of the resolution is available here.
