Bipartisan Resolution Condemns Assad, Calls on the Administration to Continue Support to Opposition, Provide Humanitarian Assistance
Resolution to be Marked Up Today in SFRC
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a bipartisan resolution yesterday calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to end his campaign of violence and to step down from power so that the Syrian people can begin the transition to an inclusive democratic government.
“More than 10,000 people have now been killed in Syria,” said Senator Casey. “Despite the presence of UN monitors, the violence has not stopped and Assad has not removed his forces from cities and towns across the country. We must do more to provide humanitarian assistance to those suffering under the regime’s brutality, and to assist opposition organizations that seek a peaceful, democratic future for Syria.”
“Assad has committed atrocities against the Syrian people, and it’s essential that the United States keep applying pressure on the regime and plan for a post-Assad Syria. Assad’s departure from power needs to be accelerated, while we lay the foundation for Syria to begin its difficult path towards a true inclusive democracy,” said Rubio, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The resolution calls on the Obama administration to continue to provide support, including communications equipment, to the political opposition in Syria and robust humanitarian assistance to those affected by the ongoing violence. It also calls for the development of a plan to identify and secure the Assad regime’s stockpiles of conventional, biological, and chemical weapons.
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