Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continuing gross violations of human rights and civil liberties of the Syrian and Lebanese people by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Mr. Speaker, today I wish to call the attention of the Members to the important cause of defending the human rights of the Syrian people and holding the Syrian regime accountable for the most deplorable actions against its citizens.

Syria is an oppressor state in every sense. It brutally stifles its political dissidents and minority groups. It denies its ordinary citizens freedom of religion, of conscience and belief. It seeks to silence its people by preventing them from exercising their right of free speech. It discriminates against women, condoning violence and sexual assault against them.

The police continue to detain people arbitrarily, placing them in prisons and torturing them, using methods that seem to herald back to the return of the Middle Ages, stretching prisoners on racks or fracturing their spines on wheels.

Since 1963, Syria has ruled under emergency law, using the hollow excuse of Israel being a threat, and using that to suppress freedom, diversity of opinion, and equality between religions and between sexes.

About 600 Lebanese detainees have been languishing in Syrian jails since 1989. Those who have managed to escape bring harrowing stories with them that they have told to the international human rights community. They must be released immediately.

In an event that defies comprehension, in 1982, Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of then dictator Hafez al-Assad, turned his Soviet-made guns against the Syrian city of Hama. When the dust settled approximately a week later, the death toll of innocent civilians had reached 30,000 people.

The perpetrators of this massacre, including Rifaat al-Assad, who resides in Marbella, Spain, have received no punishment and live amid absolute luxury. Their comfortable lifestyle is an affront to the Syrian people and to all of humanity.

Another of the perpetrators to be held accountable is Ghazi Kanaan. He headed the military intelligence unit responsible for clearing the way for the massacre at Hama. He also later became the Syrian top intelligence man in Lebanon and reportedly built all of the intelligence units responsible for killing Lebanese Christians and imprisoning many other innocent Lebanese.

Bahjat Suleiman is the head of Unit 251 in the General Directorate of the Intelligence Services. Some of the crimes against the Syrian people were detailed in H. Con. Res. 18. This resolution, which I authored, was overwhelmingly adopted by my colleagues in the House, clearly illustrating our body's commitment to holding the Syrian dictatorship accountable for the systematic attacks against the Syrian population.

Inaction on our part is not an option. The cost of failing to address this grim reality sooner can be measured by the rising number of Syrian and Lebanese men and women that the Syrian Government has killed or tortured.

Today, the Syrian people, the dissidents and the peaceful opposition leaders, are poised to act. They are demanding that the Syrian Government release all prisoners of conscience and that it allow for the winds of reform to sweep through its corrupt system. U.S. policy must support the Syrian people, its dissidents, human rights activists, and pro-democracy advocates so that they, too, could free themselves from the shackles of tyrannical rule.

In that vein, I recently introduced the Lebanon and Syria Liberation Act that contains provisions calling for the establishment of a program of assistance to pro-democracy advocates and opposition groups in Syria and Lebanon. It also establishes a program to develop independent broadcasts into Syria and Lebanon to help promote freedom and democracy in both countries.

The act sends a message to the Syrian Government that the United States will not stand for its unacceptable behavior in violation of all moral and legal standards. This legislation, with its concrete measures to punish the Syrian regime, clearly demonstrates to the Syrian people that America stands with them in their efforts to free themselves from the shackles of tyranny and to help them build an open society based on democratic values and principles.

We must honor the brave men and women of Syria by acting to defend their right to live as free men and women. We must begin by ensuring that the Syrian regime and its leaders are made to pay for their crimes against the Syrian people. We must support efforts to seek justice for the victims of Syrian oppression.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this resolution and his leadership in bringing it forward. I am going to support the resolution. I, too, am troubled by what we have seen with the Syrian government. I am heartened by some activities in the Middle East. I think there is some real progress. But I would step back for a moment and ask us to reflect on something that has been happening that does not reflect so well on our government.

Just moments ago, the House overwhelmingly approved an amendment advanced by the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) and me that dealt with making sure that money that we approved in the supplemental was not used to torture suspects of terrorism. We have this sense, and it is one that the people I represent feel very strongly about, that we have a responsibility and an obligation as the world's oldest democracy to be upholding our standards of rule of law, of due process. We have made torture illegal not just because people are concerned that it is an immoral practice, we do so because it is not a good way to get useful information.

Dictatorships torture indiscriminately, but it is not a way, as the Intelligence Community well understands, that we get good information upon which to base activities that may put our men and women at risk and to protect United States interests. Furthermore, we do not torture suspects of terror because if we do so, then any information that is gathered from that process taints any potential case and we cannot bring people to justice in a court of law.

Last but not least, we do not torture because we want a standard established where we can use our moral authority to make sure that Americans abroad are protected, whether they are in uniform or they are civilians.

There are a variety of moral, practical reasons why we are against torture. Yet I would note that there are too many press accounts for us to ignore, too many reports from nongovernmental organizations that the United States is participating in and condoning torture on behalf of prisoners that we have taken to other countries. There is a famous case that now the Canadian government wants investigated where the United States kidnapped a Canadian citizen and rendered this person to Syria where he was tortured. We have called for this Congress to get on top of what is, I am afraid, an emerging scandal, where we use extraordinary rendition, where we kidnap and transport people, where there is not effective oversight, where Congress does not know what is going on, where there are people who are not being held accountable, where there are problems that we have seen with people who have been in custody of the CIA and some of the American prisons that we have had in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We, as a Congress, need to be doing our job because we do not believe in torture; it is illegal; it is against international conventions; it is against the interests of the United States. And I must re-emphasize the irony when we come forward with a resolution that points out the problems, legitimate problems, the abuses in Syria, and then it appears as though the United States is willing to offer up people to countries like Syria, where we thought they are in fact going to be tortured.

Mr. Speaker, I would hope that Congress gets ahead of this issue, that Congress does its job to investigate these widespread reports that are coming through now our own legal system, that are coming through the media, that are coming from nongovernmental organizations, that we exercise our oversight to make sure that we have our own house in order. There should be no prospect that we are on one hand going to be a Congress that condemns torture and abuse of human rights in Syria, and on the other hand we are going to look the other way when we may be offering up people who are suspects, not convicted of anything, to be turned over to the hands of these same torturers.

I would sincerely hope that we will have activity on the part of all of us to make sure the many committees in Congress do their job to provide this oversight and that we are not relying on the media, nongovernmental organizations, and what trickles through the legal system to do a job that we should be doing.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of this resolution. I want to commend my friend from New Jersey for his leadership on this issue. The resolution before the House supports the people of Syria who live under a violent and repressive regime. The last Congress, this body passed the Syria Accountability Act with 297 cosponsors. That bill primarily addressed Syria's behavior in the Middle East, including its sponsorship of terrorist groups and its continuing occupation of Lebanon. This resolution, Mr. Speaker, focuses on Syria's domestic misbehavior for which Damascus must also be held fully accountable. After all, nobody has suffered more from the brutality of the

Syrian government than the Syrian people.

According to the State Department's annual human rights report released recently, Syria continues to commit egregious human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary detentions of political prisoners without trial, censorship and harassment of journalists, protections for spouse-rapists, and light sentences for so-called honor killings. According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Syria is engaged in an unceasing campaign to harass and intimidate human rights organizations.

In recent days, the world has focused on Syria's outrages against the Lebanese people and, indeed, another resolution we are considering today deals directly with that issue. But, Mr. Speaker, we cannot credibly say we favor political reform in the Middle East if we ignore Syria's depredations against its own citizens.

Syria is certainly, and I quote, one of the world's most repressive regimes, as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has indicated. Accordingly, it is important that this Congress be on record not merely in condemning the Syrian government for its actions against its neighbors but, more importantly, to express our support for the Syrian people in their struggle to achieve the kind of government they deserve.

When I met with Syrian President Assad in Damascus, I urged him to change his government's behavior at home and abroad so that Syria could rejoin the ranks of the civilized world. This resolution is one result of his failure to heed that advice.

Mr. Speaker, a Syria that is accountable to world standards and norms, a Syria that respects its own citizens and no longer occupies Lebanon or supports terrorism against Israel must be a central goal of our project of reforming the Middle East. In the long run, a Middle East in which people are stakeholders in public life offers the greatest hope for peace and safety in the region and beyond.

I urge all of my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 18.

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield such time as he may consume to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), a distinguished member of the Committee on International Relations.

Mr. Speaker, we have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 18) expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continuing gross violations of human rights and civil liberties of the Syrian and Lebanese people by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to thank the leadership for bringing up this resolution.

H. Con. Res. 18, Mr. Speaker, addresses the continued gross violations of human rights committed by the Syrian regime. The terrorist regime in Damascus is one that not only supports and facilitates terrorist attacks against innocent civilians throughout the world but also engages in a widespread campaign of terror and human rights suppression among its own people.

According to the most recent State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the government of Syria continues to commit numerous serious abuses and remains with a poor record on human rights overall. Any activity by human rights activists and organizations is stifled and activists are sentenced to lengthy prison terms, tortured or even forced into exile, only to be harassed and intimidated in exile as well.

Domestic human rights groups cannot exist legally. According to a recent world report by Human Rights Watch, the dictatorship of Syria strictly limits freedom of expression, association and assembly and treats ethnic minority Kurds as second-class citizens. The government has a long record of arbitrary arrests, systematic torture, prolonged detention of suspects and grossly unfair trials. Women face discrimination and have little means for full redress when they become victims of rape or domestic violence.

However, Syria's deplorable human rights record is not limited to its immediate borders. The repressive apparatus also extends into neighboring Lebanon, which has been a captive nation for 25 years. Hundreds of free-thinking Lebanese civilians are believed to have been killed or disappeared because of Syrian occupation forces throughout these years. U.S. policy must support the Syrian people. It must support its dissidents, human rights activists, and the pro-democracy advocates so that they, too, can free themselves from the shackles of tyrannical rule.

This resolution also addresses, Mr. Speaker, two overarching vital U.S. national security requirements regarding the Syrian regime; that is, that Syria must immediately and unconditionally cease its support for terrorism and its development of unconventional weapons and advanced missile capabilities.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this important resolution to express U.S. support for those in Syria and Lebanon who continue to toil for freedom and democracy, and ensure the regime in Damascus that we will continue to increase the pressure until these goals are met.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, we have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 18 to express Congress' concern about the treatment of the Syrian and Lebanese people by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic. I want to thank my colleagues from Florida and New York for introducing this resolution and bringing it to the floor today.

Earlier this body considered H. Con. Res. 32, which expresses support for the liberation movement in Lebanon. Now, under this second resolution, we take into consideration the effect of Syrian rule of its own people. The Syrian Arab Republic is governed by an authoritarian regime which continues to commit serious human rights abuses, including the use of torture, arbitrary arrest, and detention.

Within Syria both freedom of speech and freedom of the press has repressed through systematic intimidation. Syrians are prohibited to publicly assembling in order to express discontent of any kind. Political prisoners are

known to have been held in detainment for up to twenty years. Ruling authorities continue to allow honor killings. In the North, Syrian forces have attacked unarmed Kurd populations with live ammunition. Human rights organizations working in opposition these injustices are targeted by Syrian authorities with intimidation tactics.

The Syrian government's treatment of its people can no longer be tolerated. I encourage my colleagues to pass the resolution in question and in doing so condemn the Syrian government's gross human rights violations upon its own people and support the Syrian people's struggle for a free and democratic government.