WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined Chairman U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), and eight of their colleagues from the Committee in introducing a bipartisan resolution in observance of the 10th anniversary of the Syrian uprising.  

In addition to calling on the United States to support humanitarian aid to the Syrian people, the resolution condemns the Assad regime’s atrocities against its own citizens and reaffirms the United States’ commitment to hold the regime and its backers accountable for their war crimes and crimes against humanity. The resolution also lauds Syrian human rights defenders’ brave efforts to document and expose the Assad regime’s unrelenting and indiscriminate violence

“On the 10th anniversary of the Syrian uprising, my heart continues to break for the suffering and loss the Syrian people have endured for far too long. I’m joining with my colleagues from across the aisle to mark this somber anniversary, and recommit ourselves to ending the war with diplomacy, continuing to provide urgent humanitarian relief, and bringing Assad and his backers to justice for all the war crimes they have committed over the last decade,” said Murphy.

“For a decade, the world has borne witness to Assad’s brazen willingness to kill, torture, gas, and starve his own people in order to maintain his grip on power. The Syrian people have suffered for far too long at the hands of a butcher whose relentless reign of terror continues to be sponsored by his patrons in Tehran and Moscow,” said Chairman Menendez. “As we mark this solemn anniversary and reflect on the resilience of the Syrian people, we must use this moment of diplomatic reengagement for the United States to seek concrete measures that serve justice to Assad and help provide Syrians with a path toward reconciliation, stability and freedom.”

“Over the last decade, Bashar Al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian backers have inflicted enormous suffering on the Syrian people in a prolonged a campaign of torture, starvation, chemical weapons, and barrel bombings,” said Ranking Member Risch. “As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Syrian conflict, I’m proud to introduce this resolution with Senator Menendez reaffirming U.S. support for the Syrian people, a political solution to the conflict, and accountability for the regime’s atrocities through the implementation of the Caesar Act.”

Joining Murphy, Menendez, and Risch in introducing the resolution were Senate Foreign Relations Committee members Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.).

Find a copy of the resolution here.

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