WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered an opening statement during a hearing titled “After Assad: Navigating Syria Policy” about the future of Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime. In her remarks, Ranking Member Shaheen said the U.S. has a one in a generation opportunity to shape the transition in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime, support the Syrian people and deny Russia and Iran a strategic foothold in the region. She also emphasized the need for sanctions relief to support stability in Syria. You can watch her remarks here.
Hearing witnesses included:
Mr. Michael Singh, Managing Director and Lane-Swig Senior Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Ms. Dana Stroul, Director of Research and Shelly and Michael Kassen Senior Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
The Ranking Member said: “Senator Risch and I, as he indicated, have spent a number of years working towards a better Syria. We are both relieved that after fifty years, the Assad regime has finally fallen. This was a regime that tortured and killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians—they forced millions to flee their homes. They gave an opening for terror groups like ISIS. They extended Vladimir Putin’s reach and power into the Middle East. Assad’s fall was a defeat for Putin; we want to make sure that it continues to be a defeat for Putin. He not only lost a deepwater port that had allowed him to threaten NATO’s southern flank, but he lost a reliable defense partner who gave Russia a decade to practice the military tactics in Syria that they are using today in Ukraine.”
Ranking Member Shaheen asked the witnesses about the role of Turkey in combatting ISIS. You can watch the Ranking Member’s questions here.
The Ranking Member’s opening remarks, as delivered, are below:
Ranking Member Shaheen: Thank you very much, Chairman Risch, and welcome to our witnesses—thank you both for joining us today. Let me also recognize, I understand we have some representatives from the White Helmets who are in the audience today. Let me thank you for your service to the people of Syria.
I’d like to begin by asking for consent to enter three statements into the record, Mr. Chairman. The first is from General Mazloum, who is the commanding general of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The second is from the Syrian American diaspora. The third is from NGOs who have been working on Syria assistance.
Chair Risch: Without objection.
Ranking Member Shaheen: Thank you. Senator Risch and I, as he indicated, have spent a number of years working towards a better Syria. We are both relieved that after fifty years, the Assad regime has finally fallen. This was a regime that tortured and killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians—they forced millions to flee their homes. They gave an opening for terror groups like ISIS. They extended Vladimir Putin’s reach and power into the Middle East. Assad’s fall was a defeat for Putin; we want to make sure that it continues to be a defeat for Putin. He not only lost a deepwater port that had allowed him to threaten NATO’s southern flank, but he lost a reliable defense partner who gave Russia a decade to practice the military tactics in Syria that they are using today in Ukraine.
So, Assad’s fall, as Chairman Risch has pointed out, creates an opportunity. It’s a chance for us to rebuild from the rubble, a chance for the economy to recover, a chance for refugees to come home and a chance to deny Putin, as well as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a strategic foothold in the region. Tehran wants to, wants the Syrian land bridge to the Mediterranean and to its proxies. They want their UAV development and missile strike sites back. They want to return to training security forces in Syria. Stopping them, I believe, is critical to our U.S. interests and to partners in the region like Lebanon in Syria—I mean Israel.
U.S. efforts in Syria are also key to preventing ISIS from taking advantage of the vacuum. ISIS has terrorized people across Syria and the region and ISIS has radicalized it inspired lone-wolf terrorists who have struck inside of the American homeland. San Bernardino, California, Orlando, Florida, Garland, Texas, Ohio State University, New York, New Orleans—it's a very long list and we should be doing everything we can to prevent this terrorist group from reconstituting itself. It is not enough to leave the mission up to Turkey. We need to stand with our Kurdish allies and the entire global coalition to defeat ISIS. We cannot cut and run at this critical moment. That’s why the foreign aid freeze and recent attempts to shut down U.S. Agency for International Development are so disturbing.
Mr. Chairman, I would ask for consent to enter a summary on assistance blocked in Syria for the record as well.
Chair Risch: Without objection.
Not only have these efforts meant cutting off programs to educate women and girls and help the very basic needs, like delivering babies, they have directly undermined efforts to combat ISIS, to preserve evidence to hold Assad and his regime accountable for their crimes. We’ve heard that security guards have been at risk at Al Hol, which is a huge detention camp in Syria where ISIS is looking to reconstitute itself. We can’t allow that to happen. Evidence that could help to bring Austin Tice and recover Americans who have been murdered in Syria needs to be addressed. That’s why I've asked Secretary Rubio to immediately issue waivers for aid to Syria, including to support the security of ISIS detention facilities.
At the same time, we need to move quickly toward targeted sanctions relief—and we’re not talking about throwing open the doors to the U.S. banking system. But these sanctions were put in place on the Assad regime—that regime is gone. If we don't reevaluate those sanctions, we punish all Syrians for the sins of Assad. Syria’s transitional government needs to understand the expectations of the United States and the international community, and that means we need clear, measurable benchmarks for an inclusive government that respects the rule of law and protects the Syrian people. Sanctions relief will also help bring in the investments from regional partners in the international community that Syria needs to rebuild.
This is a once in a generation opportunity, but it will not last forever. I hope our witnesses will speak to the challenges there and the opportunities and help us think about how we can move swiftly to take advantage of the situation. How can we incentivize inclusive governance, transparency and the rule of law? How can we support stability in Syria and prevent our adversaries like Russia and Iran from regaining a foothold? And what steps can we take in this short window of opportunity to keep Americans safe from the threat of terrorist groups like ISIS? I look forward to hearing your testimony today and to our conversation. Thank you.
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