WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement ahead of the Arab League summit on Thursday:
“This week marks one year since war criminal Bashar al-Assad attended the Arab League summit. As expected, he has failed to follow through on any promises he made. In the last year, the regime has deepened relations with Russia and Iran through combined military exercises, displaced roughly 195,000 Syrians through military operations, and fueled the $10 billion global illicit Captagon trade which directly funds the regime’s atrocities. Additionally, Assad and his security apparatus have taken advantage of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza to continue attacks against innocent Syrians.
“Assad has demonstrated he cannot be rehabilitated. I applaud efforts by the governments of Belgium, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland to hold the regime accountable for torture and war crimes. The Syrian people have suffered far too long. The Senate must now step up and pass my Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act to strengthen and extend the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act.”
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