[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1828 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.1828
One Hundred Eighth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the seventh day of January, two thousand and three
An Act
To halt Syrian support for terrorism, end its occupation of Lebanon, and
stop its development of weapons of mass destruction, and by so doing
hold Syria accountable for the serious international security problems
it has caused in the Middle East, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Syria Accountability and Lebanese
Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) On June 24, 2002, President Bush stated ``Syria must choose
the right side in the war on terror by closing terrorist camps and
expelling terrorist organizations''.
(2) United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 (September
28, 2001) mandates that all states ``refrain from providing any
form of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved
in terrorist acts'', take ``the necessary steps to prevent the
commission of terrorist acts'', and ``deny safe haven to those who
finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts''.
(3) The Government of Syria is currently prohibited by United
States law from receiving United States assistance because it has
repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, as
determined by the Secretary of State for purposes of section
6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App.
2405(j)(1)) and other relevant provisions of law.
(4) Although the Department of State lists Syria as a state
sponsor of terrorism and reports that Syria provides ``safe haven
and support to several terrorist groups'', fewer United States
sanctions apply with respect to Syria than with respect to any
other country that is listed as a state sponsor of terrorism.
(5) Terrorist groups, including Hizballah, Hamas, Palestinian
Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine--General
Command, maintain offices, training camps, and other facilities on
Syrian territory, and operate in areas of Lebanon occupied by the
Syrian armed forces and receive supplies from Iran through Syria.
(6) United Nations Security Council Resolution 520 (September
17, 1982) calls for ``strict respect of the sovereignty,
territorial integrity, unity and political independence of Lebanon
under the sole and exclusive authority of the Government of Lebanon
through the Lebanese Army throughout Lebanon''.
(7) Approximately 20,000 Syrian troops and security personnel
occupy much of the sovereign territory of Lebanon exerting undue
influence upon its government and undermining its political
independence.
(8) Since 1990 the Senate and House of Representatives have
passed seven bills and resolutions which call for the withdrawal of
Syrian armed forces from Lebanon.
(9) On March 3, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell declared
that it is the objective of the United States to ``let Lebanon be
ruled by the Lebanese people without the presence of [the Syrian]
occupation army''.
(10) Large and increasing numbers of the Lebanese people from
across the political spectrum in Lebanon have mounted peaceful and
democratic calls for the withdrawal of the Syrian Army from
Lebanese soil.
(11) Israel has withdrawn all of its armed forces from Lebanon
in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425
(March 19, 1978), as certified by the United Nations Secretary
General.
(12) Even in the face of this United Nations certification that
acknowledged Israel's full compliance with Security Council
Resolution 425, Syrian- and Iranian-supported Hizballah continues
to attack Israeli outposts at Shebaa Farms, under the pretense that
Shebaa Farms is territory from which Israel was required to
withdraw by Security Counsel Resolution 425, and Syrian- and
Iranian-supported Hizballah and other militant organizations
continue to attack civilian targets in Israel.
(13) Syria will not allow Lebanon--a sovereign country--to
fulfill its obligation in accordance with Security Council
Resolution 425 to deploy its troops to southern Lebanon.
(14) As a result, the Israeli-Lebanese border and much of
southern Lebanon is under the control of Hizballah, which continues
to attack Israeli positions, allows Iranian Revolutionary Guards
and other militant groups to operate freely in the area, and
maintains thousands of rockets along Israel's northern border,
destabilizing the entire region.
(15) On February 12, 2003, Director of Central Intelligence
George Tenet stated the following with respect to the Syrian- and
Iranian-supported Hizballah: ``[A]s an organization with capability
and worldwide presence [it] is [al Qaeda's] equal if not a far more
capable organization * * * [T]hey're a notch above in many
respects, in terms of in their relationship with the Iranians and
the training they receive, [which] puts them in a state-sponsored
category with a potential for lethality that's quite great.''.
(16) In the State of the Union address on January 29, 2002,
President Bush declared that the United States will ``work closely
with our coalition to deny terrorists and their state sponsors the
materials, technology, and expertise to make and deliver weapons of
mass destruction''.
(17) The Government of Syria continues to develop and deploy
short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.
(18) According to the December 2001 unclassified Central
Intelligence Agency report entitled ``Foreign Missile Developments
and the Ballistic Missile Threat through 2015'', ``Syria maintains
a ballistic missile and rocket force of hundreds of FROG rockets,
Scuds, and SS-21 SRBMs [and] Syria has developed [chemical weapons]
warheads for its Scuds''.
(19) The Government of Syria is pursuing the development and
production of biological and chemical weapons and has a nuclear
research and development program that is cause for concern.
(20) According to the Central Intelligence Agency's
``Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology
Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional
Munitions'', released January 7, 2003: ``[Syria] already holds a
stockpile of the nerve agent sarin but apparently is trying to
develop more toxic and persistent nerve agents. Syria remains
dependent on foreign sources for key elements of its [chemical
weapons] program, including precursor chemicals and key production
equipment. It is highly probable that Syria also is developing an
offensive [biological weapons] capability.''.
(21) On May 6, 2002, the Under Secretary of State for Arms
Control and International Security, John Bolton, stated: ``The
United States also knows that Syria has long had a chemical warfare
program. It has a stockpile of the nerve agent sarin and is engaged
in research and development of the more toxic and persistent nerve
agent VX. Syria, which has signed but not ratified the [Biological
Weapons Convention], is pursuing the development of biological
weapons and is able to produce at least small amounts of biological
warfare agents.''.
(22) According to the Central Intelligence Agency's
``Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology
Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional
Munitions'', released January 7, 2003: ``Russia and Syria have
approved a draft cooperative program on cooperation on civil
nuclear power. In principal, broader access to Russian expertise
provides opportunities for Syria to expand its indigenous
capabilities, should it decide to pursue nuclear weapons.''.
(23) Under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (21 UST 483), which entered force on March 5, 1970, and to
which Syria is a party, Syria has undertaken not to acquire or
produce nuclear weapons and has accepted full scope safeguards of
the International Atomic Energy Agency to detect diversions of
nuclear materials from peaceful activities to the production of
nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
(24) Syria is not a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention or
the Biological Weapons Convention, which entered into force on
April 29, 1997, and on March 26, 1975, respectively.
(25) Syrian President Bashar Assad promised Secretary of State
Powell in February 2001 to end violations of Security Council
Resolution 661, which restricted the sale of oil and other
commodities by Saddam Hussein's regime, except to the extent
authorized by other relevant resolutions, but this pledge was never
fulfilled.
(26) Syria's illegal imports and transshipments of Iraqi oil
during Saddam Hussein's regime earned Syria $50,000,000 or more per
month as Syria continued to sell its own Syrian oil at market
prices.
(27) Syria's illegal imports and transshipments of Iraqi oil
earned Saddam Hussein's regime $2,000,000 per day.
(28) On March 28, 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
warned: ``[W]e have information that shipments of military supplies
have been crossing the border from Syria into Iraq, including
night-vision goggles * * * These deliveries pose a direct threat to
the lives of coalition forces. We consider such trafficking as
hostile acts, and will hold the Syrian government accountable for
such shipments.''.
(29) According to Article 23(1) of the United Nations Charter,
members of the United Nations are elected as nonpermanent members
of the United Nations Security Council with ``due regard being
specially paid, in the first instance to the contribution of
members of the United Nations to the maintenance of international
peace and security and to other purposes of the Organization''.
(30) Despite Article 23(1) of the United Nations Charter, Syria
was elected on October 8, 2001, to a 2-year term as a nonpermanent
member of the United Nations Security Council beginning January 1,
2002, and served as President of the Security Council during June
2002 and August 2003.
(31) On March 31, 2003, the Syrian Foreign Minister, Farouq al-
Sharra, made the Syrian regime's intentions clear when he
explicitly stated that ``Syria's interest is to see the invaders
defeated in Iraq''.
(32) On April 13, 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
charged that ``busloads'' of Syrian fighters entered Iraq with
``hundreds of thousands of dollars'' and leaflets offering rewards
for dead American soldiers.
(33) On September 16, 2003, the Under Secretary of State for
Arms Control and International Security, John Bolton, appeared
before the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia of the
Committee on International Relations of the House of
Representatives, and underscored Syria's ``hostile actions'' toward
coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Under Secretary
Bolton added that: ``Syria allowed military equipment to flow into
Iraq on the eve of and during the war. Syria permitted volunteers
to pass into Iraq to attack and kill our service members during the
war, and is still doing so * * * [Syria's] behavior during
Operation Iraqi Freedom underscores the importance of taking
seriously reports and information on Syria's WMD capabilities.''.
(34) During his appearance before the Committee on
International Relations of the House of Representatives on
September 25, 2003, Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, III, Administrator
of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, stated that out of
the 278 third-country nationals who were captured by coalition
forces in Iraq, the ``single largest group are Syrians''.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Government of Syria should immediately and
unconditionally halt support for terrorism, permanently and openly
declare its total renunciation of all forms of terrorism, and close
all terrorist offices and facilities in Syria, including the
offices of Hamas, Hizballah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine--General Command;
(2) the Government of Syria should--
(A) immediately and unconditionally stop facilitating
transit from Syria to Iraq of individuals, military equipment,
and all lethal items, except as authorized by the Coalition
Provisional Authority or a representative, internationally
recognized Iraqi government;
(B) cease its support for ``volunteers'' and terrorists who
are traveling from and through Syria into Iraq to launch
attacks; and
(C) undertake concrete, verifiable steps to deter such
behavior and control the use of territory under Syrian control;
(3) the Government of Syria should immediately declare its
commitment to completely withdraw its armed forces, including
military, paramilitary, and security forces, from Lebanon, and set
a firm timetable for such withdrawal;
(4) the Government of Lebanon should deploy the Lebanese armed
forces to all areas of Lebanon, including South Lebanon, in
accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 520
(September 17, 1982), in order to assert the sovereignty of the
Lebanese state over all of its territory, and should evict all
terrorist and foreign forces from southern Lebanon, including
Hizballah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards;
(5) the Government of Syria should halt the development and
deployment of medium- and long-range surface-to-surface missiles
and cease the development and production of biological and chemical
weapons;
(6) the Governments of Lebanon and Syria should enter into
serious unconditional bilateral negotiations with the Government of
Israel in order to realize a full and permanent peace;
(7) the United States should continue to provide humanitarian
and educational assistance to the people of Lebanon only through
appropriate private, nongovernmental organizations and appropriate
international organizations, until such time as the Government of
Lebanon asserts sovereignty and control over all of its territory
and borders and achieves full political independence, as called for
in United Nations Security Council Resolution 520; and
(8) as a violator of several key United Nations Security
Council resolutions and as a nation that pursues policies which
undermine international peace and security, Syria should not have
been permitted to join the United Nations Security Council or serve
as the Security Council's President, and should be removed from the
Security Council.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States that--
(1) Syria should bear responsibility for attacks committed by
Hizballah and other terrorist groups with offices, training camps,
or other facilities in Syria, or bases in areas of Lebanon occupied
by Syria;
(2) the United States will work to deny Syria the ability to
support acts of international terrorism and efforts to develop or
acquire weapons of mass destruction;
(3) the Secretary of State will continue to list Syria as a
state sponsor of terrorism until Syria ends its support for
terrorism, including its support of Hizballah and other terrorist
groups in Lebanon and its hosting of terrorist groups in Damascus,
and comes into full compliance with United States law relating to
terrorism and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373
(September 28, 2001);
(4) the full restoration of Lebanon's sovereignty, political
independence, and territorial integrity is in the national security
interest of the United States;
(5) Syria is in violation of United Nations Security Council
Resolution 520 (September 17, 1982) through its continued
occupation of Lebanese territory and its encroachment upon
Lebanon's political independence;
(6) Syria's obligation to withdraw from Lebanon is not
conditioned upon progress in the Israeli-Syrian or Israeli-Lebanese
peace process but derives from Syria's obligation under Security
Council Resolution 520;
(7) Syria's acquisition of weapons of mass destruction and
ballistic missile programs threaten the security of the Middle East
and the national security interests of the United States;
(8) Syria will be held accountable for any harm to Coalition
armed forces or to any United States citizen in Iraq if the
government of Syria is found to be responsible due to its
facilitation of terrorist activities and its shipments of military
supplies to Iraq; and
(9) the United States will not provide any assistance to Syria
and will oppose multilateral assistance for Syria until Syria ends
all support for terrorism, withdraws its armed forces from Lebanon,
and halts the development and deployment of weapons of mass
destruction and medium- and long-range surface-to-surface ballistic
missiles.
SEC. 5. PENALTIES AND AUTHORIZATION.
(a) Penalties.--Until the President makes the determination that
Syria meets all the requirements described in paragraphs (1) through
(4) of subsection (d) and certifies such determination to Congress in
accordance with such subsection--
(1) the President shall prohibit the export to Syria of any
item, including the issuance of a license for the export of any
item, on the United States Munitions List or Commerce Control List
of dual-use items in the Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR
part 730 et seq.); and
(2) the President shall impose two or more of the following
sanctions:
(A) Prohibit the export of products of the United States
(other than food and medicine) to Syria.
(B) Prohibit United States businesses from investing or
operating in Syria.
(C) Restrict Syrian diplomats in Washington, D.C., and at
the United Nations in New York City, to travel only within a
25-mile radius of Washington, D.C., or the United Nations
headquarters building, respectively.
(D) Prohibit aircraft of any air carrier owned or
controlled by Syria to take off from, land in, or overfly the
United States.
(E) Reduce United States diplomatic contacts with Syria
(other than those contacts required to protect United States
interests or carry out the purposes of this Act).
(F) Block transactions in any property in which the
Government of Syria has any interest, by any person, or with
respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States.
(b) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of subsection
(a)(1), (a)(2), or both if the President determines that it is in the
national security interest of the United States to do so and submits to
the appropriate congressional committees a report containing the
reasons for the determination.
(c) Authority To Provide Assistance To Syria.--If the President--
(1) makes the determination that Syria meets the requirements
described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (d) and
certifies such determination to Congress in accordance with such
subsection;
(2) determines that substantial progress has been made both in
negotiations aimed at achieving a peace agreement between Israel
and Syria and in negotiations aimed at achieving a peace agreement
between Israel and Lebanon; and
(3) determines that the Government of Syria is strictly
respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and
political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive
authority of the Government of Lebanon through the Lebanese army
throughout Lebanon, as required under paragraph (4) of United
Nations Security Council Resolution 520 (1982),
then the President is authorized to provide assistance to Syria under
chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to
development assistance).
(d) Certification.--A certification under this subsection is a
certification transmitted to the appropriate congressional committees
of a determination made by the President that--
(1) the Government of Syria has ceased providing support for
international terrorist groups and does not allow terrorist groups,
such as Hamas, Hizballah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine--General Command to maintain facilities
in territory under Syrian control;
(2) the Government of Syria ended its occupation of Lebanon
described in section 2(7) of this Act;
(3) the Government of Syria has ceased the development and
deployment of medium- and long-range surface-to-surface ballistic
missiles, is not pursuing or engaged in the research, development,
acquisition, production, transfer, or deployment of biological,
chemical, or nuclear weapons, has provided credible assurances that
such behavior will not be undertaken in the future, and has agreed
to allow United Nations and other international observers to verify
such actions and assurances; and
(4) the Government of Syria has ceased all support for, and
facilitation of, all terrorist activities inside of Iraq, including
preventing the use of territory under its control by any means
whatsoever to support those engaged in terrorist activities inside
of Iraq.
SEC. 6. REPORT.
(a) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and every 12 months thereafter until the
conditions described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 5(d) are
satisfied, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report on--
(1) Syria's progress toward meeting the conditions described in
paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 5(d);
(2) connections, if any, between individual terrorists and
terrorist groups which maintain offices, training camps, or other
facilities on Syrian territory, or operate in areas of Lebanon
occupied by the Syrian armed forces, and terrorist attacks on the
United States or its citizens, installations, or allies; and
(3) how the United States is increasing its efforts against
Hizballah and other terrorist organizations supported by Syria.
(b) Form.--The report submitted under subsection (a) shall be in
unclassified form but may include a classified annex.
SEC. 7. DEFINITION OF APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.
In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means the Committee on International Relations of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.