House Votes to Sanction Syria’s Assad Regime
President-Elect Donald Trump hasn’t even been sworn in yet, and items on his agenda are already coming to a vote in Congress.
Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to place sanctions on the Assad regime in Syria. The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2016 passed with an unrecorded voice vote.
Afterward, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan issued the following statement:
Republicans and Democrats recognize the need to isolate the Assad regime for its continued atrocities against the Syrian people. I’m glad the White House has stopped blocking these critical sanctions, which are a necessary response to Assad’s crimes against humanity. I want to thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for working together in a bipartisan fashion to bring this bill to the floor.
The House also passed a resolution to reauthorize the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 by a 419-1 margin. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was the lone “No” vote. The vote allows the sanctions to remain in place for another 10 years.
After the vote, Ryan stated:
The Iranian regime continues to finance terrorism, test-fire ballistic missiles, abuse its people, and as recently as last week, violate the nuclear agreement. Today’s bipartisan vote will help maintain our ability to immediately reinstate sanctions against Iran over the next decade. I appreciate Chairman Royce and his entire committee for their work on this important bill, and hope the president will agree to sign it.
Both measures must be voted on by the Senate before they go to President Obama’s desk for his consideration. If he does not sign them into law, Congress can attempt a veto override—so far, only one of his vetoes has been overridden.
