Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) on Wednesday filed text to permanently repeal legislation that imposed strict sanctions on Syria, following President Trump’s move to unwind penalties on the country following the ousting of longtime dictator Bashar Assad.
Wilson moved to repeal the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, filing an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act — must-pass legislation that is usually voted on by the end of the year.
“I am trying to use every mechanism possible to repeal this law as soon as possible,” Wilson said in a statement to The Hill.
“As the Caesar law was passed and extended through the National Defense Authorization Act, I am hopeful that the repeal could also move through the same vehicle. Unless we repeal the law, investors will not take the risks required for long term investment in Syria which will be necessary to Make Syria Great Again.”
While Trump announced in May that he was lifting all sanctions on Syria, he is only able to issue a 180-day waiver to the Caesar Act permitting international transactions with Syria’s central bank and government ministries. Repealing the legislation in total would allow investors to make longer-term commitments without the threat of sanctions going back into effect.
The Caesar Act’s 2019 passage was celebrated as landmark legislation imposing the toughest sanctions regime against Assad for gross human rights violations carried out under his rule and throughout the country’s civil war, which began in 2011.
The bill was named for a Syrian whistleblower, Farid Nada al-Madhan, who was code-named Caesar and exposed the Assad regime’s torture and killing of detainees. Al-Madhan was a photographer who worked with the Syrian military and smuggled out photographic evidence of war crimes.
Congress renewed the Caesar Act in December for five years, shortly before Assad was ousted in a shocking offensive by interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his group, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Caesar Act supporters had advocated for the 2019 law’s renewal in the face of the former Biden administration’s quiet negotiations allowing countries to normalize relations with Assad and ease sanctions. But with HTS’s lightning takeover of the country, advocates supporting Caesar’s renewal are now pushing Congress to repeal the law and lift sanctions on the country.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio removed the terrorist designation on HTS. The State Department is also expected to review Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism for repeal.
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