Ranking Member Shaheen, Representative Wilson Pen Foreign Policy Op-Ed, “One Year on, U.S. Sanctions are Killing Syria’s Recovery,” Ahead of Senate Vote on Annual Defense Bill

Their piece, "One Year on, U.S. Sanctions are Killing Syria's Recovery," argues that while U.S. sanctions were designed to punish the Assad regime for its atrocities, they are now impeding Syria's recovery after the regime's collapse and undermining a rare opportunity to stabilize the country and the region. Shaheen and Wilson warn that short-term sanctions waivers are insufficient to unlock the scale of investment and reconstruction that Syria urgently needs, and that Congress must act to fully repeal the Caesar Act to prevent renewed instability and the reentry of malign actors like Iran and Russia. They note that the United States retains a broad range of tools to press for human rights, democratic governance and inclusive political institutions, and emphasize that sustained U.S. leadership and private-sector engagement are essential to rebuilding Syria's middle class, strengthening civil society and ensuring the country does not relapse into dictatorship or fall into long-term dependence on China or other adversaries.

"This August, we traveled to Damascus and saw the civil war's devastation up close," wrote the lawmakers. "But while meeting with President Ahmed al-Sharaa, his cabinet, and leaders from Syria's many religious and ethnic communities, we also saw something remarkable: Syrians treating this moment as a once-in-a-generation chance to rebuild their country and reshape their region for the better."

"When conditions on the ground change, our policy needs to do the same," concluded the lawmakers. "We now have a generational window to repeal the Caesar Act and make one of the most consequential and combustible regions in the world more stable and more aligned with our values and interests. Syria has tremendous promise, and it will take all of us working together to realize that promise-for Syria's good and for ours. After all of their suffering, the Syrian people deserve nothing less."

CLICK HERE to read Shaheen and Wilson's op-ed in Foreign Policy. The text of their op-ed has also been provided below.

One Year on, U.S. Sanctions Are Killing Syria's Recovery

Short-term waivers are a start, but Congress must act on the full repeal Syria needs to rebuild.

One year ago this month, the Syrian people achieved the impossible: After nearly 14 years of brutal conflict and five decades of dictatorship, they drove out the regime of Bashar al-Assad and stepped into a new era. Assad's legacy is staggering: over 500,000 killed, 13 million displaced, a prison system built on torture and disappearance, and an economy so broken that more than 90 percent of the country had fallen into poverty.

This August, we traveled to Damascus and saw the civil war's devastation up close. But while meeting with President Ahmed al-Sharaa, his cabinet, and leaders from Syria's many religious and ethnic communities, we also saw something remarkable: Syrians treating this moment as a once-in-a-generation chance to rebuild their country and reshape their region for the better.

Now, that chance is threatened by U.S. sanctions that were meant to push Assad to stop brutalizing his own people. These sanctions now punish a country made up of Assad's former victims-who are all trying to recover. If we do not change course, Syria's suffering and its people's hard-won progress could be squandered.

What happens next matters deeply not just to the Syrian people, but to America. After decades of allying with our adversaries and serving as a breeding ground for instability and terrorism, Syria has the potential to become a prosperous member of the international community. This would benefit U.S. trade ties, national security interests, and regional partners like Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq.

But stitching together a country riven by civil war and largely in ruins will not be easy or cheap. Terror groups like the Islamic State and malign actors like Iran and Russia will not wait for a chance to reinsert themselves. Just this past weekend, U.S. Central Command announced that the Islamic State killed three American personnel in Syria, demonstrating that it remains a deadly threat. This is why Syria's security forces must be prepared to fight terrorism and deny malign actors the ability to launch operations in the country.

Syrians face crumbling infrastructure, food insecurity, lack of reliable medical care, extreme dangers from land mines and unexploded bombs, and an economy struggling to connect to the world due to lingering sanctions. The United Nations estimates Syria will require over $200 billion for reconstruction over many years before it can begin to resemble its prewar state.

Syria needs a real promise of a better future in order to chart a new course. That's why both of us-a Democrat and a Republican-championed the repeal of the Caesar Act, which imposed punishing sanctions on the Assad regime. We may have policy disagreements on other issues, but on this we are united-and are appreciative of the Trump administration's parallel work.

The all-encompassing sanctions regime imposed on Assad is now keeping Syria out in the cold. It stymies attempts to stabilize, recover, and begin to build representative institutions. The Trump administration has worked to reverse some sanctions, including by providing temporary six-month waivers of the Caesar Act. However, no private investors or any of our regional partners can justify serious investment without longer-term assurances than six-month waivers can provide. That is why Congress must repeal the Caesar Act now.

Repealing debilitating sanctions will allow Syrians to meet the many demands we place on them by building the capacity to find and destroy chemical weapons, halt the illegal drug trade, destroy the Islamic State, and develop the means to protect all Syrian citizens equally. The U.S. special envoy for Syria, Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack, has already shown how sustained diplomatic engagement can yield tremendous results. Without additional capacity, we are simply asking them to do the impossible. We have many tools to ensure Syria continues to move in positive directions in areas like human rights, democracy, transitional justice, and critical dialogue and integration among all Syrian communities-tools we use every day in dealing with non-sanctioned states around the world. These could include capacity-building for internal security and civilian police, reintegration assistance for returning refugees, and support for Syria's nascent civil society organizations.

In the second year of the new Syria, it will be critical to make sure a new oligarchy does not emerge and a new sectarian dictatorship does not replace the old one. The United States is uniquely suited to use political and economic leverage to keep the new Syria aligned with our values and our vision. Syria will need to resist the temptation to turn to alternative partners like China and Russia for quick but unreliable fixes. We must also work hand in hand with our regional partners, who will be essential to raising needed capital. America and our companies must be the long-term commercial, diplomatic, and security partners of choice.

When conditions on the ground change, our policy needs to do the same. We now have a generational window to repeal the Caesar Act and make one of the most consequential and combustible regions in the world more stable and more aligned with our values and interests. Syria has tremendous promise, and it will take all of us working together to realize that promise-for Syria's good and for ours. After all of their suffering, the Syrian people deserve nothing less.

###

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Tweet