The US House of Representatives has passed a bill which prevents the White House from normalising ties with the Syrian regime under President Bashar Al-Assad, in the latest progress toward greater extension of the Caesar Act.
On Wednesday last week, the House of Representatives passed the Assad Anti-Normalisation Act, with 389 votes in favour and 32 votes against. The Act, introduced in May 2023, both prevents the US from re-establishing diplomatic ties with the Assad regime and extends the 2019 Caesar sanctions until 2032.
The bill is now set to move to the US Senate for a further vote, which means it will now move to the Senate for another vote. If passed by the Senate, it will then be required to be signed by President Joe Biden in order for its adoption into legislation.
Upon the House’s passing of the bill last week, Mouaz Moustafa, Executive Director of the organisation, Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), stated that “we are proud to see legislation that holds the Assad regime and those normalising with war criminals accountable”.
As a bipartisan bill, it was spearheaded by Republican Chairman of the Middle East foreign affairs subcommittee, Joe Wilson, and co-sponsored by 52 congressmen from across the US’s political spectrum.
Brendan Boyle, one of the Democratic sponsors of the bill and a member of the House Syria Caucus, stressed that “there should never be any reason to justify normalising relations with a government that is responsible for the murder of over 600,000 men, women, and children”. He added that, with the passing of the bill so far, “the United States sent a clear and resounding message to Assad and his backers.”
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