The White House is exerting significant pressure on Congress to lift all remaining sanctions on Syria, particularly the “Caesar Act” ,Al-Monitor citing senior officials.
Vigorous efforts exerted by the U.S. administration and some organizations to repeal sanctions imposed on Syria, “officials across the White House and the State and Treasury Departments have been “very clear to Congress that the official position of the administration is full, clean repeal of Caesar”. A senior congressional aide said ,speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another congressional source said Barrack had placed calls to senior Republican lawmakers in recent weeks urging them to support the law’s repeal.
According to “al-Monitor” the push to fully repeal the sanctions has united an unexpected mix of lawmakers from both parties, with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) among those spearheading the effort to rescind Caesar. Some of the Syrian American advocacy groups that originally campaigned for the Caesar law’s passage are also now leading the charge for its removal.
“Everyone from Caesar himself to the families of those victims in the Caesar photos are calling for the Caesar Act to go,” said Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a Washington-based nonprofit.
With the Senate’s passage of the NDAA earlier this month, negotiations with the House can begin on a compromise version of the military-funding bill. On Thursday, House leadership began gauging support among members for the Caesar Act repeal, with a decision on its inclusion in the House NDAA expected shortly, possibly as soon as next week. Once both chambers approve the final bill, Congress will send it to Trump for his signing by the end of the year.
On May 13 ,US President, Donald Trump, announced on the lifting of sanctions on Syria, noting “it is time to give Syria a chance, based on the news I am hearing. I wish them good luck, and I hope the outcome will be good and excellent”, he said in a speech in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Earlier this week ,The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has called for the full and permanent repeal of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, arguing that the law is no longer serving its intended purpose following the fall of the Assad regime and the rise of a new Syrian government
