Washington, Dec. 17 (SANA)— US lawmakers Joe Wilson and Jeanne Shaheen urged the Senate to vote in favor of repealing the Caesar Act during its session scheduled Wednesday, arguing that lifting the sanctions imposed under the law would represent “a glimmer of hope for a better future for Syria” and pave the way for a new course of rebuilding.
In a letter published by Foreign Policy magazine ahead of the vote on the US Department of Defense budget for fiscal year 2026—which includes a provision to repeal the law—the two lawmakers said the Syrian people achieved what once seemed impossible a year ago. After 14 years of war and five decades of dictatorship, they wrote, Syrians toppled the Bashar al-Assad regime and entered a new phase.
They said the legacy of the deposed regime was catastrophic, leaving more than half a million dead, 13 million displaced, a prison system built on torture and enforced disappearances, and a collapsed economy that has pushed more than 90 percent of the population into poverty.
‘Syrians are waiting for a historic moment’
The lawmakers said: “During our visit to Damascus last August, we witnessed the scale of destruction left by the war, but we also saw genuine hope during our meeting with President Ahmad al-Sharaa, his government, and leaders from across sects. Syrians view this moment as a historic opportunity that comes only once in a generation to rebuild their country and shape a better future for their region.”
They warned that this opportunity is now threatened by US sanctions that were originally imposed to pressure the regime to end its repression, but which today, they said, weigh heavily on a people seeking recovery. They cautioned that maintaining the sanctions could squander hard-won progress.
Wilson and Shaheen said lifting sanctions would not benefit Syrians alone, but would also serve US interests, arguing that Syria—after decades of alignment with Washington’s adversaries and its transformation into a hub of instability and terrorism—could become a constructive member of the international community.
They noted that rebuilding what the war destroyed will not be easy, warning that terrorist groups such as ISIS and “malign external actors like Iran” would seek to exploit any vacuum to reassert control.
The lawmakers recalled that US Central Command announced a week earlier the killing of three Americans by ISIS in Syria, underscoring the group’s continued threat and the need for Syrian security forces to be prepared to combat terrorism and prevent foreign interference.
Lifting sanctions to meet challenges
They said Syrians face immense challenges, including devastated infrastructure, food insecurity, shortages of medical care, risks from landmines and unexploded ordnance, and an economy isolated from the world by sanctions. Syria, they argued, needs a genuine promise of a better future—prompting them, as a Republican and a Democrat, to advocate repeal of the Caesar Act.
They wrote that lifting sanctions would enable Syrians to build capacity to confront major challenges, including eliminating chemical weapons, combating the drug trade, defeating ISIS, and ensuring equal protection for all citizens. “Without these capabilities,” they said, “we are simply asking them to do the impossible.”
The letter concluded: “Today we have a historic opportunity to repeal the Caesar Act and transform one of the world’s most sensitive and volatile regions into a more stable area aligned with our values and interests. Syria holds promising prospects, and realizing them requires all of us to work together—for the good of Syria and our own good—after all its people have endured.”
