Doris Matsui: “This act is one that has been overdue. I am very, very pleased that the President has not opposed this and has given us…”

“This act is one that has been overdue. I am very, very pleased that the President has not opposed this and has given us the liberty now to bring this before the floor. This is a piece of legislation that should have been passed 25 years ago when we had the original State Department list on state-sponsored terrorism. Syria has been on this list now for 25 years. For 25 years they have been on this list as a state-sponsored terrorist country. They have had Hezbollah. They have had Hamas. They have had a number of terrorist groups that have had offices in Syria. They have had training bases in Syria, and they also have weapons of mass destruction that could get in the hands of these terrorists. In addition, even recently Syria has allowed visas to be given to terrorist individuals who have gone into Iraq for the sole purpose of doing damage to the infrastructure in putting the lives of American men and women in jeopardy.”