Eliot Engel: “Let me, first of all, say that I am pleased to support all of the measures before us today, and I thank our members for…”

I particularly want to thank Chairman Engel for his leadership, as well as the whole committee, for making the Caesar Act a reality.

The citizens of the Western Balkans want a better future for their children, stronger and transparent democracy, accountable governments, and greater economic prosperity and security.

I introduced the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act several years ago as a response to what we saw in this room.

This legislation, passed into law last December, mandates the most sweeping sanctions on Assad's enablers.