On the recordJuly 13, 2011
I wish to raise concerns this morning that are international and domestic. I rise today to ask the question, when will Dr. Assad, the President of Syria, begin to act in a manner that respects the human dignity of the people of Syria. It is a tragedy to watch as the Arab Spring continues in many countries that I have visited and to see one country that one had hoped would realize that a civilized government respects the dignity of its people. Syrian Americans are crying out and reaching out to Members of Congress and leaders across the Nation to attack this horrific violence that is occurring in Syria: The mutilation of a 13-year-old boy; the slaughter of individuals in the street; and, seemingly, the absolute arrogance of the President of this Nation. Many of us have thought that Dr. Assad, the son of the former president, would recognize that the 21st century does not in any way tolerate the kind of abusive and oppressive leadership that has occurred in the past and that it is high time for the leadership to be vested in the people. Now, we know that there has been a constant tension and brutality as it relates to Israel and the border and Hezbollah, something that has to be addressed, and I have cried out over and over that the dominance of Hezbollah and Syria must cease as well for any entity that does not recognize the existence of any other State, no matter what the State, and in this instance--Israel, it is an absolute abomination.…
