Ted Poe: “For more than 7 years, the butcher of Syria has been slaughtering his own people. This relentless mass murderer has left…”

“For more than 7 years, the butcher of Syria has been slaughtering his own people. This relentless mass murderer has left half a million dead and millions others displaced. He has bombed, gassed, gunned down, and executed the Syrian people. He is, obviously, the Satan of Syria. After the horrors of World War II, we were supposed to have rid the world of such evil, but, for years, we have shamefully watched it unfold. Mr. Speaker, it has always been crystal-clear who is responsible. The criminal butcher, the barbarian, Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian outlaws have turned the cradle of civilization into ashes. Russian and Syrian warplanes have laid waste to Syrian towns, hospitals, and aid convoys from the air. On the ground, thousands of Iranian-backed militiamen have waged a campaign of outright sectarian cleansing. These militias are the wicked arm of the IRGC and the Ayatollah of Iran. These militias are one of the most dangerous aspects of this chaotic war. They not only kill innocents today, but they kill any hope for a future Syria by sowing deep divisions along sectarian lines. The time is well past that they are all called to be accountable. That is why I introduced legislation more than a year ago calling on the State Department to designate some of these Iranian-supported militias as terrorists. I am pleased this resolution also calls for these groups to be designated as such.…”