FDD Praises Senators Casey and Rubio for New Syria Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, DC — The Foundation for Defense of Democracies congratulates Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) for sponsoring a bipartisan bill which would authorize the Obama administration to sanction any entity conducting significant transactions through the Syrian Central Bank and with persons designated by the Department of Treasury.

The bill also provides non-lethal military assistance to vetted Syrian opposition groups and increased humanitarian aid to those affected by the crisis.

If passed, the Syria Democratic Transition Act of 2013 will require the U.S. to support the establishment of a new government in Damascus that is committed to pluralism, democracy, and peace. It will also mean strengthening those within the Syrian opposition who are pursuing this goal. 

“Economic warfare against the Assad regime, its overseas assets, and those foreign persons who provide the regime a financial lifeline are a crucial part of an overall strategy to overthrow the regime and support Syria's moderate opposition forces ,” said Mark Dubowitz, FDD Executive Director who leads the Foundation’s projects on sanctions and nonproliferation.

“The Casey-Rubio legislation provides a powerful sanctions tool successfully used against foreign financial institutions, which have supported the Iranian regime. If enforced, it would cut off Assad's financial enablers, and those which support all extremist forces in Syria, from the U.S. financial system,” Dubowitz remarked.

“Congressional pressure has been a key tool in the success of the Obama administration's financial campaign against the Iranian regime; it can also be effective in strengthening the sanctions measures used against those responsible for the bloodshed in Syria.”

For more information or to speak with FDD experts, please contact Madeleine Levey Lambert at [email protected] or 202-403-2941.

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The Foundation for Defense of Democracies is a Washington-based non-profit, non-partisan policy institute dedicated to promoting pluralism, defending democratic values, and fighting the ideologies that drive terrorism.