Amid recent debate in the House, a Republican member of the legislative chamber from South Carolina had harsh words for a proposal pushed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) that would have terminated a presidential declaration of national emergency that has established the legal foundation for sanctions against individuals and interests connected to violence in Syria.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) accused Gaetz of standing to provide a “gift” to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and other authoritarian rulers if his proposal was approved and enacted. Putin has allied himself with the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, which the U.S. has in turn targeted repeatedly after chemical weapons attacks inflicted on Syrian civilians.
“Today, Assad is not only a war criminal, but also the head of a narco-state,” Wilson argued to his fellow members of Congress. “The Assad regime is a critical player in the growth of regional and global trade of the narcotic Captagon. Removing these sanctions would be a gift to Assad, Putin, and the Iranian regime, as the civilized world confronts the unprovoked attacks on democracies which have rule of law being attacked by the dictators with rule of gun. Terminating this national emergency would immediately terminate sanctions on hundreds of Assad cronies and financiers, developers of Syria’s chemical weapons, terrorist-supporting middlemen who threaten America and Israel, and drug traffickers involved in the Captagon trade.”
The House roundly rejected Gaetz’s proposal, with nearly four hundred members voting against it and only two dozen in favor. The failed effort was part of an extensive series of similar resolutions recently introduced by far-right members of the House that targeted various presidential declarations of emergency from years past, which have repeatedly been extended annually by subsequent presidential pronouncements. On this matter, Gaetz argued in Congress against the characterization of the situation in Syria as an emergency and for other legal mechanisms to be used if punitive economic measures were sought. He also contended with the effectiveness of the sanctions already deployed, though some may argue the situation may have further intensified without that action from the United States.
