The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday advanced a bipartisan bill to repeal two decades-old U.S. sanctions on Syria, the latest step in a thaw between Washington and the post-Assad government in Damascus.
The measure, S. 3172, would repeal the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 and the Syria Human Rights Accountability Act of 2012, both imposed during the rule of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. Authorities to sanction human rights abusers and other “bad actors” would be preserved under the measure.
The 2003 law, signed by President George W. Bush, was designed to punish Assad’s regime for its support of terrorism, its military presence in Lebanon, and its weapons programs. The 2012 law, signed by President Barack Obama, was enacted in response to Assad’s crackdown on protesters, a crackdown that helped plunge Syria into more than a decade of civil war.
The committee approved the bill in a unanimous vote, according to the Syrian American Council. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., sponsored the legislation, with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, co-sponsoring it. The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
The advancement comes 18 months after jihadist-led rebels ousted Assad, who fled to Russia in December 2024, ending his family’s five-decade hold on power. Since then, the United States and Syria’s new government have experienced a rapprochement. President Donald Trump has twice met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, including at the White House, and has moved to lift or waive some sanctions imposed on the country, including the Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act earlier this year.
“The SAC and the Syrian-American community wish to extend our deep thanks to all members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for approving this very important legislation,” Zaki Labadidi, board member and director of the SAC Syria Office, said in a statement emailed to United Press International. “This bipartisan effort to move this measure forward shows once again that just as with the repeal of the Caesar Act, Congress is demonstrating its commitment to making the U.S. a friend and ally of the Syrian people.”
The bill’s bipartisan sponsorship and unanimous committee vote signal broad congressional support for the policy shift. If passed by the full Congress, the remaining congressionally imposed sanctions on Syria would be lifted, though executive-branch authorities to target human rights abusers would remain intact.