Syria Accountability Act - Continued

SYRIA ACCOUNTABILITY ACT-CONTINUED

Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I, too, thank the Senator from Indiana for working very closely with Senator Boxer and me on this very important piece of legislation, which is a very timely piece of legislation.

The House passed this legislation a few months ago and sent it over here. We have been working diligently with both Senator Lugar and Senator Biden, and they have been most cooperative in working with the administration to craft a bill that I think meets some of the concerns the administration has, some of the concerns the committee has experienced in dealing with sanctions bills, and particularly the issue of the waiver authority of the President.

The House-passed bill did not allow the President to waive sanctions on military or dual-use items-"dual use" meaning they could be used for civilian or military purposes. I think the chairman of the committee rightly expressed concern about that, that the precedent generally is that the President have waiver authority in the case of vital national security interests or national security interests.

We negotiated as to what that standard should be. We obviously wanted the highest level of scrutiny before the President could waive that which would be vital national security interests. The lowest level would just be sort of a national interest test. And we compromised on a national security interest waiver. It is sort of a midlevel, if you will, waiver authority or waiver standard. We think that is appropriate here for all of the items, all of the potential sanctions that may be imposed by the President under this act.

So the President, under the revised bill we have before us, does impose sanctions, but it gives the President the flexibility to waive. But he has a threshold he must meet and make the case that that threshold is made in order to waive these sanctions. So we give the President the hammer that I think is necessary and that so many have talked about here.

Syria is a bad actor in the region. It is part of the "axis of evil," in my opinion. It is a country that sponsors terrorism, that supports terrorism, that encourages terrorism, not only against American interests, not only against Israel, but it is occupying, through setting up these terrorist organizations, as well as their own military force, what was a very moderate and progressive Arab country, Lebanon.

That is a heinous act, and I find it somewhat remarkable that the rest of the Arab world does not continue to condemn it and do what we do: try to ratchet up the pressure on Syria to get out of Lebanon, to allow the people in Lebanon to determine their own government and to freely elect people who could serve the best interests of the Lebanese people, not the dictator in Damascus.

So we have, really, a purpose beyond our national security interest, although I would argue that a free and prosperous Lebanon-and given the history of that country, and being a bridge between the Middle East and West-that would be a very stabilizing presence in the Middle East, to have a country with a democratically elected government, and not being the threat Lebanon now poses, not because of the people themselves but because of the terrorists who reside in southern Lebanon, because of the other heinous acts that are conducted by the terrorist groups based in Lebanon that they project throughout the world.

This is a very important issue for national security. It is a very important issue for the peace in the Middle East.

I am very gratified that the Senate could come to a conclusion on this bill and bring it to the floor of the Senate and have it pass on a day when we honor our veterans, as we should. We had people fight and lose their lives in Lebanon, and they did so bravely and courageously. But I have to say, it was not one of the proudest moments for me as an American to see our troops withdraw from Lebanon and not stay there to fight another day, with the oppression Syria was imposing upon that country.

This is a chance for us to begin the process of reengaging in Lebanon, reengaging the Syrians who have been nothing but trouble and fomenting trouble throughout the Middle East and being disruptive of the peace process in the Middle East.

I say to the Senator from Indiana, thank you for the time. Thank you for your willingness to bring this bill to the floor and to move this bill forward.

I will enter into a colloquy with Senator Boxer to discuss our desire and our hope that the President not immediately think about waiving these provisions; that he think carefully about any kind of waiver; that we try to impose some sanctions and send a message. Given the activities of the Syrians in the Middle East and the activities of Syria in Iraq, it is such an important and relevant discussion, that the President use these sanctions that are available to him for him to do so.

Mr. President, I wish to enter into a colloquy with my colleague, Senator BOXER of California, concerning the waiver authority extended to the President for the sanctions contained in the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003.

Mr. President, as the original cosponsor of the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, I want to clarify the bill's intent with the original sponsors, Senator BOXER. Is it the Senator's understanding that-given the seriousness of the charges against the Syrian regime and the fact that the highest levels of the U.S. Government have already made it clear that there will be consequences to the Syrians if there is no change in their behavior-the national security waiver contained in the bill is meant to address only those circumstances where United States national security interests are indeed severely threatened?