Mr. ACKERMAN. Thank you. I have no further questions, Mr. Chairman.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Ackerman follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE GARY L. ACKERMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Thank you Mr. Chairman for calling today's hearing on U.S.-Syrian relations. This is a topic which is well-deserving of a hearing and I commend you for gathering such a impressive group of witnesses, including the distinguished Majority Leader, Mr. Armey and our own colleague on the Subcommittee, our fellow New Yorker, Mr. Engel.

Mr. Chairman, if a man was wearing a black tuxedo, and in fact, everything he was wearing was black, except his white shirt, you and I would say without hesitation that the man was wearing black. However, at the State Department, I fear, on account of the white shirt, they'd say he's wearing gray. Perhaps, even dark gray. Joking aside, the image of the man in the all-black tuxedo is the perfect image for analyzing Syrian behavior: a uniform of black with a single, but central patch of white.

Syrian acts and policies contrary to U.S. national interests are numerous, serious and ongoing. First, and most obviously, Syria is a state-sponsor of terror.

Damascus is a willing-even a proud-sanctuary for terrorists from several different groups. In its most recent annual report on terrorism, the State Department acknowledged that Syria continued to provide safehaven and logistics support for Palestinian terrorist groups in Damascus, as well as providing Hizballah, HAMAS, PFLP-GC, the PIJ, and other terrorist organizations refuge and basing privileges in Lebanon's Beka'a Valley.

Syria is also behaving in a grossly irresponsible fashion in Lebanon, a country it has occupied since 1976 contrary to international law, the will of the Lebanonese people, and the Taif accords, which Syria pledged to honor. Notably, Syria has recently begun to supplement Iranian arms transfers to Hizballah with its own artillery rockets.

This Syrian collaboration with Hizballah is not only repugnant, since Hizballah is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization that is responsible for the deaths of dozens of Americans, but it is also extremely dangerous.

Hizballah is actively trying to stoke a larger Arab-Israeli conflict through incessant attacks on Israeli positions on Mt. Dov-territory that both our government and the U.N. have declared explicitly is not Lebanese. Šyria's response to this effort to incite a regional war has been to provide more and more deadly arms to Hizballah. This reckless and unacceptable policy should provoke a commensurate response from our government. To my knowledge, it has not.

Syria, as the responsible party for the security situation in Lebanon, must also account for allegations that recent violence in the Ein Hilwe refugee camp is the result of the infiltration of possibly hundreds of Al-Qaida elements into Lebanon in cooperation with Syria's favorite terrorist ally, Hizballah.

Syria is also reportedly flaunting U.N. resolutions on Iraq by engaging in illicit trade in Iraqi oil and supplying Iraq with military weapons and spare parts. At a time when our country is debating the necessity of sending our men and women in uniform to uproot Saddam Hussein and his regime by force of arms, Damascus is cooperating with Baghdad in ways that could cost American lives. Moreover, despite a pledge made by President Bashar al-Asad to Secretary of State Powell, that Syria would handle any oil shipments from Iraq in accordance with the U.N.-approved oilfor-food program for Iraq, there is no evidence yet that Syria has complied with this commitment.

And of course, as it has since for several decades, contrary to its explicit commitments given in numerous international agreements, Syria is continuing to acquire and develop weapons of mass destruction and the means for their delivery.

As Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John R. Bolton noted on May 6, Syria has a stockpile of the nerve agent sarin and is conducting research and development on the more toxic nerve agent VX; Syria has produced small amounts of biological warfare agents; and Syria is pursuing further development of its surface-to-surface missiles.

Put together, the support for terrorism, the occupation of Lebanon, the irresponsible support for Hizballah's war-mongering, the not-so-subtle alliance with Iraq and the pursuit of weapons of terror, make it is easy to understand why Syria is subject to so many sanctions under U.S. law.

What is not clear to me is why Syria has been able to get away with so much. Unfortunately, the pressure to hold Syria accountable has come uniformly and almost exclusively from Congress. The legislation introduced by Representatives Armey and Engel is just the latest demonstration of Congress' refusal to despair of changing Damascus' behavior.

This is not too big a nut to crack. Syria is a small, decrepit, little terror state that has been yanking our diplomatic chain for years. Without the patronage of the Soviet Union, Syria has continued to shrink from Third-World leader to Third-World backwater. The Syrian people live in a police state which seems to exist for the sole purpose of propping up a failed government. Syria's throw-back statist economy is broken, and utterly unattractive to foreign direct investment.

And yet we are told by administration after administration, year after year, that Congressional action would be "unhelpful," and that quiet diplomacy will win the improvements in Syrian conduct we desire. After 20 years in Congress I can say the "Trust me. We'll take care of it" routine doesn't impress me.

We read in the newspapers-the only source of information for the Congress about the Administration's high-level foreign policy debates-that Syria can't be pressured because they are providing critical cooperation in our war against Al-Qaida.

Indeed, it has been reported that information provided by Syria enabled us to prevent a major attack on our forces and saved U.S. lives. This act alone, it is said, kept Syria from being included in the Presidents' "axis of evil." If true, this fact is, as I previously suggested, the white shirt. But one white shirt doesn't create shades of gray; it only presents vivid contrast with clothing of uniform darkness. One act of truly useful cooperation only demonstrates the potential for the U.S.-Syrian relationship, what could be if the scores of other acts of violence, irresponsibility and terror were stopped immediately.

Mr. Chairman, too little has been done for too long about this very serious problem in the Middle East. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about how to begin to remedy this critical situation.

Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Issa?

Mr. ISSA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In way of explanation, objecting to an article became necessary, to be honest, because our witness distributed a "Dear Colleague" that attempted to say that this was fact. I took it on myself, as I'm sure many of us have, and hopefully, Mr. Engel has, to go to the State Department to find out whether or not there was any basis for this. Finding none, I have to say that our information from our State Department does trump an article being considered to be a fact.

That doesn't change the fact that many parts of the article are undoubtedly correct, and that I am extremely concerned that we are missing the point of how to move Syria's behavior by assuming that a sanction will do some good.

I oppose this sanctions act, not because Syria is a good actor; not because Syria is in compliance with the U.N. resolutions, but because Syria is, in fact, a nation we do have diplomatic relations with; and one in which our State Department-my President, my Secretary of State-have said they are getting movement in a direction they want to get.

The last time I checked, none of us has the status of Ambassador, nor the training as Ambassadors. So I oppose this sanction based on it tying the President's hands.

If I could, Mr. Engel, ask you have you had any briefings as to whether or not the portion about al-Qaeda being in some way directly linked to support by Syria is, in fact, true?

Mr. ENGEL. Well, let me first say, Mr. Issa, that the letter to which you are refer that I sent around-a "Dear Colleague" was done, not only by myself, but with Mr. Armey, the Majority Leader. It was joint letter that we both sent around, and while you may disagree with the bill and you may disagree with my statement,

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quite frankly I am shocked that you would object to unanimous consent to putting this article in the record.

Mr. ISSA. As I said, I am objecting to an article that has only been alleged to be true by reports being taken as fact. You have been a good colleague and a good friend. In this particular case we seem to disagree, not on the principle of whether Syria is occupying Lebanon; whether Syria is trading in oil with Iraq; whether Syria is a conduit for weapons coming from the Czech Republic, Belarus and from other former Soviet satellites who, also, are violating arms rules. I am not disagreeing with any of that.

What I am asking you is when this letter came out, it supports a specific small portion of it. I would say that most of this is very true. There is a big question if so much as one al-Qaeda operative is being harbored by Syria with any knowledge or support of the government leadership; then there is no question that we need to take immediate and assertive action at a higher level; perhaps, more than these sanctions.

But do you have knowledge from U.S. sources on this subject? Have you gone to the trouble of having a briefing, or, are we just reading an Israeli newspaper?

Mr. ENGEL. No, I think it's a little more than reading an Israeli newspaper. I think that given Syria's record of support for Hezbollah; of support for terrorism; of letting terrorist have training camps; of having funding for terrorists. It's not very difficult to make the jump to say that if Syria is supporting Hezbollah and turning a blind eye to its terrorist activities, they are doing the same with al-Qaeda.

Mr. ISSA. I will take that as a no, Mr. Engel.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Would the gentleman yield?

Mr. BERMAN. Would the gentleman yield?

Mr. ISSA. Just one I would ask, Mr. Chairman, that all of our opening statements be placed in the record without objection. Mr. GILMAN. Without objection.

Mr. ISSA. And I would yield.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Thank you.

Mr. ISSA. I will yield to the gentleman from New York first.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Thank you. I am rather concerned, not necessarily with the issue, but with the protocol, which is a broader thing. The gentleman from California who, indeed, is my friend and for whom I have the highest regard, maybe setting the bar a little bit too low.

If we are going to object to placing things in the record that we think may or may not be entirely true and censor them ourselves, for whatever reason, including that it appeared in an Israeli newspaper rather than some other constitutional document from some other country or our country, I think that the record would be very, very thin because we would be spending all of our time objecting to anything that anybody would ever disagree with in whole or in part.

Mr. ISSA. Reclaiming my time, now that we have had sufficient dialogue on the subject, I would ask unanimous consent that this article in its entirety into the record. I do not object.

Mr. GILMAN. Without objection.

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Mr. ISSA. The gentleman from California, if you don't mind, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. BERMAN. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and giving his position. I just want to put on the record that the author of this article, Ze'ev Schiff, is one of the most distinguished, well-respected and accurate military correspondents, certainly, in Israel, but I think, generally, among the universe of military correspondents, he is widely respected for the accuracy of his reporting and the tremendous breadth and depth of his contacts.

The article, of course, does not say that Syria is currently harboring-it is saying that Syria allowed these people to go through Damascus to the Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon, which is not directly under Syrian control. But this particular reporter is uniquely well-respected.

Mr. ISSA. Thank you. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Wexler?

Mr. WEXLER. Thank you Mr. Chairman, and if I understand it correctly, all of our opening statements have been put in the record.

Mr. GILMAN. Without objection.

Mr. WEXLER. I want to just simply congratulate and concur with Mr. Engel. I think he laid out a very important and impressive case for the need for this piece of legislation. I don't think there is any reason to publicly repeat what Mr. Engel has so eloquently laid out.

I would simply add one or two additional observations, if I could. And that is, why has the situation deteriorated to the point that it has in Syria? Unfortunately, the only conclusion that one can reach is that we all had great hopes for Bashar Assad, we had a hope that he was a new kind of leader in the region, given his background-what would appear to be an impressive education; what appeared to be his stress of improving economic conditions in Syria.

None of that, unfortunately, has turned out to be reality. And what has turned out to be reality, at least, until this date in Syria is we have what appears, through his actions, to be an immature and irresponsible man who is now being guided, not by anything other than the hard-line interest in Syria.

And as been stated by Mr. Engel and Mr. Armey, he, individually, presents what may be, in my view, the most dangerous obstacle in the Middle East; both with respect to Iraq; both with respect to Hezbollah and his absolute condemnation, by action, of any kind of peace process whatsoever.

He, in fact, Bashar Assad, is one of the principal obstacles to a meaningful peace process. And until we realize that fact, and until that fact is reflected in the way the United States deals with him, I am fearful that other avenues of possibilities will never be realized because there is a tremendous drain on those possibilities in the person of Bashar Assad.

Everything that the United States, from President Bush on down, has alleged with respect to Iraq at the Security Council in the United Nations is also true-and in many respects, even more true, in a greater dynamic with respect to Syria.

All of the things that the President and the United States is demanding of Yasir Arafat, and of his activities, can be compounded by many degrees with respect to Syria.

I support what we are alleging and asking for with respect to action against Iraq; and I support what we have alleged and the actions we are asking-demanding of Yasser Arafat-actually, of the Palestinians.

But what seems to be not in compliance with the overall American policy is that we are not doing the same thing with respect to Syria, even though, in many cases the case is clearer against Syria than it is against the other actors.

With, I think, one message to our friends in the moderate, Arab world-I would ask our friends in the moderate, Arab world, who many of us on this Committee-not all of us, but many of us may have a different view in terms of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but I would ask our friends in the moderate, Arab world with the indignation that they sometimes bring to the Israeli-Palestinian debate, to bring that same level of indignation-even greater-to the issue of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon.

There is no excuse why the Arab world is not revolting over the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Why are there not Arab conferences? Why are there not TV shows all over Al-Jazeera television describing what Syria is doing to Lebanon?

That has nothing to do with the United States. It's not caused by America. It's not caused by Western interest. It's not caused by Israel. There are no more even so-called excuses anymore. Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon. That's official. Even the United Nations has sanctioned it.

It's time, I would respectfully suggest to our friends in the Arab world to put a real spotlight on what is occurring, emanating from Syria and the injustices that are being, as a result, perpetuated in Lebanon.

It's time, as Mr. Engel very eloquently said, as did Mr. Armey, for the Lebanese for themselves to rule Lebanon. It's time for Syria to get out. It's time for Bashar Assad to clean up his act. It's time for him to approach the peace process with a more mature and practical attitude.

And until he does so, the President and our Administration and the United States should call it what it is. Syria is not a friend of the United States. It is nothing other than an obstacle to peace, and it is one of the primary supporters of terrorism in the world. And until we fix that, we will not even begin to get a handle on the problem of terrorism that effects us, the United States, and our closest allies in the region. Thank you very much.

Mr. GILMAN. The gentleman's time has expired, and I thank the gentleman. [Applause.]

I am asking our audience not to express their feelings during the testimony, and please no flash photos. They are not permitted during testimony.

Mr. Cooksey?

Mr. COOKSEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is good to have you in front of the Committee, Mr. Engel.