Name: U.S. House votes to lift Caesar Act sanctions on Syria
Uploaded: 2025-12-11T08:25:30.123Z
Duration: 2 min 1 s
Description: The U.S. House has approved a bill to end all Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, sparking cautious optimism in Damascus as the measure moves closer to becoming law.

The U.S. House has approved a bill to end all Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, sparking cautious optimism in Damascus as the measure moves closer to becoming law.

Washington

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to lift most sanctions on Syria that were imposed under the Caesar Act in 2019, targeting the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad for human rights abuses. The proposal, included in the Defense Policy Bill, retains sanctions on Assad and his associates but removes broader restrictions.

The bill must now be approved by the Senate to take full effect. The move has been welcomed in Syria, where many see it as crucial for economic recovery, and follows efforts by new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to secure the lifting of sanctions during recent visits to Washington, DC.

U.S. House votes to lift Caesar Act sanctions on Syria

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill to lift all sanctions imposed on Syria six years ago. The proposal was included in the Defense Policy Bill. The Caesar Act was passed in 2019 to punish former President Bashar al-Assad regime for human rights abuses. The defense bill will now go to the Senate, where it's expected to pass. Current President Ahmadinejad has been pushing the Trump administration to lift sanctions. We're giving Syria a chance to chart a post-Assad future. We do that while also holding the new government accountable for its actions and giving the White House the flexibility that the White House needs to reimpose sanctions if the president views it necessary to do so. The announcement has been met with scenes of joy in the Syrian city of Latakia. Crowds gathered to celebrate the vote. Many view the lifting of sanctions as key to Syria's economic recovery. Mike Hanna has the latest from Washington, D.C. When the Syrian president, the new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, came here to D.C. a few weeks ago, his prime intention was to get the sanctions against Syria lifted. Now, early in the year, President Trump had lifted these sanctions, but it did require an act of Congress to actually make it real to remove what is called the Caesar Act. This has now been done by the House. It has removed all the sanctions on Syria, saving those that were directly applied to Bashar al-Assad and others who served under him. It now has to go to the Senate. The entire bill must be passed by the Senate in order for the sanctions on Syria to be fully lifted, something that President al-Sharaa has been asking the U.S. to do in recent months.

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