Huffman Statement on President Obama’s Syria Speech

September 11, 2013

WASHINGTON­—Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) today released the following statement after President Barack Obama’s speech on Syria:

 “The President did the right thing by postponing the vote in Congress and acknowledging that we have a new diplomatic channel that deserves pursuing. Getting Assad’s chemical weapons stockpiles into international custody and destroying them is a far better solution than military action, which should always be a last resort. I support the administration’s efforts through the United Nations to eliminate these chemical weapons stockpiles. I will also continue to work in Congress to hold perpetrators of war crimes in Syria accountable. Toward that end, I am co-sponsoring legislation introduced today by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) directing the President to seek a special war crimes tribunal through the United Nations, as we saw in the wake of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, to show that chemical weapons and other crimes against humanity will not be tolerated by the international community.”

Yesterday, Rep. Huffman joined Rep. Chris Smith (R-New Jersey) in introducing the bipartisan House Continuing Resolution 51, which calls for the establishment of a war crimes tribunal to investigate and prosecute “war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, whether committed by officials of the Government of Syria, or members or other groups involved in civil war in Syria.” The resolution urges the President to “use our voice and vote” at the U.N. to create the Syrian War Crimes Tribunal and ensure that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is held accountable

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