Enab Baladi – Hani Karazi

Days after one member of the Syrian lobby in the United States spoke of the collapse of negotiations over the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act, another faction within the lobby affirmed that the work on the act is ongoing and that it has not collapsed. This raises questions about the fate of this legislation that is hoped to curb the normalization paths with the Syrian regime, which have accelerated in recent months.

Former member of the American Coalition for Syria, Mohammed Ghanem, stated on July 29 that negotiations with Democratic Senator Ben Cardin regarding the passage of the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization bill had completely collapsed due to Senator Cardin’s office’s insistence on making very extensive amendments that would undermine its primary objectives.

Days after talks of the negotiation collapse over the anti-normalization act, Farouk Belal, head of the Syrian-American Council, confirmed the continued work on the anti-normalization with the Syrian regime legislation during his meeting with social entities at the Free Aleppo University on August 6.

A pressuring Syrian lobby

In the United States, there is a Syrian lobby that includes civil organizations, businessmen, opinion leaders, and Syrian politicians with American citizenship, who continuously present issues related to Syria in Congress.

The Syrian lobby in the United States contributed to proposing several projects, including the Caesar Act and the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization bill, which the American Coalition for Syria worked on. This coalition brought several American organizations specialized in Syrian issues under its umbrella and conducted 327 meetings and visits over months, leading to the bill’s approval in Congress.

The bill was presented to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and passed overwhelmingly. However, Senator Ben Cardin, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, blocked the bill in late April, preventing it from reaching President Joe Biden’s office.

Global Justice organization, in partnership with Syrian Emergency Task Force and other Syrian organizations in the United States, sought to support the anti-normalization law and lobbied in Congress to pass this law, which faced many challenges.

In this context, the president of Global Justice, Dr. Haitham al-Bazm, said this is not the first time a bill beneficial to the Syrian cause has been obstructed within Congress. Syrian-American organizations had faced such situations with the Caesar Act and others, working on them for years until they succeeded in passing them eventually.

Al-Bazm told Enab Baladi that “Most American laws face such hurdles, and it’s rare for a bill to pass smoothly, even if related to political, security, or economic issues. Hence, we will spare no effort to pass the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act soon.”

Why was the law obstructed?

After about three years of working on the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act, President Biden blocked the bill last April, with no known reasons behind the non-passage of the law, despite its overwhelming approval in the House (389 members out of 435).

Commenting on this, Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, told Enab Baladi that Democratic Senator Ben Cardin had two staffers who continuously listened to a group called “InterAction,” which is a collection of international humanitarian organizations operating in regime-controlled areas with Asma al-Assad, the wife of the Syrian president. They opposed any law condemning al-Assad, arguing that “passing such laws would affect the work of humanitarian organizations in Syria.”

Moustafa, one of the first to work on the Anti-Normalization law, added that continuous pressure from the InterAction group and Brett McGurk, White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, on Cardin’s staff was one of the factors that led the Democratic senator to obstruct the law.

Former member of the American Coalition for Syria, Mohammed Ghanem, stated that Senator Cardin’s office, prompted by the Biden administration, insisted on removing many sections designed to protect refugees’ properties from seizure and fight the theft of humanitarian aid, and on amending the clause prohibiting normalization with any government headed by al-Assad, among other things. These demands led to the collapse of the negotiations entirely.

Ghanem told Enab Baladi that the law has real effects and is not merely symbolic. If passed, it would change current US policy, but the Biden administration doesn’t want to change its policy towards al-Assad, hence it intervened and asked Senator Cardin to block the bill. He added, “If the law passes with the root changes requested, it will be meaningless.”

Director of programs and projects at Global Justice organization, Maysa Kabbani, told Enab Baladi that Senator Cardin’s stance was anticipated because the current US administration still follows Obama’s policies of appeasing Iran and keeping al-Assad in power. Therefore, passing the anti-normalization law with the Syrian regime would prevent al-Assad’s rehabilitation, which of course goes against Iran’s interests, so Cardin blocked it.

Optimism about passing the law

Following the obstruction of the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act and talks about the collapse of negotiations, questions about the future of the legislation are increasing, especially with the approaching US elections scheduled for next November and varying probabilities between the Republicans taking the presidency with Donald Trump or the Democrats continuing with Kamala Harris.

Dr. Bakr Ghbeis, president of Citizens for a Secure and Safe America, told Enab Baladi that any bill before its passage requires long negotiations and deliberation in the House, followed by the Senate. Therefore, Senator Cardin’s blocking of the law does not warrant concern as he had previously obstructed several laws, some related to Ukraine, due to routine negotiations between the parties.

Ghbeis noted that the bill not being included in the US Department of Defense’s budget list does not mean its collapse. It might be presented in the next year’s budget or included as an appendix in other legislation this year, adding, “We are still in continuous meetings with the Senate and campaign candidates, and our goal is to pass the law before the elections.”

Ghbeis emphasized that there is no disagreement on the principle of non-normalization with the regime, but the disagreement is over some details of this law relating to the sanctions to be imposed, their impacts, and how to handle the severe repercussions of those sanctions. He explained that Trump assuming the presidency would not affect the law’s passage, but it depends on who will lead the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next year after Cardin’s retirement.

Mouaz Moustafa said that “Despite all obstacles and impediments, the law is fine, and we are confident of its passage whether Trump or Harris assumes the presidency,” pointing out that the Caesar Act was worked on for five years and was eventually passed, while the Anti-Normalization Act has been worked on for three years, with continued efforts to pass it either before the elections or next year, noting that “Cardin’s retirement will increase the issue’s chances.”

From his side, Mohammed Ghanem said that “It’s the negotiations that collapsed, not the whole law, and the chance of adding the bill to the US Defense Budget has missed by 95%, so we announced the collapse of negotiations to be honest with the Syrian people,” explaining that Cardin does not seem to want to change his mind, “but we will try again with him until the end of the year.”

Ghanem pointed out that if the Republicans gain a majority in the Senate or Trump assumes the presidency, the law’s acceptance chances will increase. The Syrian community in America contacted Trump’s campaign twice, but it’s hard to predict what Trump would do with al-Assad. Therefore, “we will focus during the upcoming period on extending the Caesar Act, which expires at the end of the year, while continuing to work on the Anti-Normalization Act and communicating with those we see as real power sources in America.”

What is the Anti-Normalization bill?

The Assad Regime Anti-Normalization bill was initially proposed in the House on May 11, 2023, when the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously approved it two days after its introduction, in a manner described as “extraordinary by legislative norms.”

On February 14, the US House passed the bill, with 389 (an overwhelming majority) members from both the Democratic and Republican parties voting in favor of the legislation.

The bill stipulates that the United States will not recognize or normalize relations with any Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad’s leadership and will develop an annual strategy to counter normalization with the Syrian regime, targeting countries that have taken steps towards normalization with it.

The bill includes enhancing sanctions stipulated under the Caesar Act of 2019, expanding sanctions to include entities that divert humanitarian aid or seize property from Syrians for welfare gain or personal profit, and expanding sanctions to include the Syrian People’s Assembly and senior officials of the Baath Party.