and analyzing information on the attack from all available
sources; and
WHEREAS, On April 5, 2017, the United Nations Security
Council called an emergency meeting to discuss the chemical
weapons attack in Idlib province; and
WHEREAS, The reported use of chemical weapons in Idlib
province, if confirmed, would constitute the largest single
attack in Syria since 2013, the United Nations High
Representative for Disarmament Affairs told the United Nations
Security Council on April 5; and
WHEREAS, Syria has a history of using chemical weapons on its
citizens. An investigation by the United Nations and the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons found that
Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas
attacks in 2014 and 2015; and
WHEREAS, On April 6, 2017, two destroyers, the U.S.S.Porter
and the U.S.S. Ross, fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at the airfield
in Syria from which the Assad regime is believed to have
conducted the April 4 chemical weapons attack; and
WHEREAS, On April 6, 2017, subsequent to the targeted air
strikes the President of the United States delivered a statement
to the American people in which the President decried the
barbaric nature of the attacks on Syrian civilians, including
children; and
WHEREAS, The military action, the President said, is in the
"vital national security interest of the United States to
prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical
weapons"; and
WHEREAS, The President added: "There can be no dispute that
Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations
20170HR0287PN1557 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30