Introduced in the House by Eliot Engel (D–NY) on April 12, 2003
Signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 12, 2003
The Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act (SALSRA,Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States)108–175 (text)(PDF)) is a bill of the United States Congress passed into law on December 12, 2003.
The bill's stated purpose is to end what the United States sees as Syrian support for terrorism, to end Syria's presence in Lebanon, which has been in effect since the end of the Lebanese Civil War in 1990, to stop Syria's alleged development of WMDs, to cease Syria's illegal importation of Iraqi oil and to end illegal shipments of military items to anti-US forces in Iraq.
The bill was sponsored by Representative Eliot L. Engel (D) from New York and was introduced April 12, 2003.
In response to the use of chemical weapons against civilians during the 2013 Ghouta chemical attack, president Barack Obama asked Congress to authorize the use of military force against Syria. An early draft of that authorization cites the Syria Accountability Act, saying:[1]
Whereas in the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, Congress found that Syria’s acquisition of weapons of mass destruction threatens the security of the Middle East and the national security interests of the United States.
