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Congress passed legislation Thursday to impose economic penalties
against Syria, reflecting broad agreement among lawmakers that Syria
has been a detriment to the fight against terrorism in the Middle East
and Iraq.

President Bush is expected to sign the bill even though he is not
enthusiastic about such restraints on his foreign policy. The measure
requires the president to act if Syria does not make significant steps
to reverse its tolerance and support of anti-American forces.

The House voted 408-8 in favor of a Senate-amended version of the
legislation that, at the urging of the White House, gives the
president greater leeway to waive the punishment on the basis of
national security.

"The Syrian regime has the blood of Americans on their hands," said
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla. Administration officials agree, she
said, that "Syria is on the wrong side of history and now it is time
for it to suffer the consequences."


Syria long has been on the State Department's list of state sponsors
of terrorism, along with North Korea, Sudan, Cuba, Iran and Libya. But
Syria is the only country on that list to have full diplomatic
relations with the United States.

Awarding normal relations to Syria never made any sense, said Rep.
Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., a lead sponsor of the bill. Congress is saying to
Syria in the legislation that "the time is up ... we are not coddling
you any more," Engel said.

U.S. officials acknowledge that Syria, at Washington's prodding, has
taken steps to prevent anti-American terrorists and weapons from
crossing its border with Iraq. But lawmakers said the Damascus
government has fallen short in numerous other areas.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage agreed, saying that when
Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Damascus in May "he made it
very clear to President Assad and his colleagues that they had come to
a fork in the road. ... They didn't choose to take the right one."

The legislation notes that Syria has provided a safe haven for
anti-Israel terrorist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad and is
accused of pursuing the development and production of biological and
chemical weapons.

It states that Syria must end its support of terrorists, terminate its
27-year military presence in Lebanon, stop efforts to obtain or
produce weapons of mass destruction and long-range ballistic missiles
and interdict terrorists and weapons from entering Iraq.

If Syria fails to meet those conditions, the president must ban sales
of dual-use items, which can have both civilian and military
applications.

He also must impose at least two out of a list of six possible
penalties: a ban on exports to Syria, prohibition of U.S. businesses'
operating in Syria, restrictions on Syrian diplomats in the United
States, limits on Syrian airline flights in the United States,
reduction of diplomatic contacts or a freeze on Syrian assets in the
United States.

The original House bill gave the president waiver power for the two
sanctions. The Senate, in approving the bill last week by an 89-4
margin, added an amendment that extended the national security waiver
to include dual-use sales.

The Bush White House and its predecessors have made liberal use of
waivers in the past to avoid disrupting diplomatic links with other
nations, and sanctions on Syria would likely have greater political
than economic effect. Bilateral trade with Syria amounts to only about
$300 million a year.

There was no immediate comment from the Syrian Embassy in Washington,
although Syrian officials have warned that it would damage America's
overall standing in the Middle East.

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On the Net:

Information on the bill, H.R. 1828, can be found at
http://thomas.loc.gov/