The chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee criticized the Obama administration for leading from behind as it expelled Syria’s envoy to the United States yesterday.
“The U.S. should have taken the lead in expelling Syrian regime officials,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.). “Although the moment to lead has passed, I am pleased that the Obama Administration finally did the right thing by following in our allies’ example and expelling the top official at the Syrian embassy.”
France, Germany and Britain led the international charge in expelling their Syrian envoys.
“The Administration still has an opportunity to go further by expelling additional Syrian regime personnel from our shores and expand our overall sanctions against Damascus, and I urge that these actions be taken immediately,” Ros-Lehtinen added.
Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) authored the bipartisan Syria Freedom Support Act, which strengthens sanctions against the Syrian regime, enhances multilateral commitment to address the Syrian regime’s threatening policies, and establishes a program to support a transition to a democratically-elected government in Syria.
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