The House Foreign Affairs Committee is having a hearing about Syria policy with special envoy Joel Rayburn. I'll be tweeting highlights from the hearing:

[THREAD]

Michael McCaul of Texas, ranking Republican on the committee, says that the Syrian defector Caesar's photos of prison torture are "reminiscent of the Holocaust"

McCaul says that U.S. sanctions are "crippling Assad's reign of terror"

"But there's more to be done"

U.S. should stand with its Kurdish-led allies in northeastern allies and the world should not normalize with Assad, he says.

"The world cannot accept a butcher like Assad"

U.S. envoy Joel Rayburn: "In every engagement we have with Syrian civil society, the term qanun Qayser, the Caesar Act, is mentioned. They know it's important."

Rayburn reaffirms three U.S. goals in Syria: "enduring defeat" of ISIS, withdrawal of Iranian forces, political solution to the conflict

"Each of our major goals in Syria is within reach" and "our leverage in Syria is increasing"

Assad "remains a pariah"

Rayburn says a U.S. "action plan" should include ceasefire under UN resolution, continued counterterrorism campaign, and push for the withdrawal of all foreign forces that had not been in Syria before 2011 (meaning the Iranians)

U.S. envoy Joel Rayburn: "We lead efforts to withhold normalization and reconstruction aid to the Syrian government absent progress on the political process"

House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Eliot Engel "the goal of the [Caesar Act] legislation was to pressure Assad's international support system," asks why is it not being used against Russian and other international entities

Rayburn says that the Caesar Act will be applied to more actors outside of Syria

"The Caesar Act had a remarkable chilling effect on those outside Syria who might have otherwise restored relations with the Assad regime"

Engel notes that Assad/Russia/Iran have captured opposition areas this year & Turkey continues to occupy parts of northeast Syria "and continues to harass and displace Kurdish populations" that have been "very loyal to the United States"

Rayburn says that Turkey has created "military stalemate" stopping Assad from advancing in Idlib

"We have to continue to use a combination of all our tools and pressure to make it clear to the Assad regime that there's no viable course other than coming to a political solution"

Rayburn does not address Turkey

McCaul and Rayburn have an exchange about sanctions and the Kurdish-led SDF

Rayburn argues that the sanctions don't affect them

McCaul: "we want to help the SDF as much as we can"

McCaul asks whether Turkey is using "mercenaries" and "former ISIS" in northeastern Syria

Rayburn says that the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army is "focused on military resistance to Assad and their allies," and that the US raises extremism problem with Turkey

McCaul: "To see Turkey come in and attack the very forces that we worked with to crush ISIS is very disturbing"

Brad Sherman (D–Calif.) asks Rayburn if the Trump administration feels "constrained at all by the Constitution and the War Powers Act" to deploy military force against anyone who is not ISIS

Sherman asks if the Trump administration if the authorization to fight ISIS also extends to other "heinous enemies" in Syria

Rayburn says that congressional authorization applies "against ISIS" and provides authority to defend U.S. counter-ISIS forces

Sherman: "the Turkish government has embraced some radical forms of political Islam"

"To what extent is the Turkish government working with Al Qaeda and ISIS in Syria?"

Rayburn: "I have not seen signs of that"

Turkey sees Al Qaeda and ISIS as threats, Rayburn says

Sherman: "In Idlib, they [Turkey] have worked with forces that trend in that direction"

Rayburn says there is "ongoing conflict" between Free Syrian Army and other elements all the time

Joe Wilson (D–S.C.) asks about the "reconstitution of ISIS"

Rayburn says that ISIS has been removed as a "field army" and "political state" but is "still a threat as a clandestine terrorist group," has been kept down in northeastern Syria but is still a threat

Rayburn claims that "the Assad regime and the Iranian regime are now attempting to subcontract to some of those ISIS cells" to undermine Kurdish-led forces and the "moderate people" of the middle Euphrates River Valley

Rayburn claims that Iran is turn Syria into an "Iranian regime garrison" and "trying to establish a power projection platform that they can use to threaten Syria's neighbors" but have been stopped by "military pressure" from those neighbors

Gregory Meeks of New York, the incoming committee chairman, says that the Trump administration has enabled Russian expansion, asks what the path forward for a "strategic change in Syria" by both the U.S. and its "strategic partners" is

Rayburn: "there's got to be a government in Damascus that behaves differently towards the region...and towards its own people"

Meeks asks what we can do to protect "the Kurds that have been working with us" prevent another "unforeseen pullout" that subjects them to Turkish attack

Rayburn says that the best way is to "keep the pressure against ISIS"

Scott Perry (R–Penn.) says that "wayward unelected bureaucrats" have undermined the Trump administration's "success" in Syria

Points out DefenseOne interview in which Ambassador James Jeffrey bragged about keeping the President in the dark

"This is beyond unacceptable"

Rayburn: "the State Department team from Secretary Pompeo down to the lowest level has been diligent in carrying out the President's orders"

"I respect Ambassador Jeffrey, but what was described in that interview did not happen"

Rayburn: "At no point did the State Department misrepresent our military posture in Syria. It is not our job to do that."

Gerry Connolly (D–Va.) asks if there's "any kind of mechanism" in Syria that could "accurately reflect the voice of the Syrian people"

Rayburn says that UN Resolution 2254 is "the best mechanism that we could hope for," requires us to "continue to apply our pressure tools"

Connolly: "Good luck with that. I don't see any evidence that it's working"

Connolly asks if the Kurds have "been allies"

Rayburn says the SDF and Peshmerga have been "very important partners"

Connolly asks if Kurds were the "only element" beating ISIS at a time

Rayburn says that they were a "major element" but so were Iraq and Syrian Arabs/Assyrians

Connolly asks why the President pulled troops out if the Kurds have been important partners

Rayburn notes that the President eventually decided to keep troops in Syria

Connolly asks how many Syrian refugees have been let in

Rayburn says 481

Connolly: "Five million refugees, and we've accepted 481? Do you think that we're doing our fair share?"

Adam Kinzinger (R–Ill.) asks how sanctions and killing of Qassem Soleimani have changed Iran's calculus

Rayburn: "I think it's been proved that the Iranian regime cannot overcome the maximum pressure that we place upon them" or Israeli military pressure

Rayburn: "the Iranian strategy in Syria has failed" but the leadership "remains committed to executing that strategy"

Says they are trying to establish a "strategic road"

"They need to recognize reality. It means that there needs to be continued pressure so that they give up"

Kinzinger: when the Israelis push back against Iran, it doesn't make the news, "but when we do, it's something we have to debate"

Adds that "Iran is desperate" and we should maintain pressure

Ted Deutch (D–Fla.) asks what U.S. leverage is at this point to go past a "stalemate" as Jeffrey called it

Rayburn says that we have authority to impose presssure, "the Assad regime cannot absorb the shock...of our accumulating economic and political pressure"

Rayburn notes that Assad cannot make major military gains

"The leverage of our adversaries has hit its ceiling" while ours grows

Steve Chabot (R–Ohio) asks how Assad's atrocities can be stopped in Idlib

Rayburn says that U.S. economic pressure is meant to deter Assad, and that the U.S. supports Turkey's willingness to use military pressure

Chabot brings up statements from Syrian Kurdish general Mazloum Kobane in a Crisis Group interview mentioning PKK presence in Syrian Democratic Forces

Notes that the PKK is a terrorist organization

Rayburn says that "non-Syrians need to leave Syria" as a basis for peace, Mazloum's comments were constructive in working to get foreign elements out of Syria

Chabot notes that the Syrian Central Bank has not been sanctioned under the Caesar Act, asks when we can expect "progress" on that

Rayburn says that Treasury has been working on it

David Cicilline (D–R.I.) asks about Russian-Turkish security corridor in Syria and how much longer it will hold

Rayburn says that Assad and Russia has been blocked from a military victory after the confrontation with Turkey in March

Cicilline asks if we're doing anything to move Syrian Kurds away from Russia

Rayburn: SDF has been working with Russian military, "what we would not like to see is for that to turn into a political agreement," "we are the indispensable partner"

Cicilline asks about COVID-19 and other issues in the displaced persons' camp at Al-Hol

Rayburn says that "the best solution to Al-Hol camp is to reduce it" by vetting, releasing, and repatriating inmates

Ann Wagner (R–Mo.) was "horrified last year when Turkey initiated a military offensive against Kurdish forces in northeast Syria," says U.S. has a "duty to prevent a genocide of the Kurds"

Rayburn says the Trump administration was able to create a "durable" ceasefire between Turkey and the Syrian Kurds

There is a "tense" situation but no one has made "major moves," he says, and a Turkish-Kurdish conflict would be a distraction from Iran/ISIS/Assad/Al-Qaeda

Wagner asks if Russia is putting pressure on Assad to participate in political solution

Rayburn calls the Astana forum a "defunct" process, believes that the U.S. can get Assad into the UN forum at Geneva

"It will take more pressure"

Wagner says that Russia is using UN Security Council veto power to funnel aid through Damascus, allowing Assad to circumvent economic pressure

Bill Keating (D–Mass.) says he passed legislation to establish a coordinator for ISIS detainees, asks Rayburn about the progress on that issue

Rayburn: captured ISIS fighters are "secure" for now, but the risks accumulate the longer they're there

Says there needs to be a "deradicalization campaign" among displaced persons who are not "hardened" ISIS members

Mark Green (D–Tenn.) tells a story about meeting the Syrian-American Dr. Rifai, learning about Muslim-Christian coexistence in Aleppo

"This war comes and destroys the beauty of that city" "Clearly this guy Assad is a butcher"

Green asks about Russia's "long game" in Syria

Rayburn: the Russians have been "trying to enable Assad to win a military victory that he can't win," "the path that they've been on for the past four or five years has hit a dead end"

Adriano Espaillat (D–N.Y.) asks about forced repatriation of Syrian refugees from neighboring countries including Lebanon

Rayburn says there's been a "challenge" from Lebanon, "less so Turkey" which believes in safe&dignified return

Rayburn says that it's not safe for refugees ("sine non qua") to return as long as Assad continues a "war on the Syrian people"

Says the U.S. should use both "warnings" and continued humanitarian support to dissuade countries from forced repatriation

Espaillat says that sanctions on Syria over the years haven't changed Assad's behavior, asks what's the difference with Caesar

Rayburn: "I love the Caesar sanctions" because they impose secondary sanctions on everyone designated

Rayburn: "I think things are starting to change on the ground in Syria"

The regime "didn't dream that at the end of 2020" it would be facing currency crash, economic collapse

Andy Levin (D–Mich.) speaking now. They had been alternating between Republicans and Democrats and going down the list by rank, but I guess there's no Republicans left.

Levin asks what the diplomatic strategy is to stop Assad from using chemical weapons

Rayburn says there is international coalition to use pressure including "law enforcement," ultimatum for Syria to come clean about chemical weapons or be ejected from OPCW

Susan Wild (D–Penn.) asks whether we should "re-evaluate" Syria sanctions in light of food insecurity

Rayburn: the U.S. has spent $1.7 billion to humanitarian assistance to Syrians

"The Assad regime has undertaken a propaganda campaign" to claim that we sanction humanitarian activities, we sanction "the worst of the worst of the entourage of Bashar al-Assad"

Wild: "How much assurance do you personally feel that the humanitarian aid that the United States is providing is actually getting to Syrians"

Rayburn says we have more confidence in Northeast Syria and northern Syria, less confience in Assad regime areas

Wild asks about James Jeffrey's statement to DefenseOne about "shell games" to hide troop numbers, and what the actual number is

Rayburn: "troop numbers are beyond the purview of the State Department," denies that State Department would "mischaracterize" U.S. military presence

Houlahan (D–Penn.) mentions General McKenzie's statement that "we are buying ourselves a strategic problem ten years down the road" if refugees and displaced persons are not helped

Rayburn says he agrees, the best way to help refugees is to "end the conflict"

Rayburn says the U.S. "should not contribute to reconstruction" in Syria and should "discourage others from doing so" until there is a political solution under UN Resolution 2254

My mistake, Joe Wilson is a Republican. https://twitter.com/matthew_petti/status/1336703582846988294

Tom Malinowsky (D–N.J.) asks why the Trump administration stopped stabilization funding for Syria, mentions that Saudi Arabia picked up the tab but has "very different priorities from the United States"

Rayburn says that various stabilization programs have continued, U.S. wants to support it but will also encourage others to pitch in

Malinowsky asks how much sanctions and how much the Assad regime are responsible for the suffering of civilians in Damascus

Rayburn: "We have to keep up the pressure" with targeted sanctions, and the best way to end civilian suffering is to get a political solution

Rayburn: "You have to understand. The Assad regime is still bombing the Syrian people, still shelling the Syrian people, still disappearing Syrian people into its prisons"