Press Releases

Last week, U.S. Representatives McGovern, Royce, and Keating sent a letter to Secretary of State Kerry urging the U.S. to lead the way on the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

In the letter, the three Members of Congress wrote, "We strongly urge you to use all available U.S. leverage to seek Russian and other international cooperation to establish a humanitarian framework which will allow international humanitarian agencies to provide their services in the besieged areas. If the United States and Russia mobilizes their political will and determination to press for urgent attention on humanitarian access, we are confident that a framework could be developed that would have an immediate on alleviating the suffering on the ground in Syria."

The full text of the letter is below.

December 20, 2013

The Honorable John F. Kerry
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, DC  20520

Dear Mr. Secretary:

As we approach the third year of the Syria crisis, a major humanitarian catastrophe is intensifying. As the U.N. Security Council remains deadlocked on constructive action, the humanitarian crisis in Syria is escalating and the long winter months threaten more civilian deaths. While bringing about peace, democracy and the protection of minority rights in Syria is the ultimate solution to this conflict, the humanitarian crisis demands urgent U.S. leadership that we believe can be immediately successful and save lives.

The devastating victimization and suffering of the Syrian civilian population tragically continues. From March 2011 to August 2013, approximately 11,420 children have been directly killed by the conflict, according to the Oxford Research Group’s November 2013 report. Health and humanitarian workers within Syria have faced targeted attacks, arrest, detention, torture and extrajudicial killings. Syrian civilians and those risking their lives to help them need the same high profile and urgent effort the Administration demonstrated during its negotiations with the Russian Federation and Bashar al-Assad’s regime on the framework to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons.

We believe that the same direct and high profile U.S.-Russian collaboration could persuade the Assad regime to accept a framework under which humanitarian access could be guaranteed so that life-saving aid, including medicine, food, water and shelter materials could be delivered to the suffering population. As Dr. Åke Sellström, who heads the U.N. Weapons Inspection team in Syria pointed out recently, if the international community can gain his access to even the most sensitive parts of Syria, it should also be able to do the same for urgently needed humanitarian aid.

We strongly urge you to use all available U.S. leverage to seek Russian and other international cooperation to establish a humanitarian framework which will allow international humanitarian agencies to provide their services in the besieged areas. If the United States and Russia mobilizes their political will and determination to press for urgent attention on humanitarian access, we are confident that a framework could be developed that would have an immediate on alleviating the suffering on the ground in Syria.

If the United States and the Russian Federation can collaborate in a direct effort to bring humanitarian aid and relief to all the suffering people inside Syria, it would bode well for attempts to end the Syrian crisis, while bolstering the important yet often contentious U.S.-Russia relationship. We are now entering the holiday season, a holy time for many peoples in the region and a time of reflection for all. Now is the time to make an all out effort to further solidify the great American tradition of effective humanitarian aid.

Sincerely,

EDWARD R. ROYCE          JAMES P. McGOVERN                    WILLIAM R. KEATING

Member of Congress               Member of Congress                           Member of Congress