WASHINGTON

Two senior US lawmakers urged Congress on Tuesday to repeal the Caesar sanctions on Syria, as the annual defense bill awaits a vote in the Senate.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rep. Joe Wilson, a Republican, made the remarks in an op-ed in Foreign Policy magazine ahead of an expected Senate vote on the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The bill includes a provision to repeal sanctions imposed under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act.

“These sanctions now punish a country made up of Assad’s former victims—who are all trying to recover. If we do not change course, Syria’s suffering and its people’s hard-won progress could be squandered,” they wrote.

Short-term waivers, they added, are not enough to unlock the investment needed for reconstruction.

“Repealing debilitating sanctions will allow Syrians to meet the many demands we place on them by building the capacity to find and destroy chemical weapons, halt the illegal drug trade, destroy the Islamic State, and develop the means to protect all Syrian citizens equally,” they said.

The US House of Representatives last week passed the $901 billion NDAA, which includes a full repeal of Caesar sanctions, sending it to the Senate.

If approved by the Senate, the NDAA is expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump.