FILE – Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., nominates Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for the eleventh time in the House chamber as the House meets for the third day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. Three U.S. Congress members, including Hill, made a brief visit to opposition-held northwest Syria on Sunday, Aug. 27, the first known trip to the war-torn country by American lawmakers in six years. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIRUT (AP) — Three Republican members of the U.S. Congress made a quick trip Sunday into opposition-held northwest Syria in the first known visit to the war-torn country by American lawmakers in six years. They urged the Biden administration and regional partners to keep up the pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The roughly one-hour stop was a signal of the significant support on Capitol Hill for the opposition in Syria’s long civil war.
U.S. Rep. French Hill of Arkansas, one of the three lawmakers, told The Associated Press by telephone after leaving Syria that the trip was the latest of his several to the region this summer to press the U.S. government and Arab allies to continue pushing for a political resolution to the war.