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Two members of Congress visited Syria this week, a Republican and a Democrat. They say they want to give Syria's new government a chance to rebuild after a devastating civil war that ended when longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was ousted last year. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports that the lawmakers say it's time for the U.S. to repeal sanctions to give Syria a chance.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, says she was impressed by Syria's new president, who met with her at the palace where ousted leader Bashar al-Assad once ruled over Syria.
JEANNE SHAHEEN: So it was quite opulent on a huge hill overlooking the city.
KELEMEN: The new leader, a former jihadi fighter, Ahmed al-Sharaa, showed her the view from his private office.
SHAHEEN: This was an interesting reflection of how he feels about the Syrian people. He says he gets up in the morning, and the first thing he does is look out over the city of Damascus, and the last thing he does at night is look out over the city of Damascus because he knows how much there is to do.
KELEMEN: It was a scene that also made a big impression on Congressman Joe Wilson, a Republican from South Carolina. He, too, has had a long interest in Syria.
JOE WILSON: In fact, I had such an interest in Dictator Assad, last November, he identified me as an enemy of the state. So I was very happy that he fled to Moscow three weeks later.
KELEMEN: What Syria needs now, Wilson says, is the chance to rebuild. And that means lifting U.S. sanctions, which should unlock foreign investment.
WILSON: We need to fulfill what President Donald Trump has said - give Syria a chance.
KELEMEN: But there are many skeptics in the U.S. and in Israel, especially after deadly clashes last month between Syrian forces and the Druze minority in southern Syria, close to the border with Israel. Israel launched airstrikes in response, even hitting close to that Damascus palace where Shaheen and Wilson met with al-Sharaa. Israel, which has vowed to protect the Druze, doesn't trust al-Sharaa, who a year ago had a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head for his past links to al-Qaida. Senator Shaheen tells NPR that if she were to choose a president of Syria, it would be someone with experience in democracy.
SHAHEEN: But that's not where we are. Where we are is with a president who has overthrown a dictator that nobody thought was going to be able to be overthrown.
KELEMEN: And it's a government that needs help if Syria is to remain a unified country.
SHAHEEN: It's a nascent central government. And I think it's important for us to do everything we can to ensure that that government continues to move forward in a positive way. And I hope that Israel will be supportive of that as well.
KELEMEN: President Trump has waived sanctions that were meant to punish Assad's atrocities during the Syrian civil war. Shaheen is now sponsoring legislation in the Senate to fully repeal the sanctions. Congressman Wilson is doing the same in the House. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.
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