Congress: 107 · Status: active · Israel/Palestine classification: pro-Israel
Data (JSON) — machine-readable record of this bill (identifiers, sponsor, classification, actions, and the member-by-member vote breakdown).
Official record on Congress.gov — full text, actions, and cosponsor history for S 2215.
Sponsor: Boxer, Barbara (D-CA)
Syria Accountability Act of 2002 - Prohibits the President from exporting any item on the United States Munitions List or Commerce Control List of dual-use items in the Export Administration Regulations, providing any U.S. assistance to U.S. businesses with respect to investment or other activities, or conducting Overseas Private Investment Corporation and Trade Development Agency programs in or with respect to Syria. Directs the President to impose two or more specified sanctions against Syria. Requires maintenance of such prohibition and sanctions until the President certifies that Syria meets specified requirements, including that it: (1) does not support international terrorist groups; (2) has withdrawn all of its military personnel from Lebanon: (3) has ceased the development and deployment of ballistic missiles and biological and chemical weapons; and (4) is no longer in violation of United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 661 and subsequent relevant resolutions.
Bans U.S. exports of military equipment and dual-use technology to Syria, halts government investment support for U.S. businesses operating there, and requires the President to impose additional sanctions. These restrictions stay in place until Syria stops supporting terrorist groups, pulls its military out of Lebanon, stops developing weapons of mass destruction, and complies with UN Security Council resolutions on Iraq.
This legislation isolates a Syria government that was then aligned with Hezbollah and Iran—actors opposed to Israel—and locks in restrictions that require congressional action to lift. At the time, it was part of a broader U.S. push to pressure Syria's regional role, though the bill's focus on terrorism designation and weapons programs rather than Israeli-Palestinian issues makes its direct connection to Israel/Palestine accountability limited.