Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement regarding the U.S. missile attack on a Syrian airbase:

“In August 2013, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad killed 1,400 of his own citizens in the dead of night using sarin gas. I’ll never forget the images of row after row of dead men, women and children wrapped in body bags and shrouds, awaiting burial.

“That 2013 attack spurred an international effort to rid Syria of its chemical weapons, and by 2016 the United Nations had destroyed 1,200 tons of chemical agents. But unfortunately that didn’t end the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

“Rather than using nerve agents, Assad loaded barrels with chlorine and dropped them from helicopters on towns that rejected his authoritarian rule. Backed by Russia and Iran, Assad’s butchery continued, and today nearly 500,000 civilians have died in this civil war.

“This week, Assad again used chemical nerve agents to kill his own people. The United States and the international community cannot continue to countenance a leader who has now killed 1,500 of his own people with chemical weapons that the rest of the world has agreed never to use.

“Last night’s cruise missile strikes against the Syrian airfield that launched the chemical weapons attack was a limited but necessary response to those heinous acts, and I hope the intended message was received. The United States cannot continue to stand by and watch Assad commit these atrocities.

“President Assad is not the only leader at fault. Russia has made this problem worse by shielding Assad from international intervention, allowing him to ignore the 2013 UN order to destroy all chemical weapons and reconstitute his chemical weapons program.

“I call on President Trump to develop a comprehensive strategy to end Syria’s civil war. Congress can then consider an AUMF if additional force is to be used. I fully support a robust U.S. role in ending the Syrian civil war as soon as possible.”