Yesterday morning on Fox, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) discussed Assad’s latest abhorrent attack on his own people and the need for clear U.S. policy goals for Syria. Key excerpts are below.

“I think we need clear policy goals for Syria and the region… We need to be working with the administration first and foremost on a plan to destroy and eliminate ISIS and then secondarily on putting enough pressure, bringing enough pressure to bear on some of the supporters of Assad in order to get a negotiated settlement out of Syria…” 

“I and the ranking member on my committee have [reintroduced] legislation which we passed through the House last year to try to put additional pressure in sanctions on Russia and on Iran in terms of their transfer of weapons and support to Assad.  We now think we’ve got enough support to get that bill through the Senate.  And I think that this is crucial… Assad is a guy who’s run 14 million… of his own people out of their homes.  They are fleeing all over the Middle East and into Europe as a consequence.  He’s killed 480,000 people.  And he’s… intentionally… targeting women and children.”