Letter to the Honorable Rex W. Tillerson, Secretary of State - Documents Pertaining to 2013 Chemical Weapons Deal with Syria

Letter

Dear Mr. Secretary:

On April 4, 2017, Syrian military jets attacked the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun with chemical weapons, killing more than 80 innocent civilian men, women and children and injuring hundreds more. I This was the worst chemical attack by President Bashar al-Assad since August 2013, when more than 1,400 civilians were killed. 2 The April 4, 2017, attack never should have happened. President Barack Obama, rather than take meaningful steps to deter Assad from using chemical weapons again, opted for a feckless diplomatic response wherein the Syrian regime turned over its chemical stockpiles for destruction. 3 This approach failed.

The Obama Administration praised Russia at the time for its role in pressuring the Assad regime to remove its chemical weapons stockpile. 4 On January 6, 2015, then-White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said of the deal with Russia that it "was an important step, because it reduced, or essentially eliminated, the proliferation risk from that declared chemical weapons stockpile, that we could essentially destroy those chemical weapons." 5 Again, this was evidently not the case, as Assad used chlorine gas bombs in residential neighborhoods of Aleppo at least eight times over the course of 2016. 6

The Subcommittee on National Security has questions about the actions of the previous Administration. It seems that it misled the American public about the 2013 chemical weapons deal, exaggerated the progress of the removal program and its expectations for success were misplaced. 7 Just a few months ago, President Obama's national security adviser Susan Rice stated in a January 16, 2017, interview that "[w]e were able to get the Syrian government to voluntarily and verifiably give up its chemical weapons stockpile." 8 Rice's statement was inaccurate or intentionally false. So the Committee can better understand the Department's efforts to deny Assad the use of weapons of mass destruction, please provide the following
documents and information for the period of August 2013 through January 16, 2017, as soon as possible, but no later than noon on April 26, 2017:

1. All documents and communications referring or relating to the 2013 agreement with Russia and Syria.
2. All documents and communications referring or relating to violations by the Assad regime communicated to the Department of State and the Administration's response.
3. All documents and communications referring or relating to the chlorine gas attacks in 2016.
4. All documents and communications referring or relating to progress checks and verification of weapons removal communicated to the Department of State.
5. All documents and communications between then-National Security Adviser Susan Rice and the Department of State referring or relating to the Administration's media strategy and how the Administration related the story to the American public.

Please also make your staff available for a briefing on these issues no later than May 12, 2017, after providing the documents to the Committee.

When producing documents to the Committee, please deliver production sets to the Majority Staff in Room 2157 of the Rayburn House Office Building and the Minority Staff in Room 2471 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The Committee prefers, if possible, to receive all documents in electronic format. An attachment to this letter provides additional information about responding to the Committee's request. Please note that Committee Rule 16(b) requires counsel representing an individual or entity before the Committee or any of its
subcommittees, whether in connection with a request, subpoena or testimony, promptly submit the attached notice of appearance to the Committee.

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the principal oversight committee of the House of Representatives and may at "any time" investigate "any matter" as set forth in House Rule X.

Please contact Brick Christensen of the Committee staff at (202) 225-5074 with any questions about this request. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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