Ruppersberger: Assad Must Go

By Tim Lemke

Hours before receiving another intelligence briefing on Capitol Hill Monday, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-2nd District) told business leaders in Annapolis that he supported action in response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and said he'd eventually like to see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad no longer in power.

The Congressman, who serves on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, said he is convinced, based on classified information, that Assad was responsible for a chemical weapons attack resulting in the death of more than 1,000. 


"It's clearly beyond a reasonable doubt," he said. 

The Congressman made his remarks during an appearance before the CEO Roundtable, an event held by the Chesapeake Innovation Center.

Ruppersberger said the United States should step forward and be the "quarterback" in sharing information with the international community and responding militarily. But he said it was still unclear whether there were enough votes in Congress to support a military strike. 

Ruppersberger said the key to any response will be having the support of Russia. 

"If we can get Russia to the table, then we can form a coalition," he said. "But we're not going to accomplish anything until we get rid of Assad."

The Congressman said he was to receive a briefing on Syria Monday, but did not expect a vote in the House until next week.

During an hour-long discussion, he also touched on the importance of cybersecurity and its growing workforce near Fort Meade, the National Security Agency, and ongoing uncertainty over the federal budget. 

Here are some highlights of his comments:

On a Budget Deal in Congress - "[Sequestration] will affect so many things we're moving ahead with. We're trying to do whatever we can. There's a group of us that is very bipartisan ... "

On the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) - "We got it passed in the House 288 to 127. We thought we'd worked it out. And now we can't get it out of the Senate."

On former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has acknowledged leaking classified information about the agency's surveillance programs - "What's the first thing he does? Who are some of our adversaries? He goes to China. Then he goes to Russia. I hope he likes the freedom he's going to have from Russia when he's over there."

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to clarify that Ruppersberger supports a military strike in response to Syria's use of chemical weapons, with longer-term goal of seeing Assad no longer in power.