{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://kinzinger.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399963", "Congressman Kinzinger Urges Passage of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act", "2018-12-19", "2018", "2018-12", "Republican", "House", "IL", "Adam Kinzinger", "K000378", "kinzinger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) spoke on the House Floor last week to urge the Senate to take up H.R. 1677, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, and to speak out for Layla Shweikani, an Illinois native murdered by the Assad regime.\r\n          share:\r\n          f \r\n          t \r\n        \r\n      \r\n      Washington, DC  Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) spoke on the House Floor last week to urge the Senate to take up H.R. 1677, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which would impose new sanctions on the President of Syria, Bashar al Assad, and his backers, and give justice to the people of Syria suffering at the hands of these war criminals. The bill is named after Caesar, a Syrian regime defector who risked his life to expose the horrific brutality by Assad and his regime. \r\nCongressman Kinzinger also used this time to talk about Layla Shweikani, a young Chicago woman who went to Syria as an aid worker to help those plagued by the war. She was detained, tortured, and murdered by the Assad regime on December 28, 2016 and her family was notified just two weeks ago. This is believed to be the first American murdered by the Assad regime, and little to no attention has been given to this heinous crime. Congressman Kinzinger has asked the Administration for answers, and over a week later, he is still waiting.  \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n    \r\n        \r\n            \r\n        \r\n    \r\n\r\n\r\nThe Congressman's floor speech on the Caesar bill and Layla's death can be found on his YouTube page, and an excerpt from his written remarks can be found below: \r\nWe know that Bashar al Assad, and his Russian and Iranian backers, have committed countless war crimes  like those endured by Layla  and our lack of action has only empowered him to continue his genocide. \r\nWe need to protect those in regime prisons from the same fate. We know about these crimes because of brave individuals like Caesar, a Syrian whom I met with after he defected from the Assad regime. He brought with him thousands of pictures and documents proving that the regime tortures, starves, and kills innocent people daily. These images are chilling, and reminiscent of the actions of Nazi Germany. \r\nMr. Speaker, American leadership in Syria is long overdue. We cannot turn a blind eye to these atrocities  to the genocide before us today. Failing to act in Syria is a failure on us all.\"\r\n\r\nCongressman Kinzinger also spoke out about Layla and the Caesar bill during interviews this week and was featured in the coverage below: \r\nWashington Post: Assad's regime killed an America  and no one seems to care \r\nWall Street Journal: U.S. Citizen, Believed Executed in Syrian Prison, Heightens Fears for Others\r\nThe Independent: An American woman died in a Syrian regime prison. Could the US have done more to help her? \r\ni24 News: Exposing War Atrocities in Syria (video)\r\nThe Herald-News: Kinzinger reacts to Chicago woman's death", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://kinzinger.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399963"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4256369322538376, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}