Washington D.C. – Congressman Eliot Engel, the senior Democratic Member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement on the United Nations report on the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

“The UN report released today confirms what we have known now for many weeks - that chemical weapons were used on a massive scale on August 21 near Damascus. Having read the UN report and evidence from numerous other sources, I am convinced that the Assad regime was behind this horrific assault. Syria can no longer continue its campaign of lies and obfuscation denying culpability for the massacre outside of Damascus last month. If anything, the report underscores the urgency and importance of expeditiously removing Assad's stocks of chemical weapons. I call upon the UN Security Council to act without delay to adopt a strong resolution mandating that Assad give up his chemical weapons and imposing strong penalties if the regime refuses to comply.”