(WASHINGTON, DC)— US Representative Sue Myrick (NC-09) and Member of European Parliament Jaime Mayor Oreja (EU-Spain) today sent an historicjoint letter to US President Barack Obama and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy asking them to push the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution condemning Assad and his regime for the attacks against innocent civilians in Syria.   This is the first time a joint letter from a Member of Congress and Member of European Parliament has been sent to world leaders regarding unrest in Syria.  The letter also points to greater transatlantic cooperation surrounding the revolts in the Middle East.

“We have been told by Syrians that the Assad regime has directly ordered military force in order to suppress civilian protesters,” they wrote in the letter. “The military there is now using tanks, machine guns, snipers and helicopters in an effort to harass and harm Syrians.  We are also greatly troubled by reports stating that Syrian security forces have invited Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to assist them in their violent oppression of Syrian civil society”.

On Tuesday, June 14, 2011, Members of the US Congress and Members of European Parliament met on Capitol Hill to discuss global counterterrorism efforts following the death of Osama Bin Ladenand the new Arab Spring.  This meeting was held by the Transatlantic Group on Counterterrorism, or TAG.  This was the third meeting of this group of international leaders. 

The goal of TAG is to create a working relationship between legislators from Europe and North America to address terrorism and the threat it poses to democracies.  The first TAG summit was held April 30, 2008, in Washington, DC. 

Click here for the full text of the letter.