Members of US Congress make a rare visit to opposition-held northwest Syria

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and ABBY SEWELL
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Three Republican members of the U.S. Congress have made a quick trip into opposition-held northwest Syria in the first known visit to the war-torn country by American lawmakers in six years. And they’re urging the Biden administration and regional partners to keep up the pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad. The lawmakers are Reps. Ben Cline of Virginia, French Hill of Arkansas and Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin, all Republicans. Hill tells the Associated Press he made the trip in part to press the U.S. government and its Arab allies to continue pushing for a political resolution to the long civil war in Syria.