A bipartisan group of lawmakers are calling for President Joe Biden to take bolder action on Syria and have requested an interagency briefing on the administration’s strategy for resolving the ruinous civil war. 

“It is vitally important that US policy in Syria is consistent with our values,” read a letter to Biden signed by House Foreign Affairs chairman Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the committee’s ranking member Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Senate Foreign Relations chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and the committee’s ranking member Jim Risch (R-Idaho).

Among their recommendations, the lawmakers urged Biden to make use of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which authorizes broad penalties against anyone — Syrian or foreign — who provides support for the regime’s military operations or knowingly does business with the government, specifically in the construction, engineering, aviation and energy sectors. 

The Biden administration has twice targeted Syrian military and intelligence officers using various sanctions authorities, but hasn’t invoked the Caesar Act to apply economic pressure on President Bashar al-Assad’s benefactors. Such sanctions would “publicly underscore the US position concerning political normalization,” the lawmakers said.