A key House panel easily voted to slap new sanctions May 3 on Syria, but not before an acrimonious debate over President Bashar al-Assad's role in defending the region's beleaguered Christians.
The bill from House Foreign Affairs ranking member Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., targets anyone who does business with the Assad regime while evaluating the feasibility of a no-fly zone. It cleared the House late last year but not the Senate.