American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act of 2015
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, all of us watched with horror the events in Paris. November 13 was France's September 11.
And all of us have paused to consider what further should be done to make sure that America is safe because our first obligation, as Members of Congress, is to make sure that America is safe.
So, as we watch the refugees from the Middle East pouring into Europe, concern has been expressed--and I think correctly--who are these people hidden among the many helpless victims? Are there those who would pose a threat?
It is worth noting that our process for refugees is completely different. No one gets into the United States unless they have been completely vetted. This process starts with the U.N. referring only those people who are vulnerable, who have been tortured, who have been victimized, who are helpless women and children, for screening by us.
We have a process that includes soliciting information from the DEA, from the intelligence agencies, from the FBI, and the like. All of those agencies have a veto. If there is a problem, they veto the admission. The process takes 2 years or more, and a very small number of people actually are admitted.
Of the 2,000 or so Syrian refugees who have been admitted to the United States, the overwhelming majority are children and widows who have been victims of torture, who have seen their husbands beheaded.
The bill before us, as has been described by the Speaker and the author, would stop the refugee program. They call it a pause. They would stop it because it completely restructures the very elaborate system that we have.
By putting the FBI as the lead agency, they would have to hire agents, send them over. It would be a pause. That is what they have described. We think it would take a couple of years to start up.
Now, why is that a bad idea?
ISIS is our enemy, and we need to fight them, and we need to defeat them. But we are fighting on two levels; one, military, but also, this is a fight of values.
America stands for freedom. We are the beacon of light, of democracy, of freedom in the world. And part of that value of America is allowing people who are escaping monsters like ISIS to be able to become Americans like us.
We need to screen and make sure that we are completely safe. But if we stop that program, we give ISIS a win.
Please defeat this bill.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I have listened to all of this debate with keen interest, and it is with a sense of great sadness that we were unable to come up with a bipartisan bill today.
I would like to note, however, that a bill was introduced by myself and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) that actually is much tougher than the bill before us. It would relate to all refugees in terms of their identity and their excludability--including Nigerians because we are worried about Boko Haram and Somalians because we may be worried about al Shabaab--and that is a tougher approach. I recommend it.
But we also took good ideas from Mr. McCaul's bill. It is a good idea to do some sampling on the IG. It is a good idea to have some reporting to the committees. Unfortunately, our bill was not made in order; but it is a stronger bill that incorporates the good ideas from the Republican bill and a smarter approach to deal with the threat.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source