American Safe Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, similar to most Americans listening to President Obama's State of the Union Address last week, I found his take on national security and world affairs rather surprising.

According to a poll in December, 60 percent of the American people see national security and terrorism as a major concern, and they have good reason to be worried.

As President Obama finishes his last year in office, Syria is wracked by civil war, Iraq is in turmoil, Russian aggression is growing, North Korea has tested yet another nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia and Iran are immersed in a cold war, and ISIS continues its campaign of terror. Yet, according to the President, we have nothing to worry about; America's leadership is strong, and we are headed in the right direction.

Unfortunately, this fairytale version of our global situation stands in stark contrast with reality. In his State of the Union Address, the President did acknowledge: ``The world will look to us to help solve these problems, and our answer needs to be more than tough talk.''

Well, I couldn't agree more, but unfortunately tough talk with no action has been the hallmark of this administration. In 2011, after the onset of the Syrian civil war, both President Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated unconditionally that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had to go. The President drew a line in the sand: If Assad used chemical weapons, America would act. But when Assad flouted this red line, killing his own people--including women and children-- with the large-scale use of sarin gas, the President chose to forgo a decided military response and instead pursue negotiations involving the Russians, working out a compromise that ultimately strengthened Assad's position, and the results of the President's decision have not been pretty.

In the wake of the negotiations, an emboldened Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea and eastern Ukraine, and the situation in Syria got worse. It appears now that the Assad administration will outlast Obama's. Worse, our allies in the Middle East no longer trust America to come to their aid. The President's failure to back up his tough talk with action has undermined American leadership, and this may take years, if not decades, to repair.

This week the Senate is taking up the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act, which addresses the Syrian refugee crisis--another byproduct, I might add, of the President's failure to uphold his red line. With Syria, both the United States and the European powers have had to learn a lesson the hard way: If you don't take action to solve the problem, the people who are suffering will end up on your doorstep.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed in this conflict. Assad continues to use chlorine bombs indiscriminately to kill his own people, and ISIS executes anyone who is not considered loyal. It is no wonder the Syrian people want out.

Yet, with the mass exodus of refugees come other security concerns, including the threat of ISIS infiltrating the refugee population. Senior and U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials have made it clear they are concerned that we don't have the ability to adequately vet Syrian refugees. As we know from reports, at least one of the terrorists responsible for the deadly attacks in Paris passed through a refugee processing checkpoint in Greece.

To quote the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, ``I don't . . . put it past the likes of ISIL to infiltrate operatives among those refugees . . . that's a huge concern of ours.''

The American SAFE Act helps address this concern by requiring the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence to certify that Syrian and Iraqi refugees have been thoroughly vetted and do not pose a security risk before they are allowed to enter the country. This is a reasonable request, and if the administration wants to assure the American people that these refugees are not a threat, then it should have no problem providing such certifications.

I plan to file an amendment to this bill that would also give more authority to individual States when it comes to the resettlement of refugees. Last year, many Governors expressed a desire, shared by their constituents, that Syrian refugees not be resettled in their States. My amendment would grant Governors a presence at weekly refugee resettlement meetings within the State Department and give those Governors veto power over the resettlement of certain refugees in their States. Under my amendment, if a Governor's office is not satisfied that its security concerns have been addressed by the required security checks, the Governor can veto the resettlement question. Any refugee, once admitted to the United States, would still be free to travel from State to State as he or she pleased. This amendment would simply increase States' rights by giving Governors a say in any decisions by the Federal Government to resettle large populations of refugees in their States. This is a reasonable solution to the concerns that were raised by the Governors of over 30 States, and I hope we can have a vote on this amendment.

Over the weekend, the world witnessed another byproduct of President Obama's failing foreign policy. Thanks to a provision of the President's flawed nuclear deal with Iran, more than $100 billion of frozen Iranian assets and oil revenue were made available to the Islamic Republic of Iran. This means that Iran's Revolutionary Guard, including the Quds Force--which is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers in Iraq--just received a big influx of cash. Again, this is thanks to the deal President Obama considers to be perhaps the major foreign policy achievement of his Presidency.

While I am glad that the hostages held by Iran are coming home to their families, it is a mistake to think this means Iran all of a sudden will now play nice. Iran's leadership knows very well that it won the lottery with this nuclear deal, and it desperately wants Iranian assets unfrozen and sanctions lifted. Now that the Iranian leadership has received its payout, Iran will be further emboldened.

When negotiating this deal, the Obama administration assured Congress that the United States would make sure Iran kept its end of the bargain. Well, it is already clear from October's ballistic missile test that Iran is determined to test the President's resolve and flout international restrictions. We cannot let those provocations go unanswered.

President Obama is right that when conflict arises, the world looks to the United States for leadership. However, it takes more than talk to provide the leadership the world needs. In his last year in office, I hope President Obama will move beyond rhetoric and start offering realistic solutions to the growing number of security concerns that face our Nation.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source