Speech #1140050291

We talk a great deal on the floor in this body. in this building. and in this country about faith. The horror of this persecution calls to our conscience. I am calling on the State Department to declare religious minorities as protected. priority groups. able to seek refugee assistance within Iraqs borders. As of now. the only Iraqis allowed to leave the country with assistance in this way are the people who have been affiliated with the U.S. Government during the war. That category should be expanded to include these refugees. Second. I am calling on Secretary Kerry to improve the incountry processing for refugee claims in Iraq. specifically. the time required for that processing. The estimated time for Iraqis who served alongside U.S. military personnel is at the unacceptably high rate of 5 years to 8 years. This issue has been brought to me by numerous veteransIraq and Afghanistan veteranswho owe their lives. in some cases. to the service of these Iraqi and Afghan colleagues. Yet they wait there 5 to 10 years simply to be processed to come here. We must assure timely access to refugee assistance for both Iraqis affiliated with the U.S. Government and Iraqis within persecuted religious minorities such as the Yazidis and Christians. There is mounting. irrefutable evidence of that persecution on a scale that sometimes defies imagination and comprehension. There are many ways the State Department can accelerate processing times: Double the number from 10 to 20 of incountry State Department personnel processing Iraqi refugees. consult with the Department of Homeland Security on the use of video interviews. consistent with security requirements. to be conducted in addition to the inperson interviews currently required. identify a nongovernmental organization to work with the U.S. Embassy to identify and screen religious minorities seeking refugee assistance in Erbil. and establish a facility in Erbil where the U.S. Government can conduct refugee processing. These steps are not particularly complicated or ingenuous. they are common sense. The United States has a proud. moral tradition and heritage of aiding refugees. That tradition and heritage are epitomized by the Statue of Liberty and by Ellis Island. The Nation has not always lived up to the high standards that have been set for it by us. We are still very much a work in progress. and there are times in our history when we have failed the high test of morality. But the Statue of Liberty stands tall at our harbor and embodies what is best about our Nation. We are a nation of immigrants truly because we welcome the tired and hungry. yearning to be free. We need to demonstrate the international leadership that has made us proud in the past to establish a new. inconclusive vision for Syria. to abate this refugee crisis. to provide a path for them to come here. and to provide them. consistent with our security. the opportunities that fathers. mothers. grandfathers and grandmothers hadgoing back in history. all of us have come here from somewhere else. or almost all of usand humane and effective policies that help us to keep alive that great tradition and heritage. serving millions of people who are tired. weary. yearning to be free and seek that lamp beside the golden door. I yield the floor.