Speech #1140062855

Unfortunately. there is fear that similar attacks could soon take place on U.S. soil. There is even a video that ISIS released earlier today threatening to attack America. Moreover. if we follow the administrations announced plans to bring in thousands of new Syrian refugees. we could very well be letting in similar extremists who want to harm Americans. That is because it appears that at least one of the ISIS terrorists in Paris had recently registered as a Syrian refugee in the country of Greece. Until last Friday. he appeared to all the world to be no different from any of the other thousands of people fleeing the chaos in Syria. This could happen here too. The No. 1 responsibility under the Constitution of our Federal Government is to protect the homeland and to secure the country against all threats. We must do all we can to prevent a terrorist style attack from happening here. but under the administrations proposed plan. we may not be able to stop such an attack. We cannot tell who among the thousands of Syrian refugees the administration wishes to resettle here are terrorists. One particularly alarming statement to this effect came from the Director of the FBI. James Comey. He was in a hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs just on October 8 of this year. Director Comey said "there are certain gaps . . . in the data available to us" in screening Syrian refugees. This data. which includes fingerprints. background and biographic information. is crucial for an adequate screening of potential refugees entering the United States. Director Comey continued in that hearing saying. "There is risk associated with bringing anybody in from the outside. but especially from a conflict zone like that." Director Comey has also previously acknowledged that despite a large pool of data on Iraqi refugees. our past program for admitting refugees from Iraq inadvertently allowed into our country "a number of people who were of serious concern. including two that were charged when we found their fingerprints on improvised explosive devices from Iraq." Our ability to screen individuals from wartorn Syria is extremely limited by comparison. Several States Governors have recognized this difficulty and have accordingly moved to suspend cooperation with the administration in settling Syrian refugees in their States until those security concerns are addressed. I share such concerns for protecting our country against terrorists who have clearly infiltrated the Syrian refugee population. I recently wrote a letter to the leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee. In that letter I asked that taxpayers funds be used effectively to properly and securely screen refugees entering the United States. I also requested in the letter that as part of the appropriations legislation before the committee. it require a comprehensive plan on how security will be achieved. I requested this be a condition for any funding for refugee resettlement for Syrian refugees. I said then and I emphasize now that not one dollar should be expended until stringent parameters for vetting these refugees are established. I would also suggest to President Obama that he reconsider his plan to admit Syrian refugees until the dust settles and we get to the bottom of the Paris attacks. We need to analyze what happened. We need to figure out how we can better screen these refugees and ensure that terrorists among them are not evading proper screenings. We need a timeout before we press forward. I stress that the United States remains an extremely generous country when it comes to refugees. This year alone we will allow 75.000 refugees fleeing persecution around the world to enter our country. but we have to set our own citizens security as a top priority. I call on Congress to act to ensure that this administration certifies that the most stringent security standards are in place before allowing any more of the Syrian refugees into our country. It is our responsibility to do everything we can to prevent Fridays attacks from happening here. I yield the floor.