Speech #1140063276

He addressed a joint session of Congress. I am not Catholic. but I was moved. and I know a lot of our colleagues were moved. especially when he invoked the Golden Rule in front of a national television audience. when he called on all of us to treat other people the way we would want to be treated. and also when he invoked the words of Matthew 25: When I was hungry did you feed me. when I was naked did you clothe me. when I was thirsty did you give me to drink. when I was a stranger in your land did you take me in? When I hear of the prospect of a thousand or so Syrian refugees coming to this country this yearand more next yearI think of the desperate plight of people who are trying to escape the hellacious situation in Syria and who have been living. in some cases months or years. in refugee camps. What kind of moral imperative do we have with respect to them? What kind of moral imperative? What kind of moral imperative do we have at the same time to ensure that the folks we allow to come in as refugees to this countrythat we are going to protect those of us who live here from possible threats that might be caused by that immigration? This week I learned a few things I didnt know before. There is a lot more I have to learn. Among the things I have learned this week is that when refugeeswhether in Turkey or someplace else in that or the other side of the world. in Pakistan or any other placeseek to come to this country. they dont get to just come. It is not like they say: I am applying under refugee status to come to the United States. and I would like to come this week or this month or even this year. The average wait for folks in refugee status trying to get someplace out of a refugee campand it could be here. but especially here. the average wait for refugees is not a week. it is not a month. it is not a year. It is 1.5 years. For those of Syrian descent. the wait could be even longer. I am not going to go through all the hurdles folks have to go through. but it is a screening process that begins not with the Department of Homeland Security in this country. It is a screening process that begins way before that with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. They first register refugees. they gather biometric data. and they gather other background information. Only those who pass the U.N. assessment are ever referred to the United States for possible resettlement. Where they are looking to accept maybe 1.000 Syrian refugees this year. the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees may interview 3.000. 4.000. 5.000 refugees. or more. to come up with a list of 1.000 that we would even consider. Those refugees are interviewed not when they get off a plane here. but overseas. before they ever get on a plane. Before they ever get on a plane. they go through multiple background checks and vetting and use biographical checks conducted by the State Department. security advisory opinions from intelligence and other agencies for certain cases. National Counterterrorism Center checks with intelligence agencies for support. the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI biometrics checks. and the Department of Defense biometric screening. Then. after going through all of that. if they get here. they have the opportunity to be interviewed again facetoface by the Department of Homeland Security folks who are trained to interview people alleging to be refugees. They could be something else. Then. if they get approved to stay here as a refugee. we continue to monitor them for an extended period of time. A year or so ago there was great concern with Ebola. We had a lot of people coming across the border from Mexico. and they were going to have Ebola and infect us all and a lot of people were going to die. Not one American died from Ebola contracted here. So I would have us take a deep breath. try to gather the facts. and really understand what somebody has to go through as a refugee to get here. It is not overnight. it is not a 1week or a 1month deal. If I were a bad guy wanting to come here and create mischief. I sure wouldnt go as a refugee. I wouldnt cool my jets for a year and a half. trying to get through that process. I would find another way.