Speech #1140063941

Turkey is absolutely vital in the war against ISIS. It includes our strong ally Jordan. If Jordan and Turkey and Lebanon. countries that have already taken in 4 million refugees who are fleeing from Syria. are destabilized. what does that mean for the stability of that entire region? Mr. President. last month I went on an official trip with several of my colleagues to get a better understanding of the migrant crisis that is engulfing Europe. We traveled to the two countries that are the entry points for many of the refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria and who also are coming from Afghanistan and Iraq and some countries in Africa as well. such as Libya. So we went to Italy. and we went to Greece. At that time. in the middle of last month. 710.000 individuals had come in through Greece and to Italy to go on to other countries in Western Europe and in Scandinavia. We talked to the officials there. and I was not happy with the responses I received from Greek. Italian. and U.N. officials about their screening of refugees. Even though it is evident that the vast majority of refugees were people who were fearing for their lives and seeking safety. I was worried that ISIS fighters would embed themselves in this flood of refugees. What the Greeks and the Italians. with help from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. were doing was fingerprinting people. taking their photographs and then essentially sending them on their way. And I asked: Are we comparing these fingerprints. these photos. this other information with ourthe Americanwatch list for terrorists? Are we matching them up against our nofly list. our TIDE database. which is the larger terrorist watch list? The answer was no. and that needs to change. I also traveled to a shelter in Athens that was run by Doctors of the World. an organization with which I was previously unfamiliar. and there I met a very young mother with her adorable little girl. They were from Eritrea. and they had been part of the flood of refugees. They pose no harm to our country or to any of the countries in which they might ultimately settle. yet they might need a little bit of assistance. a little bit of help. because the mother was so young and her daughter only about age 2. I also met two young girls from Afghanistan who both said to me: Please dont take our pictures and put them on Facebook. because we fear for our relatives back in Afghanistan.