Today. we must take decisive action to show the American people that we are doing all that we can to protect our country. We must listen to the words of our enemies. ISIS has vowed. in their words. to exploit the refugee process. to sneak operatives. to infiltrate the West. and they appear to have already done that. to attack our allies. For nearly a year. intelligence and law enforcement agencies have warned Congress. both publicly and privately. that they are alarmed by intelligence collection gaps and our ability to weed out terrorists from the refugee process. FBI Director Comey testified before my committee and stated: "We can query our databases until the cows come home. but nothing will show up because we have no record of them." Homeland Security Secretary Johnson said: "We know that organizations like ISIS might like to exploit this program." This is an administration officials words. not mine. This legislation would add two important layers to our defenses. creating the most robust national security screening process in American history for any refugee population. The American SAFE Act also strikes an important balance between security and our humanitarian responsibilities. It sets up roadblocks to keep terrorists from entering the United States. while also allowing legitimate refugees who are not a threat to be resettled appropriately. Let us not forget. this legislation is the first in a series of steps we must take to defend the homeland. but ultimately. to win this war. we must take the fight to the enemy. Last week. the streets of Paris could just have easily been the streets of New York or Chicago or Houston or Los Angeles.
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