Speech #1140064287

The Syrian regime. I repeat. has barrelbombed their own citizens. has unleashed chemical weapons against their own citizens. rapes. justifying the rapes of these hundreds and hundreds of women in the name of their religionmurdering women and children. Those refugees hate Assad. They hate ISIS. That is why they are trying to get out of that horrible situation they find themselves. The Department of Homeland Security has verified that not one of 1.800 refugees already admitted in the United States has a single confirmed tie to terrorismnot one. To deny our moral obligation to these struggling people would be to abandon the principles of this great country. That is how France feels about it also. On the heels of last weeks appalling attacks. the President of France is refusing to neglect Frances duty to humanity. Here is what this good man said yesterday: 30.000 refugees will be welcomed over the next two years. Our country has the duty to respect this commitment. After what they have been through. this is what the President of France said: Accepting Syrian refugees is the moral thing to do and it is sound policy. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agrees that the United States must open its arms to those fleeing persecution. Here is what she said: What the United States has done is to be open to people who are fleeing tyranny. who are fleeing danger. but we have done it in a very careful way. Secretary Madeleine Albright authored an oped this week for Time magazine. Now. remember. she herself was a refugee. That is how she came to this country during World War II. She said Americans must respond with compassion if we are going to defeat ISIS. We can do all we want with refugees. This is no way to win the war. attacking the refugees. Here is what she said. Madeleine Albright: Our enemies have a plan. They want to divide the world between Muslims and nonMuslims. and between the defenders and attackers of Islam. By making Syrian refugees the enemy. we are playing into their hands. Instead. we need to clarify that the real choice is between those who think it is okay to murder innocent people and those who think it is wrong. By showing that we value every human life. we can make clear to the world where we stand. What Secretary Albright said and what Secretary Rice said is absolutely right. We process Syrian refugees in a very careful way. It has worked. We are not the nations of Europe. Has anyone stopped for a minute and thought that we have an ocean between us and them. an ocean. the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. refugee screening takes place well before any individual comes to our borders. To enter the U.S. refugee program as an applicant. the U.N. Refugee Agency must first select and refer all potential refugees to our program. We accept refugees solely on a referral basis from the United Nations agency. We do not go out and solicit any of these people. After being referred. all refugees. including those from Syria. are subjected to extremely rigorous screening and security checks. This is not some easy procedure where refugees fly right through the application process and are sent here in a matter of days. No. It takes an average of 18 to 24 months for a refugee to make it through the process to come to the United States. Remember. the vast majority of these people are checked and rechecked. taking 24 months. they are women and children and old men. I repeat. It takes 18 to 24 months for a refugee to make it through the process of coming to the United States. That is why only 1.800 refugees have been admitted since the start of the conflict out of the millions who are fleeing Syria. Our government accepts only the most vulnerable of the Syrians. survivors of violence and torture. those with severe medical conditions. women and children. but security precautions are not taking a backseat in the process. These Syrian refugees are real people. Images of their plight should be so visually apparent in our minds. Think of that little boy whom we saw and everyone saw around the world. a picture of this little dead boy washed up on a beach. a drowned Syrian boy whose body was washed up on this Turkish beach. pictures on the front page of newspapers. all the TV programs for several days.