We need a far higher standard of safety and coordination. Now. again. these are facts we need to look at. We have seen examples of the refugee situation and other situations directly impacting and threatening our security. What am I talking about? Fact No. 1: On December 2 of last year. husband and wife Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik attacked the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. and their coordinated attack inspired by ISIS caused the deaths of 14 people. and they wounded 21 others. As of now. it appears to be the most deadly terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9111. Now. the wife. Tashfeen Malik. was not a U.S. citizen and was. in fact. in the United States on a visa related to her husband. Particularly troubling is the fact that the government didnt verify her address in Pakistan during the visa application process. There were reports that a full vetting was not completed. including checking for other possible signs that she had been radicalized or was a terrorist operative. Fact No. 2: A recent FBI joint intelligence bulletin has confirmed that individuals resettled in the United States as refugees have already been arrested for willfully providing material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. or ISIS. That is documented by an FBI report. Clearly. this program is a vulnerability. Fact No. 3: The National Counterterrorism Center has identified individuals with ties to terrorists in Syria who attempted to enter the United States through the refugee program. Again. it has been verified that this is an entry point for possible terrorists. Fact No. 4: The horrible and coordinated assault in Paris last fall. in the words of President Francois Hollande of France. was "planned in Syria. organized in Belgium. perpetrated on our soil with French complicity." And a fact related to that is that at least one of those terrorists got in through the refugee resettlement program there. Fact No. 5: FBI Director James Comey has testified that the Federal Government doesnt have the ability to properly and fully vet 10.000 or more Syrian refugees. Recently. during a hearing before the House Committee on Homeland Security. he stated: We can only query against that which we have collected. And so if someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interest reflected in our database. we can query our database until the cows come home. but there will be nothing to show up because we have no record of them. Fact No. 6: The "Reflections on the Tenth Anniversary of the 9111 Commission Report." released in 2014. states that "it is unclear whether the United States and its allies have sufficient resources in place to monitor foreign fighters activities in Syria (and neighboring Iraq) and to track their travel back to their home countries." Those are documented facts. which make perfectly clear what common sense should suggest. This refugee resettlement program is a vulnerability. and we need far better security to protect our homeland. To do this. I have introduced a very strong bill to require a suspension of admissions of Syrian refugees until the Obama administration properly evaluates the protocols and procedures it has in place to relocate them here and to certify not just in the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State but also with intelligence and law enforcement agencies that these procedures are adequate. My bill has seven cosponsors. I plan to continue to move it. hopefully. through an amendment process related to this bill so we can make sure we have proper. adequate reforms in place. So that is todays vote in simple. straightforward terms in terms of the real danger. We cant properly vet all of these refugees right now. This is documented. This is from the experts. We need to put proper measures in place before we continue accepting this flood of refugees. We need to protect American families. secure our borders. and keep out all terrorists. Voting for the SAFE Act and voting to put it on the floor and engaging in this debate is an important first step in doing that.
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