Speech #1140073177

Mr. President. all across the Middle East and Europe. hundreds of thousands of refugees are fleeing the medieval barbarism of ISIS and the violent cruelty of the Assad regime. Out of a population of 22 million. more than 4 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries. These refugeesalmost all of them women and childrenhave been living away from their homes for years in Jordan. Turkey. or other host countries. struggling to survive. struggling to be free. Hundreds of thousands have decided to make the dangerous journey to Europe. Many perish along the way. According to the United Nations. over 3.200 refugees attempting to reach Europe died or went missing in 2015 alone. Throughout our history. when we have been at our best. the United States has accepted the worlds most vulnerable seeking refuge from violence and murder. Our principles dont mean very much if we jettison them when we find them politically inconvenient or difficult to live by. The legislation we voted on today represents a significant departure from our proud history. It would require the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. the Director of the FBI. and the Director of National Intelligence to personally certify that each refugee from Syria and Iraq poses no security threat before admission into the United States and would effectively halt the refugee process. This is not the reason I opposed the legislation. It is worth noting it is likely those three officials would be able to do nothing else during the course of the day to keep us secure because they would be busy signing certifications. It is very clear. from all the testimony we have heard at our committees and people who are experts in this area. that a blanket prohibition like this doesnt actually make us safe. Refugees are the most thoroughly vetted group of anyone entering the United States. Lets start with that. The United States first screens them and collects biometric data. Only those who pass are then referred to the United Statesand refugees dont even know which country they are going to be referred to when they approach the United Nations. Then multiple agenciesincluding DHS. the FBI. the State Department. and our intelligence agenciesconduct a rigorous screening process. This includes health checks. repeated biometric checks. several layers of biographical and background screenings and interviews. Out of the 23.000 individuals referred to the United States. only about 2.000 have been accepted. It should be understood by people in this bodyand I hope it is understood by the American peoplethat no refugee enjoys a presumption of acceptance into the United States. The reverse is true. They are required to pass the most stringent standards of any group seeking to enter the United Statesa process applicants must endure with uncertainty for over 2 years. So instead of playing politics. in my view we ought to be having a serious discussion about how actually to keep our country safe and what will make it safer. One of the things I learned when we were working on the immigration bill in the Senatewhich still hasnt passed the House. I would remind everybody. the only bill to secure our border. the only bill to provide internal security when it comes to immigration was the bill that passed through the Senate that has never been taken up by the House in any form. One of the things I learned was that of the 11 million undocumented people in the United States. 40 percent of themalmost halfare people who came lawfully to the United States but overstayed their visa. and we have no way of tracking that. We have no way of understanding who those people are. This legislation would have fixed that.