Speech #CREC-2017-02-02-pt1-PgH921-3_t12

We need a real plan, a plan that honors our values and a plan that does not discriminate based upon a person's religion. We need a plan that keeps our country safe and respects freedom of religion, whether people are White, Black, Brown, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, young, or old. Immigrants and refugees have made incredible contributions to our great country, and it is time for our President to say this. In my home State of Rhode Island, like so many places around the country, when we watched on television news reports of an executive order being issued and people who are lawfully authorized to return home to the United States being held in detention and being prevented from coming back into America, we were sick to our stomach. People in Rhode Island rallied, like people did all across this country, to express their outrage, to say this is not America and these are not our values. This is inconsistent with our Constitution. While we saw this administration working to undo basic constitutional rights and civil liberties--including, most importantly, freedom of religion-- people all across America spoke out. In addition to recognizing that this didn't comport with our deeply held beliefs and faith and confidence in our Constitution, we also knew that these were families fleeing unspeakable violence as part of the refugee program who are also being denied access into the United States. People were fleeing ISIS and then coming to America only to have the door slammed in their faces. As has been said, the refugee program that we have in place is the single most difficult way for someone to be allowed to enter the United States. It is a 10- or 12-step process. If you go to the website, you can see what you have to go through to be authorized to come into the United States as a refugee, and included in that is a determination that you do not pose a danger to the national security or to the American people. So it is embedded in the process already. It is a process that takes anywhere from 18 to 24 months. It is a process which has been in place and has worked successfully. There hasn't been a single Syrian refugee who has been charged with having been engaged in any terrorist activity. By the way, the world is facing the largest refugee crisis since World War II. The U.N. estimates that 4.9 million refugees have registered, and there are about 6 million total if you include those that aren't registered. Turkey has taken 2.7 million refugees. Lebanon has taken 1 million refugees. Jordan has taken 655,000 refugees. Iraq has taken 228,000 refugees. Do you know how many the United States accepted last year? About 16,000. So, Mr. Speaker, we have a lot more to do to meet our responsibilities with respect to accepting refugees who go through this very rigorous process. I am here tonight to speak out as loudly as I can against the executive order that ends the Syrian refugee program that has worked so successfully and that puts in place a Muslim ban that is making us less safe. This isn't a Democratic or a Republican issue. There have been a number of Republicans who have knowledge that this is making us less safe.