Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) declared the House bill has no chance of reaching President Obama’s desk, confident he will be able to hold his ranks when the bill comes to the floor. Reid said at a press conference that Democrats will block the legislation that requires the secretary of Homeland Security to affirm to Congress that every refugee being admitted is not a security threat…”The problem is not with refugees”, Reid said.
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Forty-seven House Democrats crossed the aisle Thursday to join Republicans and pass the bill 289-137. “I don’t think we’ll be dealing with it over here”. “Currently, in most cases, the fingerprints are checked after they arrive in the United States”.
President Obama has already issued a veto threat on the Republican bill, “Given the lives at stake and the critical importance to our partners in the Middle East and Europe of American leadership in addressing the Syrian refugee crisis, if the President were presented with H.R. 4038, he would veto the bill”.
The vote came as officials in Washington and in many statehouses sought to show the public that they are serious about security and preventing terrorism.
Cross said those working-class voters helped propel Republicans such as U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Governor-elect Matt Bevin to victories in successive years.
Democrats say setting up the new vetting system would take so long that it would halt the intake of Syrians and Iraqis fleeing homes threatened by war and the Islamic State, the group that has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.
Said Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.): “I’d rather be on the right side of history, even if that is the wrong side politically”.
The Obama administration said the House bill would “unacceptably hamper our efforts to assist a few of the most vulnerable people in the world”.
If the 47 democrats who voted for the GOP anti-refugee bill today really support those values, they should change parties.
Obama has been heavily critical of efforts to limit refugee resettlement, although he and other administration officials said they are open to ideas to strengthen the screening process. And in the House, where lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill to “pause” refugee admissions from Syria and Iraq, the lead sponsor of similar legislation says nobody else in his party is very interested in the measure.
Democrats are pushing for consideration of the gun control measure and another Feinstein-driven proposal to stiffen the security of the visa waiver program, which she is expected to introduce along with Republican co-sponsor Sen.
The visa waiver program allows visitors holding a passport from any of 38 approved countries to come to the USA with minimal screening.
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A French citizen, for example, could travel to Syria, return to France, and then travel to the US under the program, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.). “Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), would block waivers for European citizens who spent time in Syria or Iraq in the past five years”. A few other Republicans agree the program may pose the greater security risk.
