If approved the new rules will require the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and the director of national intelligence to confirm that each applicant from Syria and Iraq poses no threat.
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The White House has issued a veto threat, saying the bill would create significant delays and barriers for refugees without providing meaningful additional security for Americans.
The strong vote in the House could improve prospects for the bill in the Senate.
House Republican leaders expect the bill to receive yes votes from as many as 50 Democrats in the lower chamber. Thirty-one of the 39 House Democrats from California, including Rep. Lois Capps, voted against it.
Republicans, who say the current vetting process can not guarantee terrorist sympathizers won’t slip into the USA undetected, may decide to test Obama’s resolve in the weeks ahead. At the same time Biden took a veiled shot at conservatives who are sowing fears that Syrian refugees are entering the country without being scrutinized and could be terrorists. Syrians go through extra security screenings. The governors say they are “deeply concerned” about the “potential” for Islamic militants to infiltrate the refugee system and stage an attack here similar to last week’s attacks in Paris. Referencing comments made by Republican candidates for president this week that called for a national registry of all Muslims and compared refugees to “rabid dogs“, Nazer warned, “Who knows where this inflammatory rhetoric can lead”.
Vice President Joe Biden suggested that refugees actually have the most rigorous of screening processes in order to enter the U.S. The partisan split of the governors reflects the partisan split of the population they serve.
Republican lawmakers wrote the bill after Gov. Mary Fallin and about 30 other governors asked the Obama administration to stop accepting Syrian refugees. In the case of Syrian refugees, the familiar partisan pattern appears where majorities of Independents and Republicans think the U.S. does not have a responsiblity and almost a majority of Democrats think the USA does. Tom Cotton, a Republican, called for a “temporary halt” to the program relocating Syrian refugees to the USA, though he didn’t take a stand on the American SAFE Act.
However, Nolan said in a statement that it would not prevent refugees from coming in outright.
“As outlined in the Constitution, Congress’ primary responsibility is protecting the safety of the American people”.
As Ryan puts it, “We can be compassionate, and we can be safe”.
The administration is struggling to tamp down opposition to the decades-old resettlement program that has enjoyed bipartisan support since it was launched in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. In a sign of the conflicting political undercurrents confronting Democrats, senior House Democrats said they did not push rank-and-file lawmakers to oppose the bill.
The White House has proposed admitting at least 10,000 refugees from Syria next year. Jones said Congress should defund the program.
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The fingerprints of one of the attackers in Paris were found to match those of a Syrian refugee who passed through Greece in October, and that attacker left behind a Syrian passport authorities believe to be faked.
