U.S.
Republicans, defying Obama, propose tightening Syrian refugee screening
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[November 19, 2015]
By Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republican
lawmakers defied President Barack Obama on Wednesday and laid out plans
to tighten screening of Syrian refugees after the Paris attacks, in a
political fight that challenges the U.S. view of itself as a refuge for
downtrodden immigrants.
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Concerned about possible strikes against the United States after
Islamic State killed 129 people in the French capital on Friday, the
Republican chairman of a House of Representatives security committee
proposed additional scrutiny of refugees fleeing Syria or Iraq
seeking to enter the United States.
The White House quickly threatened a veto, saying the measure "would
unacceptably hamper our efforts to assist some of the most
vulnerable people in the world."
Both the House and Senate would have to approve the legislation for
it to get to Obama. Some Senate Republicans appeared to split from
their House counterparts, saying there may be more effective ways to
secure the country.
Reports that at least one Paris attacker may have slipped into
Europe among migrants registered in Greece prompted several Western
countries to question their willingness to take in refugees.
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Under the House legislation, no refugees from war-torn Iraq or Syria
could enter the United States until several top-level U.S. security
officials verify that they do not imperil national security.
Americans are "uneasy and unsettled" over the events in Paris, said
House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican.
"We are a compassionate nation. We always have been and we always
will be. But we also must remember that our first priority is to
protect the American people," Ryan said.
At an Asia-Pacific summit in Manila, Obama accused Republicans of
"hysteria and exaggeration of risk" in trying to make it more
difficult for refugees to enter the United States.
"Slamming the door in the face of refugees would betray our deepest
values. That's not who we are. And it's not what we're going to do,"
Obama wrote later on Twitter.
Obama stood by a plan the White House announced in September to
admit 10,000 Syrian refugees within a year.
Refugees from the four-year-old Syrian civil war who seek U.S. entry
already undergo a rigorous screening that takes between 18 and 24
months.
VISA WAIVER PROGRAM
Some Senate Republicans said they were more concerned about the U.S.
visa waiver program, which allows millions of foreigners to visit
the United States every year without any screening.
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"The visa waiver program potentially is the place where there's
greater gaps possibly than the refugee program itself," Bob Corker,
Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told
reporters after a classified briefing from Obama administration
officials.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said she and Republican Jeff
Flake hoped to introduce legislation on Thursday tightening the visa
waiver system. Their measure would bar anyone who has been in Syria
for the past five years from entering the United States under the
waiver program.
The House could vote as soon as Thursday on the bill proposed by
Michael McCaul, Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security
Committee. House Republican leaders said they expected the measure
would pass, although some of the party's most conservative members
threatened to join Democrats who opposed it.
Some conservatives backed an amendment that would put a six-month
moratorium on admitting refugees. Others said the bill did not
specifically cut off funding for refugee resettlement.
The Paris attacks have hardened rhetoric on the U.S. presidential
campaign trial.
Republican candidate Jeb Bush called for an increased U.S. troop
presence on the ground in Iraq as part of a global coalition to take
on Islamic State. His comments could lead to comparisons to the 2003
U.S.-led invasion of Iraq ordered by his brother, former President
George W. Bush.
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(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Megan Cassella, Doina
Chiacu, Julia Harte, Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton; Writing by
Alistair Bell; Editing by Will Dunham and Peter Cooney)
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