Syrian refugees and terrorists are not the same

The proposed bill would require high-level officials to verify that each Syrian refugee poses no security risk.

With the House’s 246 Republicans ready to solidly support the legislation, the administration was eager to keep the final tally for the bill below the two-thirds margin required to override a veto.

Vice President Joe Biden stood in for the president in the first weekly radio address since the November 13 Paris attacks, and used the opportunity to champion the cause of admitting Syrian refugees in the United States.

On his way out of the meeting with Democrats Thursday, Johnson said the House measure was “a bad bill because it seeks to micromanage the process in a way that is counterproductive to national security, to our humanitarian obligations and to the overall ability of us to focus on homeland security”.

It follows concerns raised in Europe that terrorists could be entering the continent alongside refugees fleeing the Middle East, prompting countries to tighten their borders since the Paris attacks that left 130 dead.

“We need to something we can’t just sit here and watch it all happen”. Forty-seven Democrats, in defiance of the White House, joined Republicans to vote through the motion by 289 votes to 137.

When asked what her response was to hearing some USA states say they do not want to accept Syrian refugees, Ms Jaber said: “I wouldn’t expect the governors to take such a hasty decision and quickly decide to label everyone that is Syrian, that is Muslim, as terrorists, as linked to these incidents”. But in the Senate, Minority Leader Harry Reid said the measure would face fierce opposition from Democrats.

Secretary of State Kerry speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, after briefing members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on the US strategy in Syria in the wake of the Paris terror attack.

The White House has issued a veto threat, saying that the bill would create significant delays and obstacles for refugees without providing meaningful additional security for Americans. While the tragic event was a direct assault on the European Union’s refugee system, the potential for this situation to arise in the United States is escalated by information revealed by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James Comey. Candidates are interviewed in person at refugee camps bordering Syria and the vetting requires nearly two years on average and only around 2 percent are single males of combat age, officials said.

Aides to the governor say his position remains consistent with comments made earlier in the week that drew criticism from some immigration groups and Democratic U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton.

Americans know that at least one of the those terrorists apparently arrived in France as a Syrian refugee.

The vice president said refugees have to wait 18 to 24 months while the screening process is taking place before they are admitted to the country. He also promised Americans refugees did not pose a terror threat to the U.S.

Former Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff, who served under President George W. Bush, told the Wall Street Journal this week the current refugee vetting system was “secure and reliable”, if not ideal.

In the letter, the White House underscored its commitment to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees, the overwhelming number being families, victims of torture and children.