Senate Democrats block Syrian refugee bill

The White House said more than 2,100 Syrian refugees have been admitted to the United States since 2001 and not one has been arrested or deported on terrorism-related grounds.

(McConnell) “I would suggest they’re motivated by the love of their families and communities”.

Democrats promised to advance the bill, with the 60 required votes for passage, if Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) allowed amendments that would have barred terror-linked individuals on the no-fly list from purchasing guns, a move Republicans have objected.

Audio clip: Listen to audio clip. “Elected officials in both parties have expressed concerns too, as have administration officials”, he said.

On the other hand, Senate’s top Democrat, Harry Reid of Nevada, claimed that the bill will not be actualized. Olsen characterized the bill as a straight-out attempt “to prohibit or restrict the efforts of refugees entering the country”, despite the neutral security-based claims of its sponsors.

The Senate subcommittee is meeting again on Wednesday to discuss the bills and hear more testimony.

Last year, the Obama administration said the United States would accept 10,000 Syrian refugees – a tiny fraction of the number that have arrived in Germany and elsewhere.

The House legislation would require new FBI background checks and individual sign-offs from three high-ranking federal officials before any refugee from Syria or Iraq could come to the United States.

The American Safety Against Foreign Enemies, or SAFE, Act passed in the House in November in a 289-137 vote, with all four members of Arkansas’ House delegation voting for it. Conner Eldridge, a Democrat who is challenging Boozman’s re-election bid, issued a statement in November saying he also supported suspending resettlement of Syrian refugees.

“This debate should be driven by facts and common sense, not fearmongering about targeting “widows and orphans” or other strawman arguments from the White House that demean a serious conversation”, McConnell said.

A final decision on how the Democrats will proceed is expected on Wednesday at their weekly caucus meeting. He also said they wanted to include language in the legislation denouncing Trump’s proposal to at least temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States.

The Corning Republican, who represents New York’s 23 congressional district – including Chautauqua County, used his weekly conference call on Tuesday to call on the Senate to act on a proposal regarding refugees that was recently approved in the House.

“I hate to see the Democratic leader try to trivialize this very important national security debate and discussion by injecting presidential election politics right in the middle of this important discussion and debate on the Senate floor”, Cornyn said. “And turning our backs on refugees fleeing the violence in Syria would only feed into ISIS’s false message that we are at war with all Muslims, rather than with terrorist groups like ISIS”. “Americans deserve a vetting process they can have confidence in. That’s not realistic”, he said.