House votes to curb Syrian refugees, snubs Obama veto threat

At least six Democrats would have to join Republicans to push it through the Senate and 13 Democrats would be needed for a veto-proof tally — which the chamber’s top Democrat painted as far-fetched.

The White House had earlier said that US President Barack Obama will veto the legislation if it is also passed by the Senate.

“Prior to the Paris attacks, we already had 140 RSVPs”, said Anna Crosslin, president and CEO of the institute. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said.

One Syrian refugee who was resettled by the centre, Hussam Alroustom, urged USA lawmakers and similarly-anxious European politicians not to shut doors to Syrians over fears of another Paris-style strike.

“The real problem is ISIL and the lack of a strategy”, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said, adding it was “astounding” the president has yet to lay out a comprehensive approach to the threat in the Middle East.

The rapid shift in other direction struck administration officials as particularly short-sighted.

In what is being variously reported as eight refugees from Syria being “caught” and turning “themselves in”, by Breitbart and CBS, respectively, a group, which is said to include two families, has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after coming to the attention of officials at a border crossing in Laredo, Texas. While conservatives cite security concerns following the Paris attacks that may have involved Syrian refugees, others in the party fear the GOP’s position in Congress and state capitals across the country reeks of xenophobia, which they do. “We might as well take down the Statue of Liberty”.

The White House has said the bill would create significant delays and obstacles for refugees without providing meaningful additional security for Americans. He declined. On Monday, Just 3 days after the Paris attacks, Obama said, “What I’m not interested in doing is posing or pursuing a few notion of “American leadership” or ‘America winning”. If it’s to bolster our security, it’s clear that those who brought this bill to the floor have drawn the wrong conclusions from Friday’s horrific attacks and from our very own history. The second would prevent people on the terrorism watch list from buying guns or explosives, something now allowed, the Democrats said.

GOP leaders and bill managers oppose having a refugee vote on this bill because they say it is unrelated and want to deal with that issue later. Our Syrian refugee vetting process is already the most comprehensive in the world, and these changes would stretch the federal government’s limited resources. The legislation still must be voted on by the Senate, where Democratic leaders say they will move to block the bill.

How many Americans have died because of the refugee program?

This source said the “message on this is too complicated”.

Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s only Republican in Congress, voted for the bill. He told reporters “the administration representatives didn’t really present a compelling and cogent reason to vote no”.

The bill’s supporters said the legislation would help ensure that Islamic State terrorists will not slip into the US along with refugees.

Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who co-chair the Congressional Progressive Caucus, called the bill a direct assault on “a fundamental American value” which is to “provide a safe haven for our most vulnerable neighbors”. But several Democrats countered that the President does certifications all the time.

Sean Patrick Maloney of NY got in a forceful exchange with Johnson inside the private meeting, telling him Democrats could lose seats over the vote, according to aides in attendance.

The House should reject this short-sighted, cruel and destructive bill.

“It’s a tough thing for a Republican to put a trade bill up [for a vote] and not support it when the whole concept was for us to offer an advantage against what the Chinese have done to the marketplace”, Rep. Pete Sessions, a senior Republican and trade advocate from Texas, told Reuters this week. Less than 2,220 Syrians have been admitted to the United States since then, Soerens said. Instead, the California Democrat argued there are more pressing issues like reforming the visa waiver program and making sure people on the terrorist watch list can’t buy guns.