inflation coming from gas coming out. [inaudible] guest: let me try to pick apart the question. first, let me talk about what is going on the tropics. we have a rapidly evolving el niño events. it is quite warm in the tropical pacific. that will shift the storm track over the u.s.. bring some'll even much-needed rainfall into california. so, certainly climate variability has winners and losers. south florida we are e. spented to have a normal winter. there are bad things that can happen that tend to have more problems with fires in australia and indonesia. there are always winners and losers. but there is a big el nino going on in the tropical pacific. there is also global warming we are starting to see in the tropical pacific. in terms of the ice extend in antarctica and relationship to

the ozone hole, i'm not particularly aware of a lot of research in that specific area, but the antarctic ice is very different than arctic ice. it's really important to remember that. anticic ice comes and goes every year because it's an open ocean that's fully exposed. it's not necessarily a really good indicator of climate change. when you look at arctic ice, that's very old ice, so that responds much more slowly. it's a much more -- much better measure of the slow evolution of climate change that we are seeing and we are seeing declines in arctic ice that are quite dramatic and have continued for the last several years. host: dr. kirtman, we want to thank you and the university of miami for hosting us today down there and talking to us about your expertise and what you do at the university of miami when it comes to climate change. thank you very much. guest: thank you, greta, i enjoyed t great experience.

host: as we said this is the fourth and final stop of this week's sunshine state tour. the c-span campaign bus has made four of them. we were at the florida state university on monday. university of florida on tuesday. and on wednesday, yesterday, the university of central florida. so if you missed today's program at the university of miami or programs earlier this week, go to our website, c-span.org. we are going to finish up today's last half-hour of today's "washington journal" talking with all of you. returning to the syrian refugee crisis and talk -- get your thoughts on the house voting today to halt the syrian and iraqi refugees program that allows them to resettle here in the united states. that vote taking place in the house today. unclear when it could come up in the senate, but the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell from kentucky, said the senate is open to voting on that legislation as well. the president late yesterday

saying he'll veto this legislation if it makes it to his desk. here are the phone lines for all of you. democrats, 202-748-8,000. 202-748-8001. indspent 202-748-8002. and if you're a refugee get your thoughts, 202-748-8003. let me read a little bit from today's "new york times" about today's vote. republicans pushed to halt the syrian refugee program. they write that representative michael mccaul, republican of texas and chairman of the house homeland security committee introduced a bill yesterday that would beef up the screening process for syrians and iraqis who enter the united states. the house is expected to vote on the measure today. remarkable pace for legislation that showed the urgency in congress to respond to the deadly attacks in paris. the bill, which received the full support of the speaker, would require that the director of the f.b.i., the secretary of the homeland security department, and the director of

national intelligence conspirm -- confirm that each does not pose a real threat. officials shall take all actions necessary for a thorough background check. goes on to say this, by late wednesday several house democrats said they, too, would sign on to the republican measure. citing fears for american security and lack of cohesive plan by the administration. says mr. ryan and other republican leaders are eager to keep the matter of syrian refugees detached from the spending measure that congress must pass before december 11 to keep the government opened. some lawmakers already raised the idea of tying funding to the policy. ahead of today's vote what are your thoughts on this? beyond the vote, also, in the house -- up on the house side, the house judiciary committee subcommittee will be holding a hearing on the refugee situation and national security. we'll have coverage of that on c-span3. at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. and as we told you earlier, the senate homeland security

committee, they are also going to be looking into the refugee resettlement program here in the united states. that's at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. again, our coverage on c-span3. we'll go to mel in freezeburg, new york, independent. you are on the air first. what do you think about this vote today and what republicans and some democrats want to do here? caller: i am in support of what the republicans and some democrats are doing. i feel like our president is not considering the national security of our country. i feel like his agenda is not in the best interest of the american people. i feel like he doesn't have a clue as to what's going on over there in the middle east. he can't even say islamic terrorism. and it is islamic. and when that kind of mindset is in the top position of our

country, you know that we are not headed in the right direction of foreignpolicy. therefore, the republicans have done the right thing. in fact, i would even say let the christians come over here and saudi arabia, jordan, and other islamic countries can handle the islamic people in that region of the world. and this can be done in accordance to federal law, as andy mccarthy has pointed out in a recent article, religion ought to be a consideration, unlike what the president says, but the president seems to be standing above the law. host: what about, mel, all the muslims who are more moderate? that don't practice a radical islam or have that ideology you're talking about? caller: how can you really tell? i mean when you have these

individuals, in a religion that promotes jihad, terror throughout the world, it's very hard to separate the moderates from those who do it. you can separate the christians from the muslims. and you know that when you talk about christians they don't have jihad in their religion. unlike what the muslims do. host: ok. mel, let me show you this. from pew research. they put together facts about muslims in france and muslims in other european countries and says, as of 2010 there are 4.8 million muslims in germany and 4.7 million muslims in france and europe overall russia's population of 14 million muslims, 10% is the largest of any continent. cnn reporting this morning that of those five million muslims, around six million they said this morning, only about 10% actually practice islam, that

the large -- a large portion of the population are very secular in france. we are asking all of you to talk to us this morning, talk to lawmakers behind us here on capitol hill as they debate and vote on legislation to restrict his iraqi refugee program. republican, good morning, rex. caller: good morning, greta. am in support of what the speaker's doing. if we say that the first priority of this country is in defense of the american people, and as i understand the legislation, it only says that he agencies such as the c.i.a. and homeland security and the other agencies has to certify. i don't think there's nothing wrong with them certifying. if they are sitting up there in

their job and their number one job is to make sure the safety of the people is satisfied, they shouldn't have a problem with this piece of legislation. the only thing that the speaker is asking them to doll is do more than just sit there and talk about compassion. we are compassion. but we need security. host: the legislation would require the national intelligence director, the f.b.i. director, as well as the secretary of homeland security to certify each refugee, does not pose a threat. "wall street journal" this morning, the white house said wednesday the bill's requirements were untenable and would provide no meaningful additional security for the american people. instead, serving only to create significant delays and obstacles in the fulfillment of a vital program that satisfies both humanitarian and national security objectives. richmond, virginia, democrat.

go ahead. good morning. caller: good morning. i think they should be allowed to come in this country. we have the technology to screen our people and identify who they really are. the republicans are doing this to try to offset the president of the united states. this is the worst republican party i have ever seen in my life. they are the racist party. they are showing who they really are. and a lot of people howling about bringing refugees n we have been allowing refugees to come into this country from all over the world. now the republicans are singling out just one party of people of their religion, and that's the worst thing to do. religion is not a part of what people are suffering. jews suffer, we took in jewish people. talians came, we took in

italians. black americans came here and we were slaves. why is it this country will not accept these people in these people are dying? these people might go back to their home country as time goes on, but they should be allowed to come into this country. host: all right. many of you might have heard this news report about syrians who falsified, obtained fake passports and tried to make their way into honduras into the united states. they were stopped in honduras. it says that the international organization followed the group from syria to lebanon, turkey, en to bra sill, argentina -- brazil, argentina, and costa rica. it is said unlikely the men would have been able to enter the u.s. with the passports. u.s. custom and border protection officers scanned the passports of each traveler and have access of information about stolen passports. europeans generally are allowed to freely travel to the u.s. as

residents of so-called visa waiver countries. they still must seek permission to travel to the u.s. through the homeland security department's electronic system for travel authorization. the system is used to verify travels from countries -- travelers from countries that aren't required to apply for a visa are eligible to visit the united states. and then there is this from "usa today." a poll about security concerns. how likely do you think it is that in the new future there will be a terrorist attack on the u.s. causing a large lives to be lost. 41% somewhat likely, 32%, very likely. 19% not very likely. clayton in new jersey. republican, you're on the air. caller: yes. good morning. how you doing? host: good morning, sir. caller: i've called in reference to the house vote. i think it's a worthless sign of few tillity. the f.b.i. director has already said none of these people can be vetted. this is a man that -- this is

his job for life. this is what he does. and when these people can't be vetted, that's what he means. when you say all these other people have to sign off. they will sign off on this anyway. that's all they have been doing is signing off on things. they don't really care, i don't think. they have an agenda and that agenda is bringing these people in irregardless. they already said they have intentions of getting here and doing people harm. host: tallahassee, florida, independent. what are your thoughts? caller: are you talking to me? host: we are. you are on the air. we are listening. caller: ok. i just wanted to say that i disagree with obama wanting to bring all these syrians in also. there is a rumor that one of the terrorists that was in france came in as a refugee. also all it takes is one crazy

muslim to go to a major football game and do a lot of damage to a lot of innocent people. obama is shoving this down our throats just like he shoved health care down our throats. and somebody has got to stop this man. and i hope to god it is our congressmen and senators who stop him. host: paul in arizona, democrat. paul, what are your thoughts? caller: oh, man. have we got -- it used to be freedom rings. now it is fear raines. -- reigns. we have more people killed on the streets every day than radical muslims killed here. this is crazy. the statue of libertyy ought to bow down in shame. we are talking 10,000 people, maybe, that's what the president proposed. not hundreds of thousands like

the right wing keeps saying they are going to flood america with refugees. everyone gets vetted. fear reigns with these republicans and they are spreading it across the country again. host: paul, tampa, florida, independent. hi there, paul. caller: how you doing. host: good morning. caller: yeah. a couple things. first off, aren't these the same syrian people that tried to destroy israel several times? they had tanks on the golan heights raidy to rain down on israel and wipe them out. god forbid what would have happened if the syrians won that 1973 war. another thing, don't see the value of having muslims in the western world. they have the worst culture in society. they contribute nothing to the world. host: whoa, whoa. making general accusations of an entire group of people. we are going to move on. harold in florida. republican. caller: yeah. i'd like to comment first about

the climate change and the expert you put on. host: ok. you know what? i'm going to have you stick to the house voting on the syrian refugee program because we have about 15 minutes left here before they come in. do you have some thoughts on that? caller: sure. trying to havere some protection for us because, my gosh, we have enough trouble at the borders. now we are talking about bringing in more people that we can't vet? syria is a mess. everybody knows it. we have experts that say we can't vet these people. the europeans are having one problem after another and they are really fighting. we are talking about bringing more of them in? this is crazy. we could pay to have them brought in somewhere else, some other country. we could pay to have them supported somewhere. but bring them in where they could do really grievous harm to the nation, that's just crazy. even threatening to do it is insane. people are going to tell you

they are going to kill you. you are crazy if you let them do it. host: harold's thoughts. as we told you earlier front page of the "wall street journal" has the headline u.s. and ates --lies are seeking to erode the russia-iran partnership that is happening in fighting isis and anti-assad forces in syria. israel has called other allies have called, called on russia to distance itself from iran and iran's insistence that assad stay in syria. as this comes -- this comes as francois hollande has scheduled back-to-back trips between the united states and moscow, to try to defeat isis in syria. the question still remains, what do you do about al assad who the papers note, again this morning, has committed more atrocities against syrians than isis has. then there's this from "the washington post" editorial, the risk of alliance with russia and

they write this, that secretary john kerry is elegant is explaining the dangers of the accepting russian terms. if they cut a deal that assad could be a there a while longer, the war won't stop. the syrian dictator has become a magnet for the syrian fighters joining the islamic state. go to jim next, oregon, democrat. you're on the air. what do you make of the vote today in the house on syrian refugees? caller: you know, i think that the united states is the united states. and one of the things that has

happened over the last few years capturedas pretty much our thinking. and this is the united states. we went to vietnam and we fought and we actually fought against those people. but we had the boat people come over. we brought them over, which is a good thing. this is the united states. if we are going to let isis cause us to go down in fear, they have already won. and we can't do that. we need to reach out to people just like we have since this country started. host: if you and others are interested on the front page of the "new york times" this morning is a story about the rise of isis and where it came from. many strands of blame, they say. not just one single missed key to the group's terrifying and complex puzzle, they write. they do start this way, though,

2012 report by the united states defense intelligence agency was direct. the growing chaos in syria's civil war was giving islamic militants there and iraq the space to spread and flourish. the group said could declare an islamic state through its union with other terrorist organizations in iraq and syria. that's the front page of the "new york times." a piece about the rise of isis and where it came from and missed opportunities to stop it along the way. "new york times" also has this piece this morning about turkey's role as the migrant gateway is the source of a new urgency for the e.u. countries like france asking turkey to step up and take better data, get better information about who is passing

through their country into europe. germantown, maryland, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for this morning. just wanted to say that -- host: i apologize to you. very difficult to hear you. breaking up. maybe you can call in on a better line. john in illinois, democrat. hi. caller: we have enough poor people in this country. do i feel sorry for the syrians, but if we go down south in our own country in alabama, mississippi, arkansas, maybe 20 miles outside those cities we have extreme poverty. why can't we take care of those people? again, i feel sorry for the syrian people and what's happening in their country, but honestly, we should take care of ourselves first. host: valley, alabama, republican. what do you think, ralph? caller: i think the real problem is we should look at the countries over there, the muslim

countries, and then we should look at our country. when they come here, they really desire to get in government and to change our way of life. there are so many of them now. look at minnesota. host: how do you know that? caller: because i watch the news all the time. i see the people in minnesota that's onboards and different places get up and they talk on c-span all the time i see the people theirselves up there talking. what i'm trying to say is, a christian country that has prosperity, all the christian countries has prosperity. all the muslim countries are really poor because of their religion. their religion is getting prosperity. and it's against freedom because most of them do want shari'a law, even in this country. we still have killings because of shari'a law. a lot of fathers -- we had about 14 cases of fathers killing their daughters in this country for the way they dress and all.

i can't understand it, but why they want to come here. if they want to come here, if they wanted to come here and mix into the nation, that would be good. but to do like they do in minnesota or in england and get in little groups and to form their own little world inside of a country is kind of like a tumor i side of a body. it don't have the -- inside of a body. it doesn't have the same goals and lifestyles. it's incompatible with the way we live here. they don't like any secularism. our president, a lot of people says he's a muslim. he's not a muslim. i'm going to tell you, i'm a republican, but i know our president is not a muslim. 7 host: ralph, i'm going to leave it there. this is international section of the "new york times" with the outline about a group that tracks terrorism across the world saying that boko haram actually tops isis in ranking of terrorist groups. they have killed more people than the isis groups have

killed. boko haram, the militant group that has tortured nigeria and its neighbors for years was responsible for 6,664 deaths last year, more than any other terrorist group in the world. isis responsible for 6,073 deaths. nancy in georgia, good morning. go ahead. caller: i had a comment about the report you did about mr. assad. i'm an atheist by the way. so i don't have any dog in a religious fight. i'm really for separation of church and state. last night on fox news it was reported that a third of the syrian population support isis. i think we have to remember the politics of oil in all this because mr. obama was mad at mr. putin even before the overthrow of the legitimate government in ukraine, and british petroleum and elizabeth windsor do not want to compete with mr. putin. i think mr. putin and mr. assad

are doing a great job and we ought to go with our enemy, mr. stalin, of the soviet union helped us defeat the nazis, and i believe we got a bigger problem as boko haram. you can spend all week pronouncing these different names. we need a nuclear firing squad of different nations to take out the ayatollah. i don't care what religion he is. he's calling for the death to americans. we should nuke him next week. host: all right, nancy. lee in indiana. democrat. what do you think about this vote today on capitol hill in the house to restrict the syrian-iraqi refugees coming into the united states? caller: it's amazing people want to come to america. america, land of the free. i tell you what, a lot of this hate, a lot of this hate is coming from one source. if you turn the radio on about 12:00 today you'll see where the hate is coming from. it's against global warming and he's got his followers, that's limbaugh and hannity, i don't listen to him, but the talk

radio bunch, the talk radio is hate, the hate is generated. the house should vote, what are we afraid of? the refugees could come in. they have a right to come in if they are properly vetted. and they are being vetted. but there's so much hate in america right now. i believe when mr. obama leaves office, the hate will settle down, they hate him so much, they wouldn't give him a victory over anything. just turn limbaugh off and america will be a lot better off today. limbaugh doesn't -- has never worn a uniform for the country that i know of, and he's just disaster to this country. that's my input. my opinion. host: that's lee. a democrat in indiana. many of you might know that told you at the top, "washington post" reported earlier this morning that the master mind behind the paris attacks was killed in a raid in paris yesterday. officials are now saying it is true.

his cousin, master mind, and his cousin died in that raid. they were able to confirm that today. that as this second wave attackers was planning another attack in paris and police and investigators able to stop that. they said that they got there just in the nick of time. namey in st. petersburg, florida, independent. hi. caller: good morning. i want to act on the sentiments of many callers that we as a country must not live in a culture of fear. the patriot act and fourth amendment and what dangerous territory it is with anxiety and fear. that's when we give up our freedoms. that's all i want to say, thank you. host: lyle in utah. a democrat. lyle. what's your opinion? caller: i think it is very wrong for us to play into the fears that isis wants us to.

we have to worry about the people that are in our country right now. homegrown terrorists. host: reminder to you and others you have to turn that tv down. listen through your phone so we don't get the feedback. sheila in kansas, republican. caller: yes. i am wandering, one, why we are not -- wondering one, why we are not meeting people coming out of syria and training those half a million men, arming them, and sending them back. the other thing we -- these people coming into honduras with their passports, they are going to all these countries before they realize they are bad passports, they are not going to use a passport, they are going to walk across. host: ok. steven, ocean view, delaware, independent. hi. caller: hello, how are you today? host: good morning. fine. what are your thoughts on this?

caller: my thoughts are i'm watching this tv all the time and i see all these young men from 18 to 40 years old walking with these women and children. e are probably talking about 750,000 men. i don't understand why they can't take these men to a two-month boot camp with a handful of sergeants, drill sergeants, train these guys for two months, and send them back in to fight for their own land. i just don't understand it. host: move on to gregory in baltimore, a defment the house is about to gavel in here. gregory, if you can make it quick. what do you think about this vote today? caller: i have been listening to the comments of your listeners for the past half-hour, 45 minutes. here were a lot of misfalse,

this country has always been built on the immigration policy of people come into this country. through secure borders. people come into this country -- host: we'll take your point. we heard it there. we have to go because the house is gaveling in early today. we are bringing out the house floor. live coverage here on c-span. or the hair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., november 19, 2015. i hereby appoint the honorable michael k. simpson to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, paul d. ryan, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. loving god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. on this day of session before

our nation celebrates thanksgiving, we give you thanks for all the blessings we enjoy. the problems facing the nation, the concerns of its citizens will not be settled with simplistic solutions. the light of truth is sought in every corner of darkness, yet we stand humbly before you admitting our limitations. lord, give the members of the people's house the ability to listen intently to differing opinions and respond creatively. may their faith in you be strong enough to stretch every self-interest to the broader vision of the common good, and ting your intervention order routine. thus, may all seek your wisdom to guide this government and this nation now and forever. may all that is done this day be for your greater honor and

glory. amen. . the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from south carolina seek recognition? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, i demand a vote on the speaker's approval of the journal. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lance. mr. lance: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to five requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, the first value of american leadership is the safety and security of our citizens. while it is important to support those fleeing conflicts across the globe, the c.i.a.'s director , recent statements on the distinct possibility on additional attacks and the national security implications surrounding syrian refugees at this point are too great to ignore. the f.b.i. has also indicated it is next to impossible to appropriately screen refugees. for this reason i have called upon the president to place a hold on many refugees into the contry. additionally i joined with members of the pennsylvania congressional delegation in requesting that governor tom

wolfe also place a moratorium on accepting refugees into the commonwealth. the house today will consider legislation that suspends refugee admissions until we assure adequate screening security for threats is in place. we must not take any chances that could put our country at risk. this is the first of many steps that will provide americans security while also supporting our long-term humanitarian tradition in this country. i encourage my colleagues to support the safe act that will be on the floor later this morning. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> seek unanimous consent to speak for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. speaker, 70 years ago my parents and grandparents were stripped of their possessions and placed in japanese american internment camps. they were not guilty of

espionage. they did not commit treason. they simply looked like our enemy and that cost my family their freedom. yesterday the mayor of row know noke, virginia, suggested that this country's treatment of japanese americans during the 1940's is a model for how we should address today's global refugee crisis. it does not take courage to condemn such disgraceful comments, nor does it take wisdom to say our world war ii policies were a product of fear and hysteria. what takes wisdom is recognizing that history is now repeating itself. and what takes courage is sending a message to the world that america will protect innocent people regardless of their nationality or religion. that is what my mother and father deserved 70 years ago and that is what these refugees deserve today. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. lal mall if a: -- mr. lamalfa: yesterday the -- support of state and local project. the program has supported many recreation facilities across the country including in my district such as the municipal pool in susan bill, both launches on the sacramento river, and laygrounds in chico, california. this administration now disproportionately spends millions on land acquisition for the forest service. which already can't manage what it owns. 61% so far of the program during its existence has gone for this land acquisition. that's not local. the result is catastrophic fires across the west each year with nonmanaged forestlands. mr. speaker, chairman bishop's bill will rectify this problem and send more funding to the state and local projects that need it and help end the

destructive cycle of federal government purchasing and owning land it doesn't manage only to have it burn. i urge my colleagues to support this measure when it comes up. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. sanchez: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to express my concern and-n opposition to the republican syrian refugee bill. this restrictive and misguided legislation would immediately shut down the current refugee resettlement and cripple our refugee programs for the future. i represent orange county, california, one of the historically known areas of resettling refugees from all around the world. we are ready, we are ready once this administration has taken a look at the background, has done the extensive search that they do with respect to somebody's background, we are ready to help resettle these refugees. refusing to resettle any syrian refugees would inadvertently

empower da'ish and boost their retrumet abilities among vulnerable populations struggling to survive. we cannot let da'ish push us to succumb to fear and to prejudice. the syrian refugees are fleeing the same violence we have seen in paris and beirut and baghdad this last week. 3/4 of them are women and children. a quarter of them are over 60 years of age. refugees are not the enemy. remember the words on our statue of liberty, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? mr. wilson: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, as the world faces mass killings by isis da'ish of russian refugees and french citizens. and target washington and rome and new york, we need to review

how we got here and change course. president george w. bush on july 12, 2007 declared to begin withdrawing before our commanders tell us we are ready would be dangerous for iraq. for the region, and for the united states. it would mean surrendering the future of iraq to al qaeda. it would mean we would be risking mass killings on a horrific scale. we would allow the terrorists to establish a safe haven in iraq to replace the one they lost in afghanistan. barack obama on december 14, 2011 claimed, everything the american troops have done in iraq has led to this moment of success. we are leaving behind a sovereignty, stable, and self-reliant iraq. i agree with former new york city mayor, rudy juliany, that the president's failed policies created the development of da'ish leading to the syrian refugee crisis, resulting in children drowning at sea. the president should change course. in conclusion, god bless our troops and may the president by his actions never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. lance: ask unanimous consent to speak for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. lance: mr. speaker, this week americans for tax reform joined the chorus of advocacy and good government groups calling for congressional research service reports to be available to the public. in its letter of support, americans for tax reform said that opening c.r.s. reports to the public is a commonsense proposal that will increase transparency, give taxpayers greater access to important information, and enrich public knowledge. the taxpayer advocacy group pointed out that the rules casting c.r.s. reports into secrecy are outdated and unnecessary and these reports belong in the public domain. u.s. taxpayers support the work of the congressional research service to the tune of more than

$100 million a year. it is fiscally responsible and good public policy to allow educators, students, members of the news media, and everyday citizens access to these taxpayer financed reports. i urge my colleagues to join congressman mike quigley and me in our bipartisan support of house resolution 34, which will open c.r.s. information to the public. these reports are paid for by taxpayer funds, taxpayers should get to see them. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the the gentlewoman from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to recognize an organization headquarterered in boone, north carolina, that brings fiscal aid to hurting people around the world. this week is the national collection week for the organization's operation christmas child ministry. which puts empty shoe boxes to

good use by filling them with gifts for needy children. in order to participate, one needs to start with a shoe box then decide whether to pack a box for a girl or a boy and pick the age category, 2/4, 5-9, or 10-14. finally, one fills the box -- shoe box with gifts, including fun toys, hygiene items, and school supplies. this year i packed a shoe box for a girl between the ages of 5-9. it's a simple concept that brings so much joy to the children who receive these special packages. i urge everyone to consider participating in this worthy program. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. collins: by direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 531 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 75, house resolution 531,

resolved, that upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill h.r. 4038, to require that supplemental certifications and background investigations be completed prior to admission of certain aliens as refugees, and for other purposes. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. the bill shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the bill are paved. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on the judiciary and two, one motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one hour. mr. collins: mr. speaker, for the purpose of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. collins: during consideration of this resolution all time is yielded for purpose

of debate only. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. and include extraneous material on house resolution 531 currently under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. collins: thank you, mr. speaker. i usually begin my statements talking about the technicalities of the rule, who is managing general debate time, and the recap of the testimony and amendments we received in the rules committee hearing. these are important items to discuss before this body, but today is different. the debates we'll have on this rule and underlying legislation will be and should be different. i'll be honest, this bill has nothing to do today with job creation, has nothing to do with reducing regulatory burden or empowering educators to focus on the needs of students to the wish list of unions. those are important issues that we'll address in coming weeks. but today is different. today we nays the growing evil in the world and resolve to fight against it, no matter the price. the power of isis to kill and destroy has stunned the world and called us to question who we are as individuals, as people of faith, and as a nation. it doesn't matter how many press

conferences this administration holds. they will not distract from their abdication of responsibility to the security of the united states and the security of its citizens. the pro-rate, pro-torture strategy of the islamic state does not shrink in the face of meaningless words by our commander in chief. we're here because this administration failed. our world is paying the price. my colleagues across the aisle plan to deliver more lectures as this administration is so fond of. dismissing those who suggest that the islamic state will use any means possible to bring america to her knees. before they do, let me remind them the price this country has paid for freedom. soaked around the world is the blood of our sons and daughters who gave it all so we may be free, asselin consaid, that last full measure of devotion. so those who seek refuge can find safety and security in our country. despite what this administration wants you to

believe, refugees don't seek safe haven in the united states because of our well fair benefits. it's because we don't negotiate -- welfare benefits. it's because we don't negotiate with terrorists. it's the life and liberty who call america home. we are a nation of immigrants. we are a nation of laws. and we are a nation with fundamental responsibility to preserve the rights of our citizens and those rights include life. the united states has one of the most generous legal immigration programs in the world, welcoming the hurting and the abandoned, the persecuted and the destitute and we will continue to, but we will not welcome terrorists. we will not sacrifice moral courage on the alter of quotas. this country and the world will be judged by the future generations on our response as a nation, to individuals of the islamic state and those they have raped, tortured and driven from their homes and murdered. and i believe wrell be judged on the safety of the men, women and children already living in our bored erlt. the underlying measure of this

legislation is about keeping out those who pose a threat to our national security. last night in the rules committee, we received testimony from the judiciary and homeland security committee chairman and minority representatives as well as receiving amendment testimony from a number of members on both sides of the aisle for over four hours. now more than ever, those who seek shelter in the united states deserve the assurance that our government is doing everything within its power to protect them from the very evil they fled. but where is the administration? perhaps the commander in chief will stop holding press conferences to lecture republicans and start leading the world in the fight against terrorism, we won't have thousands upon thousands tortured, displaced and killed. the white house said isis was contained less than 24 hours before 120 people became the latest victims of terrorism in the streets of paris. and oh, by the way, before releasing five from guantanamo that morning. it seems the president was too busy practicing his turk irk for the g-20 summit.

in fact, when the president spoke at the g-20 summit, press conference, here's what he mentioned before addressing the terrorist attacks in paris. the beauty of turkey, the hospitality of the turkish people, the practice of the turkish language, the need to grow the global commerks the need to create jobs, cyberthreat. oh, yes, global climate talks. there is no question that we have a political commentator when what our nation and the world needs is a commander in chief. with that i reserve the balance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman from georgia, mr. collins, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: first, mr. speaker, i don't blame the gentleman from georgia not wanting to talk about the rule because today we are about to debate the 46th closed rule this congress, making this the most closed session of congress in history.

speaker ryan promised an open and deliberative promise when he took the gavel. he has already reneged on that promise. representative bennie thompson and zoe lofgren offered and alternative to today's bill that deserves debate on the house floor but the republicans on the rules committee prohibited debate under this completely closed process. the bill that we're about to debate wasn't even introduced until 10:14 p.m. tuesday night. there have been no hearings. none. none at all. and no markup and no opportunities for bipartisan input and quite frankly, not a lot of opportunities for rank and file republicans to have input on this. even more stunning, the judiciary committee is holding a hearing today, right now on the very subject we are going to vote on in an hour. mr. speaker, we all understand why people are anxious and concerned. we all watch with horror as the brutal attacks in paris play on our tv screens and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the people of paris whose

coverage inspires all of us. keeping americans safe is our top priority and in the wake of the paris attacks, that mission has never been more important. but in the days since those terrible attacks, there has been a deeply troubling debate about whether the united states should accept syrian refugees. in the past week we have heard far too many of our leaders stirring up fear and far too -- and far too few talking about the facts. mr. speaker, americans want an honest and serious debate about how we keep our country safe, t this bill, the so-called american security against foreign enemies, or the american safe, falls short. instead of debating a bill that might strengthen and enhance our refugee resettlement screening process, we are debating a bill that hurts the very people who are fleeing the violence and chaos isis has wrought. the authors of this bill boasts that this legislation would put

in place the most robust national security vetting process in history for any refugee population. but the simple truth is that the united states already has in place the most rigorous screening process for refugees resettlement in the world. right now, mr. speaker, america's refugee screening process already involves seven different federal departments and agencies, including the state department, the department of homeland security, the national counterterrorism center, the f.b.i.'s terrorist screening center, the department of defense, the u.s. customs and immigrations service and the u.s. customs and border protection. and beyond that, every refugee from syria is also subjected to an additional layer of security and scrutiny. this process is so detailed that it takes on average about two years for each refugee to be fully screened and allowed to enter the united states. under the sponsorship of a local social service agency and be settled here. two years. now, i would think that every member of this house would feel reassured knowing that such a

process is already in place to protect our citizens and our communities. we have already resettled over 1,800 syrian refugees over the past four years in 130 communities across america. in the past year massachusetts has resettled 62 syrian refugees, including 24 in my hometown of worcester. and of the 2,174 syrian refugees that we have resettled in the united states since 9/11, not a single one has been arrested or deported on terrorism-related grounds. not one. now, i recognize that there are ways that we can strengthen that process further. the congress could consult and work with the administration, including homeland security, the state department, the national intelligence agencies and the f.b.i. to identify and discuss areas where enhancements can be made. but that's not what the authors of this bill did and it's clear that it wasn't their intention

either. when this bill -- what h.r. 4038 would actually achieve is the creation of a so-called process that would shut down all refugee resettlement from syria and iraq. it is not meant to make things better. it is meant to make it completely unworkable. and nothing in this bill actually improves the f.b.i.'s or any other intelligence agency's ability to conduct a more effective screening process. if you want to do that, give them more money for more personnel and consult with them directly about how to strengthening the existing screening process. this bill hasn't done that. right now of the more than 1,800 syrian refugees resettled in the united states since 2012, half are children, a quarter are adults over the age of 60 and none have been involved in anything remotely tied to terrorism or violent activity. mr. speaker, america is at a critical crossroads. it's moments like this that define who we are as a nation.

this bill, along with the deeply troubling rhetoric that surrounds with, would only perpetuate the politics of fear and intolerance. americans are better than that, and now more than ever, we must stay true to our values. our enemies want to divide us. we must remain strong and united in the face of this evil. we must not abandon the clear right compassion that has america the shining city on the hill for more than two centuries, giving hope to so many generations before us in search of beater life for themselves and for their children. you know, july i traveled to turkey near the syrian border with a congressional delegation led by the senator from virginia. while we were there we heard from government leaders and local n.g.o.'s and charities on the front lines helping the countless syrian refugees who have lost their homes and many of their friends and family. they are desperate to escape the violence and are part of the world's worst refugee crisis since world war ii. we cannot shirk from this

moment when strong american leadership is needed. one of the most important reminders of the legacy we must live up to is the statue of liberty. for more than 100 years it's stood as an enduring symbol for the better life for the huddle masses burning to breathe free. we can't turn our backs on the heart of our identity as americans. to do this would see a victory to the terrorists. yet, the fear, the anger, the prestigious and the isolation -- prejudice and the isolationism that is driving the current debate on syrian refugees remind me of some of the darkest and ugliest chapters in american history. many in this chamber still remember a moment in our nation's history when we turned way ships filled with jewish and japanese. do we want to return to these kind of destructive and hateful policies? i'm so proud of america's

leadership providing $4.5 billion in humanitarian aid to syrian refugees in the region. more than any other country. i'm also proud that the u.s. refugee resettlement places a priority on accepting widows and children and highly vulnerable individuals, especially the elderly and the infermed. mr. speaker, h.r. 4038 would shut down our resettlement program altogether. that's what it wants to do, and that's what it intends to do. the refugees eligible for resettlement in the united states are not the refugees in europe. the refugees coming into the united states through our resettlement program have been living in refugee camps for months, often years under unimaginable harsh conditions. a woman and her 3-year-old little girl whose home in syria was reduced to barrel bombs and husband had been killed, she will go through the rigorous screening process to find a new home in america. an elderly woman who has lost everything and is barely alive

now in a refugee camp will be denied a home in america even if she has some distant relatives already in the united states. mr. speaker, where is our humanity? none of the syrian refugees who have already made it through our screening process fits the description of the terrorists i heard describe over and over again last night in the rules committee. those ugly distortions of the people we are resettling only emphasize how out of touch with reality this debate has gotten. mr. speaker, if we really want to help make america more safe and more secure in the wake of the paris attacks, then we should mutt more money in the omnibus appropriations bill for the f.b.i., for d.h.s. and for our local law enforcement agencies so they can continue focusing on criminal and homegrown as well as possible foreign individuals and networks that might engage in violence against our citizens. and while we're at it, we should also increase the funding for the state department, h.h.s., the unhcr

and the n.g.o.'s who provide humanitarian aid abroad and resettlement support for refugees here in america. but let us stop wasting our time with a bill that's going nowhere and fails to offer the serious approach we need to keep america safe and address this crisis. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from georgia. mr. collins: thank you, mr. speaker. i was sort of amazed it took almost probably i think maybe seven or eight minutes. we came to the -- just throw money at it. if you don't fix the problem, just throw money at it. when you're showing no leadership at it, i would throw a diversionary tactic as well. what is troubling to understand is what has been said by many speakers this morning, mr. speaker, is true refugees are not the problem. they can still apry. nothing in this bill keeps the rigorous process from applying and going through that process. we're adding a certification step. that's a little cumbersome for

our secretary of the department of homeland security because he has this problem. he says it's cumbersome for him to certify each syrian refugee personally. you know, there's issues here. is it just hugely cumbersome and not the effective use of the secretary's time? sorry, you're the secretary of the department of homeland security in tchun. your job is to keep us protected. how that may play out, get the resources. it's not keeping the example of a young mother with kids from going through the process. there's nothing in this bill that does that. that's a distraction. i'll talk about the rule. the rule's straightforward. vote for a rule in a few minutes. make sure we're protected. that's a simple choice this morning. that's what this rule does. gets us to a bill that provides an extra level of security and extra level of certification so this administration cannot continue to do what it's doing and that's not lead. i was stunned a few moments ago when i heard from my friend that this appeals to the worst in the u.s.

this appeals to the worst in the u.s., protecting america and trying to find ways to do that appeals to the worst of us? that to me is derecognize tiff to every man, woman who serves in our military, not only here but abroad. you talk about adding a level of protection to those inside the borders are appealing to the base of who we are? that is not true. deflect how you want to. talk about this bill. vote no if you want to. go on the side of saying, you know, we got it pretty good right now. those that have ocome haven't done anything. i would rather see a proactive approach. i'd rather see something that is very reflective of the world's times. and when we do that, then we're fulfilling our role. that's the best of america. not the worst. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for 1 1/2 minute. mr. cartwright: mr. speaker, i rise to oppose this rule. this bill, 4038, was rushed to

the floor with no hearings, no opportunities for amendments, none of the things that speaker ryan promised us about an open process, a bottom up process. i agree that preventing dangerous actors from entering the united states is paramount, and i also agree we must be strong in our resolve to confront and defeat terrorism wherever it comes from. but i submitted an amendment to this bill which would have excluded women and children from the extra and potentially onerous process this bill would enact for refugee vetting. refugees from this region already undergo far more rigorous screening process than anybody else seeking admission to this country. the process takes on average between 18 and 24 months. and longer in many cases. before a refugee sets foot on u.s. soil, surely this process is sufficient for women and children, widows and/or fans --

and orphans of terrorism, who come from refugee camps, and means that this bill is particularly punitive for them if it means they have additional wait time. imposing that kind of additional wait time while going through unnecessary bureaucratic steps to vet these low-risk individuals makes no sense. speaker ryan, i oppose this rule because we are not living up to your promise. we ought to have debate. we ought to have hearings. we ought to allow amendment like this one that would make an exception for widows and orphans . i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from georgia. mr. collins: i would just say if the gentleman agrees that we need tone force and have strong protections, making sure we are not attacked, my recommends would be vote yes on the rule and the bill. it's a simple choice. or go back and explain knows of the people in your district who agree that we need to protect our country. something across our country from coast to coast that says this is something that's worth doing.

i think we need to look at that. i don't want to hit this part in just a moment. there are times, especially when you come to a decision like this, when we understand how we got here, that was put together by six chairmen who over the weekend and past week after the tragic results of last friday night in paris have put together this first step in legislation to deal with this. and there will be other steps coming. to characterize this as something that basically is not being considered, there's committees, both the judiciary committee which i serve, the homeland security committee, and others who have been looking at for a long time, this is something that has come together and gives us immediate first step and it makes a very clear choice. do you want to add a layer of protection to protect the american people or not? you don't want to, vote no. if you don't want to do that, vote no. vote no on the rule. no on the bill. talk about the process. whine about whatever you want. this is a clear choice. the bill is protection or not. the other issue that we need to

really just assess here is when we look at what we are doing, the question is about leadership. and the question is about how are we going to protect those? it doesn't shut it down. and also just mentioned a little bit ago that there was a hearing right now, the implication was the hearing had something to do with this bill. let's just be very clear the hearing is about the syrian refugee issue as a whole, not this bill. we are not taking away from that. this is an issue, hearing that had been planned. it is happening. that is other discussion that is will be coming forward. let's at least make sure we are giving the right implications on what is going on on the hill right now. with that i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i thank the gentleman from georgia for clarifying that point which now means that there is zero hearings on this bill and no mark up. doesn't make me feel very good about this process. at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pascrell. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pascrell: good morning, mr. speaker.

i have lived in patterson, new jersey, all my life -- paterson, new jersey, all my life which is a large syrian population. when i cam back from the service, i joined the american legion. it was the john rad post which was a syrian american military organization. 2450es are -- these are hardworking people here. the advantage of what we are doing and over the past four years since the beginning of the syrian war, civil war, is that we are connecting refugees with syrian american families. there are no harder working people in this country than syrian americans. know the history of it. they didn't come here last week. so here is the chart, this is what you need to go through to get a refugee into the united states of america. i hope you looked at the chart.

every ou have examined step. the 14 steps, the 14 steps. let's not get into one side wants to secure america more than the other side. i served in the armed forces. i was on the beginning of the select committee on homeland security. i don't like anybody telling me you guys try to do that in 2005 and you lost in 2006. stay away from it. no party has a privy on protection tekting this country. we all want that. what we are not going to sacrifice what we as americans are. we are not going to do this. when women and children who have nothing on their back, nothing, nothing. in two or three years they could -- ly it come to the gate finally come to the gate of the

greatest country in the world. you may smile over there but i'm very serious about what i am saying. this is a very serious moment in our history. i want to protect -- i want to be strong. i don't agree with all the president's syrian policies, but i think that we are doing harm to ourselves and sending the wrong message. and i -- the eaker pro tempore: gentleman will suspend. the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. the gentleman is reminded all speakers are reminded to address the chair. mr. pascrell: mr. speaker, i want to salute the speaker of the house. here's why i want to salute him. he defused the religious connotations when this was first brought up. he did that yesterday. nd i salute him. to have one line for christian syrians and another line for muslim syrians, what are we reduced to here? what message does that send to

the rest of the world? you tell me. it is shameful. so i thank him for that. i don't impugn anybody on the other side. i don't question your mow tiffs. i don't -- motives. i don't think that this is a good idea. the commitment we have to public safety can be upheld even as we provide refuge to some of the world's most vulnerable people. when you sleep tonight, think about the world's most vulnerable people. and we could still keep america safe. mr. speaker, i yield back and thank you for the opportunity. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. collins: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the gentleman's words. i agree with him. no party claims a right one protect, one not. i will say this, both of us have the same commitment to raising our hand and say we do protect.

both parties is have that in common. as someone who served myself and been at war in iraq, aappreciate the gentleman's feelings. my problem is this, go to your district. as was said a few moments ago, they felt better about no irgsha hearings. go to your district and ask this question, preek. would you rather have hearings or do something to protect them? would you rather have hearings or go do something to protect and them come back as we have done hearings and work forward moving forward? this is a process that should be together. i'm really, frankly, amazed we are not together on this. because at this point it does nothing, i repeat, does nothing to shut the process down. it simply adds a layer of protection. doesn't shut it down. it doesn't defame our humanitarian effort around the world in which we lead the way in both money and resources. and it still allows that mother with those kids to apply and go through the process. we are simply saying let's pause a moment and make sure it's not

just the mother with the kids. that there's not somebody else abusing the system, hiding through the system that want to come into this country and do us harm. let's frame this in very simple terms. very simple bill. only four pages. when we understand that, we can continue. with that i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i am stunned. just listen to the gentleman from georgia, basically tell us that you can have either a bill or you can have regular order but you can't have both. this is the greatest deliberative body on the planet. we are supposed to discuss issues. we are supposed to debate issues. i will not. committees are supposed to do their work. and report that then to the rules committee to the come to the floor. but to suggest that we -- you have a choice here. you can't have both, is ridiculous. the speaker of the house promised regular order. he's reneged on that promise. it's outrageous, especially on a

bill like this, we cannot have amendments. the committees of jurisdiction can't even do their job. it is an outrage. it is shameful. how can you defend that kind of process? at this point i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman. i appreciate myself with the gentleman from massachusetts because i think it's important for my colleagues to understand that when you talk about process, you talk about responding in the right way to crisis. let me be very clear, the inquiry that my friends on the other side of the aisle are making is correct. to find out how we can ensure the safety and security of the american people. i sit on the homeland security committee, like my friend from new jersey, from the very beginning, tragic of 9/11, i'm the ranking member on the crime terrorism, homeland security and investigations committee. there is no way that i would stand here and jeopardize the security of the american people. let me also say i represent the catholic diecies, catholic

charity, lutheran services, interfaith ministries in my district and i'd ask my colleague on the other side of the aisle to query them about whether or not they support this legislation. there are people to understand the burdensomeness and wrongness of the direction in which we are going. is it appropriate to inquire and have a report to congress to ensure that there is strictures in dealing with those coming to this country from syria or anywhere else? yes, it is. but is it ridiculous to ensure or insist that this 5-year-old little girl must be individually certified by the f.b.i., the d.n.i., counterterrorism, and the c.i.a., and a long litany of them. that's what we are saying. first of all, there are 23,000 that were recommended by the united nations, syrians, to come into the united states. the department of homeland security selected only 7,000 to interview. in that 7,000, only 2,000 have gone through the process through an 18 to 20-month period.

we are saying to the american people, if you want to get rid of isis, take the fight to isis. that's what we are doing with our allies to destroy and eliminate highcies. but to be able to say to our -- isis. but to be able to say to our allies around the world that we are putting a stop sign on our refugees from syria that look like mothers and fathers and old people is absurd. the inquiry is correct. the process is wrong. let us not distort this to the american people and tell them an untruth that one side of the aisle is against security and the other side is. take the fight to the caliphate mr. mcgovern: i yield 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts yields to the gentlelady from texas 15 seconds. ms. jackson lee: this is an improper approach. you cannot certify a 5-year-old girl from syria. she will never get in. the process is extensive. it is deaf. it is secure. and we are securing the american people.

let's work together as my friend on the other side of the aisle has said and do it right. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts reserve. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. collins: it shouldn't have been shocking. there was nothing in what i said you have to have regular order. i'm simply saying here's the process that we have had here. that's a false dichotomy, mr. speaker. it's not trufmente i never said you couldn't have regular order and have a bill. you have both. in this case you have a bill. the bill says very plain and simple terms, four pages, here's what it does. that's where we go at it. to continue to say it does other stuff it doesn't do is wrong. we are just simply saying we are giving another layer of protection, take that layer of protection, let's continue to have our hearings, continue to have our debate, and we'll be bringing others because we are already taking the fight. that's another issue we need to have is time to call the radical

islamic terrorist what is they are, thugs in this world. rapists, torturers, murderers, no regard for religion, no regard for themselves. they are simply plain thugs f we want to talk about what we are fighting, let's put it in those terms. let's put it in those terms. i'd prefer we have an extra measure of protection keeping those folks out while we take the fight to them. . because i believe the air force we serve, the fight is coming to them and the thugs will not win. we're just going to put an extra measure of protection here to make sure they don't come here without messing with the integrity. mr. mcgovern: thofse of us don't have a problem taking the fight to the thugs. it is taking the fight to widows and young children and citizens fleeing war and

terror. to turn our backs on those individuals, to basically shut this process down and that's and by the way, the authors of this bill admitted this in the rules committee. this won't stop the refugee receiptlement process in its place but to do it goes against the values and traditions of this country. we're better than that. with that i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california, ms. lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. mds lee: thank you very much. -- ms. lee: thank you very much. i want to thank the gentleman from massachusetts for his leadership on these critical strong. i rise in strong opposition to the rule, h.res. 531, and also to the bill, h.r. 4038, the american security against foreign enemies act of 2015. foreign enemies refugees. we all watched with horror as unconscionable violence

unfolded in paris over the weekend, but also in egypt, in lebanon and nigeria. so let me just first say that my thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who have been affected by all of these tragedies. but it would be a grave mistake to use these attacks as a pretense to close our doors to the families that are fleeing isil in their own countries. the overwhelming majority, of course, you know are women and children. just as the unfortunate attacks of 9/11 required us to step up and lead, we're at that moment again where members of congress need to lead. this counterproductive bill would immediately shut down the resettlement of refugees from countries such as syria and iraq while significantly slowing down, yes, shutting down our resettlement process in the future. but of course as members of

congress, our first goal is keeping our country safe. we all are committed to that and we do that each and every day. but preventing these people suffering the violence of war, the violence of war, it sends the wrong signal first to our allies, to our own country and really this is not consistent with our national security. closing our doors to these refugees would really be a betrayal of our nation's most fundamental values. mr. speaker, the united states already has the lengthiest and most robust screening procedures in the world. any refugee seeking to come to the united states goes through a screening process that takes 18 to 24 months before they can even step foot on the united states soil. our screening process already involve multiple federal -- can i have one minute?

mr. mcgovern: i yield one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for an additional minute. ms. lee: our screening process already involve multiple federal, including the department of homeland security, the counterterrorism center and the f.b.i. these agencies subject those seek ref iege in the united states to safeguard such as biometric and biographic checks. syrian refugees are already subjected to additional forms of security screening. mr. speaker, it's worth noting, it's been said before, i'll say it again that of the 2,174 syrian refugees admitted to the united states since september 2,174, not that's one has been arrested or deported or terrorism-related grounds. i'm proud that oakland and my congressional district has resettled more syrian refugee than any other bay in california. rather than shutting out those seeking ref ubling in our

country, we must have a -- refuge in our country, we must have a diplomatic solution to the conflicts that have led to the worst refugee crisis since world war ii. this world -- excuse me -- this would stop the slow of refugees and give them a chance to live in their own country free of war and violence. i urge my colleagues to reject this rule and this unnecessary bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. collins: thank you, mr. speaker. i find it with great privilege to stand here and really not believe that a bill that protects the interest of americans is unnecessary. in fact, i find it needed. at this point i yield three minutes to the gentleman from mississippi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi is recognized for three minutes. >> well, thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank my colleague from georgia for engaging in this debate. mr. harper: i know it seems to be a lonely job when you're right and direct and you're putting the best interest of

people ahead of partisan politics. i applaud you and my colleagues that will support this underlying rule and move on to support the final bill. i heard a comment while i was following the debate and someone said that speaker ryan has reneged on his promised. mr. palazzo: well, if anybody has reneged on his promises, i believe it's the president of the united states of america. as commander in chief, he has an ultimate responsibility to lead our troops but also his number one constitutional responsibility is common defense of this nation against all enemies both domestic and foreign. but he's made america weaker. he's made our military weaker. the international community, our friends no longer trust us and our enemies no longer fear us. so if anybody has reneged on their responsibility it's the president of the united states. just now we started to basically really try to cut off the flow of money to isis and to the islamic radicals.

for over two years we've been telling them, go after the oil revenues. that's where they're making their money. they're making to because they're stealing oil and selling it on the black market and making billions of dollars a year. just now we decided we're going to go after the oil tankers that carry the oil so they can make the money so they can buy weapons and they can basically export terrorism all around the world. well, 25 years ago i remember pretty much this month i was activated for the persian gulf war and what one thing i do remember, we bombed the hell out of our enemies before we sent our men and women in uniform with boots on the ground in there and pretty much, as we all know, within a week we pretty much -- the iraq war was over with. so it baffles the mind while we're waiting until the last moment to actually cut off the revenues that's funding this global jihad and this radical islam. like my colleague from georgia and those who are going to

support this rule and support the bill, we understand our constitutional responsibility. our number one constitution is the common defense of this flakes at home and abroad and -- nation at home and abroad and that means taking care of our people in our congressional districts, taking people in our states, taking care of the american people. and so you're either with us or against us on this, and i just want to urge my colleagues to support the underlying rule, support the bill and let's start taking care of americans and the rest will take care of itself. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from georgia reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, can i inquire of the gentleman from georgia how many more speakers he has left? mr. collins: at this point i think we're out of speakers. inquire -- are you ready to close? the gentleman is ready to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i yield myself the remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i'm going to urge my colleagues to

defeat the previous question and i will then -- if we do, i will offer an amendment to the rule that would simply allow us to debate and vote on a reasonable alternative in addition to the republican bill that we're considering today. this record breaking closed le shuts down both republicans and democrats, keeps them out -- it makes it impossible for them to be able to participate in the legislative process and prevents us from considering reasonable commonsense alternatives. if we're truly interested in actually enhancing the security of the united states, protecting the american people, maybe we ought to come together and behave like adults and work together to come up with a -- with a solution that actually works. i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the record along with extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i'd also like to ask unanimous consent to insert some materials in the record, a letter that was signed by 81 n.g.o.'s that work in the field

of humanitarian relief and refugee resettlement in support of the refugee resettlement program and the syrian refugee reset amment program. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: i'd like to ask unanimous consent to insert an article by the catholic bishops that say the u.s. should welcome syrian refugees into the united states. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: i have a whole bunch of other unanimous consent requests. i ask them all be inserted en bloc, if i could. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i do want to say one thing. it strikes me as we're having this debate here, i can't help but take note of their response in france toward the syrian refugees. yesterday, french president francois hollande promised to honor his commitment to take in tens of thousands of refugees, welcoming 30,000 refugees over the next two years. that's 6,000 more than he committed to in september. he also announced 53.3 million

dollars to develop housing for refugees. we all invoked the terrible tragedy that happened in france. let's follow france's example and be a secure shelter for those most in need. you know, as i listen to the debate here, one of the troubling things to me is it doesn't seem to ever be a tragedy that my friends on the other side of the aisle don't want to exploit for political gain. and i think today is no exception. horrendous terrorist attack happened in paris, an attack that has shocked the entire world. this is being used as an excuse to pass what i consider an ugly bill because this would shut down our refugee resettlements for syrians and iraqis. this bill is to fuel rather than protecting the american people. we have an exhaustive screening process for refugees already in place. it takes years for a refugee

from sear yab to be able to be a-- syria to be able to be admitted to the united states. years. can we improve the system? absolutely. but the opportunity to do that requires us to consult with one another. you know, and to put the result ahead of political gain. but that's not what happened. we had a bill before the rules committee that never went through committee, that was never marked up, that was -- the content of which was not shared with the democrats. a lot of republicans were locked out of the process. and here we are with the political document more than something that's going to do anything to help these people fleeing violence or help enhance our security. that might be a nice sound bite in your next campaign but it's an awful thing to do to a group of people fleeing war and terror. you know, who are these people? they are, as the president stated, widows and orphans mostly. they are old people trying to be reunited with distant family members in the united states. they are people who are fleeing for their lives, who are fleeing the worst terror imaginable. that used to mean something in

this chamber. we used to care about these things in a bipartisan way. apparently no more. this congress is losing its humanity, and here's the deal. you know, we're behaving in a way that i think reinforces, you know, the -- what the terrorists are trying to communicate to the rest of the world, which is that somehow we don't care about people from certain parts of the world or we don't care if people were muslim. we have people on the other side of the aisle talk about we ought to have a religious test here and very little condemnation in response to that from my friends on the other side of the aisle. last night in the rules committee, my republican friends said, well, all we're doing is responding to public opinion. well, our job is to be more than just a political weather vain. we have an obligation to make sure we state the facts, the real facts, that we have an obligation to tell the truth. we have an obligation to help put issues in perspective.

in short, we have an obligation to lead on issues like this, not be so jittery to pursue policies that we all know are wrong. so here we are with a bill that might friends say is so important that there could be no hearings and no markup on, a bill that's so important that could be no consultation on and so important that nobody can offer an amendment on, and we have a bill that's coming before us in an absolutely closed process. let me just close by expressing my deep frustration with this place and how it's being run. and for some time now i have watched as my republican friends have regularly turned their backs on the most vulnerable populations. there is no more vulnerable population, no more vulnerable group of people on this planet than refugees fleeing god-awful war and terror. yet, today they're being thrown under the bus for political gain. they're being demonized, they're being characterized as terrorists. young children, you know, 3-year-old girls, you know, widow mothers, grandmothers are

being demonized as terrorists. and for what? you know, the american people, i think, expect more from us. what we're doing here today is not about protecting the american people. about helping people fleeing war and violence. this is political. and that makes what's happening here today not only disappointing but i would say disgusting. and with that i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. collins: thank you, mr. speaker. i share many times the frustration my friend from massachusetts has about this place. when i look at what's going on today, it's my frustration, frankly, on the floor here is probably grown considering that we talk about everything else except what the bill actually does. we throw up every picture. i'm not sure at what point

today, and i can go back through my remarks, i'm not sure where i ever disparaged a refugee. ever said that the humanity and suffering that is going on because of a bunch of thugs called the islamic state, these folks do not need to have a place to go or humanitarian help which america has led on from the beginning. it's easy to say that. as he's fond of saying, the gentleman is fond of saying, mr. speaker, it makes political points. the same is true for him. and for folks across the ime, it makes political points for them. the problem is it's not in the bill. the problem is it's adding an extra layer. there's been discussion here today about the political whims. look, i believe that what is happening right now is a test of two things. one, they are mom terse and thermostats. this administration's a pretty good thermometer. they'll tell you what the they believe the temperature is and react to the world opinion.

i believe today the republican majority is acting as a thermostat and moving the temperature and moving the awareness. because i do not believe that an event could be ignored, is not being used, it's being said there is a warning sign. it's like warning sign on your vehicle. you can ignore it. and when it breaks down you wonder what happened. or you can say here's a warning sign. here's what's going on in the world. and we are simply, all we are saying is asking for certification from our highest officials in security to say, these folks have another level to check so that we can ensure our homeland is protected. one attack on american soil is too many. the islamic state has been clear in their desire to bring america to her knees. the underlying legislation won't change that. as the chairman of the judiciary committee committee stated last, it will put this administration on that congress will not be silent. we'll take up the national security mantle this white house has so carelessly disregarded. in the weeks ahead you can expect this body to bring forward additional legislation

reforming our refugee and visa waiver programs. there is no loophole or that isis won't use. and there is no loophole or vulnerability that the house republicans are not committed to fix and i desperately ask my friends across the side of the aisle to join us. our nation is a beacon of freedom and hope and no force of evil will ever change that. no terrorist will ever cause republicans in this body to shy away from our duty to citizens or the world. for that i believe both sides need to come together. he president said that isis is a j. v. it the administration's refusal to look at the islamic state in the eye and declare with resounding voice they would be defeated is devastated but it isn't the end. where the white house failed, congress will succeed. we'll replace the political posture with priority strategies dealing with our national security as opposed to those more liberal strategies we heard

today. now my friends across the aisle share the same heart. we grieve the lives lost. we grieve for these who are caught up in war and caught up in the devastating attacks by a group of people who frankly the isis who have no soul. they are blank because if you're agreeable to do the atrocities that they are doing, you just have no part in a civilized world. you have no part in being acknowledged except for the animals that you are. i recognize their impossible position of choosing either the safety of their constituents or political strategy of the president. i understand that across the aisle. my hope is today, today will be different. we won't take the easy no vote. we'll have the moral courage to make the decision that says no terrorism. yes to american people. a vote that will ensure our country remains a safe haven for the rest of the world has ababbed beyond. again, let me repeat this again.

it's been said, if we say it enough we believe it to be true, it does not stop the program. it simply says until we can certify, we are going to make sure there is an extra level of protection for the people. does not shut the program down. a vote in support of this rule and h.r. 4038 is what we need. after that, we'll bow our heads in thanks next week filled with gratitude for those who have gone b we'll return with renewed commitments for further reforms. evil will not win. isis will not win. with a sed fast spirit and courage of conviction of those who come before, those who gave their lives, we'll not let the torch of freedom go out on our watch and we'll continue to fight for those in our country for their safety. our sons and daughters as we continue this fight. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and move the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, the chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on the question of adoption of the resolution. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the ayes are 243. he nays are 182. the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the rule. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the resolution is adopted. mr. mcgovern: i ask a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman asks for a recorded vote. a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of

representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 242. the nays are 183. the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. pursuant to clause 1-c of rule 19, further consideration of h.r. 3189 will now resume. the clerk will report the title. the clerk: h.r. 3189, a bill to amend the federal reserve act to establish requirements for

policy rules and blackout periods of the federal open market committee to establish requirements for certain activities of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, and to amend title 31 united states code to reform the manner in which the board of governors of the federal reserve system is audited, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will be in order. he house will be in order. he house will be in order.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentlewoman opposed to the bill? ms. chu: i am opposed to it in its current form. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman qualifies. the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: ms. matsui of california moves to recommit the bill h.r. 3189 to the committee on financial services- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. the house will be in order all members with conversations please take them from the floor. the clerk will proceed. the clerk: ms. matsui of california moves to recommit the bill h.r. 3189 to the committee on financial services with instructions to report the same back -- ms. matsui: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes. ms. matsui: mr. speaker, this is

the final amendment to the bill which would not kill the bill or send it back to committee. if adopted, the bill would immediately proceed to final passage as amended. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 3189, the motion to recommit, which will ensure the seniors be protected from losing their hard-earned benefits to deceitful financial companies found to engage in harmful activity. . companies who put needs ahead of the needs of our seniors shouldn't be allowed to participate in a lending program or facility established by the federal reserve. while republicans try to put their special interest friends first, the democratic motion to recommit to ensure that financial companies found to ngage in activity -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman will suspend.

the house will be in order. those members with conversations, please take them from the floor. the gentlewoman may proceed. ms. matsui: the democratic motion to recommit that financial companies found to engage in harmful behavior are prevented from participating in any emergency lending program or facility established by the federal reserve. that tion to recommit financial institution that abuse the trust, american seniors have spent their lives working to provide for families, deserve to retire with dignity and live without fear of being stripped of financial security due to the actions of predatory financial institutions. yes, house republicans are willing to grant the shady financial companies access to

emergency resources established by the federal reserve. we need to adopt this motion to recommit to send a strong signal to predatory financial entities across this country that putting profits ahead of people will not be rewarded by the u.s. government. i'm co-chair of the democratic congressional task force on seniors and i'm committed to protecting the well-being of older americans and ensuring that those who work hard and play by the rules receive a dignified and secure retirement. in addition to protecting hard-earned benefits like social security and medicare, we need to ensure that vulnerable seniors are not the subject of predatory lending that puts them at rick for economic security. according to consumer financial protection bureau older americans are vulnerable to bad actors and take advantage of hard-earned retirement savings

or push them into taking on financial products and services like a reverse mortgage, that they may not want or need. roughly, one million older americans lose an estimated $2.6 billion annually as a result of financial abuse according to metlife study, broker trusts, fin -- family and finances, this is unacceptable. as older americans age we have an obligation to ensure they are not an easy target for financial predatory ddling financial products and services. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the motion to recommit. members can make clear whose side they are on, whether be it in favor of protecting our vessel nerble seniors or financial companies that seek to do them harm.

with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. hensarling: i rise to claim time in opposition. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hensarling: i find the motion to recommit to be most ironic for the members who were here for the debate on the underlying form act yesterday. all we heard was you cannot direct the federal reserve to do anything. you're imposing their independence and yet we have a motion to recommit that does exactly what they argued against yesterday. that is irony number one, mr. speaker. irony number two is when we're talking about -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. he house will be in order. the gentleman is recognized.

mr. hensarling: the second irony about the motion to recommit, nothing hurts seniors more than having seven years straight of zero interest rates. it's seniors know when you are young you work for your money and when you are old you expect your money to work for you and the money isn't working for them because we have had seven years of artificially low interest rates, real interest rates of zero. if we want to help our seniors, what we need is a monetary policy that is more predictable and rules-based, which is what the form act does. so what the american people want, they want a healthier economy, they want a government that is transparent and accountable to them and that includes the federal reserve. they cannot continue to cloak their prudential regulatory policies behind their monetary policies. we don't need our central

bankers to become our central planners, but we need a monetary policy that works for seniors. economy, a healthier for a government that is transparent and accountable to we the people, we need to vote down the motion to recommit, vote for the form act. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. without objection, the previous question is ordered on the motion to rechit. the question is on the motion to recommit. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. ms. matsui: mr. speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, the chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on the question of passage. this is a five-minute vote.

[captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 18828 and the nays are 242. the motion is not adopted. the question is on passage of the bill. those in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. ms. waters: i request a recorded vote, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote has been requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 241. the nays are 185. the bill is passed. without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the chair lays before the house n enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 2262, an act to facilitate a pro-growth environment for the developing commercial space industry by encouraging private sector investment and creating more stable and predictible regulatory conditions, and for

ther purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair would ask all members to please take their conversations from the floor. would ask all members and staff o please take their seats. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution 531, i call up h.r. 4038 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4038, a bill to require that complell certifications and background investigations be completed prior to the admission of certain aliens as refugees, and or other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the chair would ask all members to please clear the well. ask all members to please take

their conversations from the floor. ask all members and staff to please take their seats. pursuant to house resolution 531, the bill is considered as read. the bill shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on judiciary. the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, will each control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and includeheir remarks and extraneous materials on h.r. 4038, currently under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. mr. goodlatte: i support h.r. 4038 -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the chair would again ask all members and staff to take their conversations from the floor. take their seats.

the gentleman from virginia virginia tech. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i support h.r. 4038, the american security against foreign enemies act of 2015. just one example of a terrorist taking advantage of the united states' generous immigration policy in order to perpetrate attacks on americans is too many. unfortunately, there are too many examples to count. most notable are the attacks on september 11, 2001, perpetrated by 19 foreign nationals who are admitted to the u.s. through our legal immigration system. the u.s. government has the ultimate responsibilities to protect its citizens. as such, if u.s. immigration policy allows foreign nationals who want to do us harm access to u.s. soil, then the immigration policy must be reviewed and amended. we are faced with such a situation right now. there is a very real possibility that a terrorist, particularly

one from or claiming to be from syria or iraq, will attempt to gain access to the united states as a refugee. in fact, isis is making no secret of their plans to have their members infiltrate groups of syrian refugees. we should take isis at its word. of course, our hope is that such an individual would be screened out through the refugee vetting process. unfortunately, we have heard time and time again from top counterterrorism and intelligence officials that the current vetting process cannot prevent such an individual from receiving refugee status. in fact, just late last month f.b.i. director james comey told the judiciary committee that with a conflict zone like syria where there is dramatically less information available to use during the vetting process, he could not offer anybody an absolute assurance that there is no risk associated with

admitting syrian nationals as refugees. and he told another house committee that we can only query against that which we have collected. and so if someone has never made a ripple in the pond in syria in a way that would get their identity or their interest reflected in our database, we can query our database till the cows come home but nothing will show up. because we have no record on that person. the admission's foreign policy inaction in syria and failure to take seriously the isis threat, are responsible for the flood of syrians currently leaving their country. of course, we all remember when the president told us that isis was the j.v. team. that j.v. team just murdered over 120 innocent people in paris, including at least one american. and the paris j.v. team included at least one terrorist who was registered as a refugee from syria. h.r. 4038 requires certification

by the f.b.i. director that the security vetting process is sufficient to prevent an individual who is a security threat from being admitted as a refugee. the bill also requires that the d.h.s. secretary, f.b.i. director, and director of national intelligence certify to congress that each refugee is not a security threat prior to his or her admission to the united states. in addition, h.r. 4038 requires the d.h.s. inspector general to review such certifications annually and report its findings to congress. the certification procedures apply to aliens who are nationals of iraq or syria. those who have no nationality, and whose last habitual residents was in iraq or syria, or present in those countries at ny time on or after march 1, 2011. h.r. 4038 puts the administration on notice that their lax attitude toward this

issue will no longer be tolerated and puts the administration on notice that congress is not yet finished reforming refugee policy. in fact, our committee has been hard at work long before the paris attacks working on legislation to make necessary security related and other changes to the u.s. refugee admissions program. and we look forward to moving that legislation through the house. h.r. 4038 is not meant to be the soul solution to the security problems we face in vetting syrian and other refugees. but it is an important first step. and i look forward to congress taking additional action to ensure america's safety. i thank the gentleman from texas and the gentleman from north carolina for the work they have done on this bill. i urge my colleagues to support t i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker,

members, the so-called american safe act purports to make us safer but as the administration has so correctly observed, this measure would provide no meaningful additional security for the american people. worse yet, it would effectively deny refugee status for syrians and iraqis who are themselves victims of terrorism in their own homelands. h.r. 4038 is a terribly flawed and inhumane bill for many reasons. to begin with, while ensuring the safety of all americans should be our top priority, h.r. 4038 does nothing to achieve this goal. this measure sets unreasonable

clearance standards that the department of homeland security simply cannot meet. refugees seeking to come to our shores are already subject to the highest level of vetting, more than any other traveler or immigrant to the united states. . this extensive screening process is performed by the department of homeland security, the state department, in conjunction with the cents tral intelligence agency. the federal bureau of investigation and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies. exhaustive utilizes background checks that often take up to 24 months on average toll complete and even longer in some cases.

we must keep in mind that our nation was founded by immigrants and has historically welcomed refugees when there is suffering around the globe. whether it is an earthquake in haiti, a tsunami in asia or four years of civil war in syria with no end in sight, the world always looks to the united states. we provide protections for , ugees and asylum seekers especially women and children. nevertheless, in the wake of the september 11 attacks on our shores and the tragic november 13 terrorist attacks in paris, we must be vigilant particularly in the midst of a global refugee crisis. h.r. 038, however, is an extreme

overreaction to these latest security concerns. rather than shutting our doors to these desperate men and women and children who are risking death and to escape torture in their own homelands, we should work to ut liz our resources and good intentions to welcome them. and finally, congress needs to o its part by properly funding refugee resettlement as well as funding our federal agencies so they have the necessary personnel and programs to complete security checks that we already have in place. instead of slamming our doors to the world's most vulnerable, we should be considering legislation to strengthen and

expand refugee programs. unfortunately, the bill before us today is not a serious effort to legislate and it will not make us safer. it's a knee-jerk reaction, as evidenced by the fact that this measure was introduced just two days ago and has not been the subject of a single hearing or any meaningful review by our committee. rather than betraying our values, we must continue to focus on the most effective tools to keep us safe while also providing refuge for the world's most vulnerable. accordingly, i urge, i urge all of my colleagues to oppose h.r. 4038. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan

reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: at this time, it's my pleasure to yield five minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. mccaul, the chairman of the homeland security committee and the chief sponsor of this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes. mr. mccaul: i thank the chairman of judiciary. i rise today to urge my colleagues to support the america safe act. let me be clear. we are a nation at war. the world was reminded last week that islamic terrorists are seeking to harm our people, destroy our way of life and undermine the foundational principles of the free world. sadly with the news that at least one of these frirtsfer terrorists may have infiltrated europe posing as a syrian refugee, the paris attacks confirm our worst fears. thousands of foreign fighters

terror back ring to the west. the world is now looking at america for leadership and for a clear-eyed understanding of the threat. isis is not contained, as the president says. isis is expanding globally and is plotting aggressively. the group is now responsible for more than 60 terrorist plots against western targets including 18 in the united states. here in the homeland, we have arrested more than one isis supporter a week in the past year. in -- and the f.b.i. says it has nearly 1,000 isis-related investigations in all 50 states. today, we must take decisive action to show the american people that we are doing all that we can to protect our count troy. we must listen to the words of our enemies. isis has vowed in their words to

exploit the refugee process to sneak operatives, to infiltrate the west and they appear to have already done that to attack our allies. for nearly a year, intelligence and law enforcement agencies have warned congress, both publicly and privately, that they are alarmed by intelligence collection gaps and our ability to weed out terrorists from the refugee process. f.b.i. director comey testified before my committee and stated we can questionery our data bases until the cows come home because nothing will show up because we have no record of them. we know that organizations like isis might like to exploit this program. this is an administration official's words, not mine. this legislation would add two

important layers to our defenses. creating the most robust national security screening process in american history for any refugee population. the american safe act also strikes an important balance between security and our humanitarian responsibilities. it sets up roadblocks to keep terrorists from entering the united states while also allowing legitimate refugees who are not a threat to be resettled appropriately. let us not forget this legislation is the first in a series of steps we must take to .efend the homeland last week the streets of paris could just as easily have been the streets of new york or chicago or houston or los angeles. but as i have said before, our

long-term message to these terrorists must be clear. you may have fired the first shot in the struggle, but rest assured, america will fire the last. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: i'm pleased now to who has worked harder on this issue than anyone i know, the gentlelady from california, mrs. love green, to whom i yield three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is ecognized for three minutes. ms. lofgren: all of us watched with horror the events in paris. november 13 was france's september 11 and all of us have paused to consider what further should be done to make sure that america is safe because our first obligation as members of

congress is to make sure that america is safe. and so as we watch the refugees from the middle east pouring into europe, concern has been expressed and i think correctly, who are these people hidden among the many helpless victims are there those that would pose a threat. it's worth noting that our process for refugees is completely different. no one gets into the united states unless they have been completely vetted. this process starts with the u.n. referring only those people who are vulnerable, who have been tortured, who have been victimized, who are helpless women and children who are screened by us. we have a process that includes soliciting information from the d.e.a., from the intelligence

agencies, from the f.b.i. and alike, all of those agencies have a veto. if there's a problem, they veto the admission. the process takes two years or more and a very small number of people actually are admitted. of the 2,000 or so syrian refugees who have been admitted to the united states, the overwhelming majority are children and widows who have been victims of torture, who have seen their husbands beheaded. the bill before us, as has been described by the speaker and the author, would stop the refugee program. they call it a pause. they would stop it because it completely structures the very elaborate system we have by putting the f.b.i. as the lead agency. they would have to hire agents. it would be a pause, that's what they have described. it would take a couple of years to start up.

now why is that a bad idea? isis is our enemy and we need to fight them and we need to defeat them, but we are fighting on two levels. one, military, but also this is a fight of values. america stands for freedom. we are the beacon of light, of democracy, of freedom in the world and part of that value of america is allowing people who are escaping monsters like isis to be able to become americans like us. we need to screen and make sure that we are completely safe. but if we stop that program, we give isis a win. please defeat this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from virginia. mr. goodlatte: it's my pleasure to yield five minutes to the chief co-sponsor of the

legislation, the gentleman from orth carolina. mr. hudson: america is a good country and we have a long history of accepting refugees, people fleeing oppression and violence, but we have an obligation to the american people. we welcome people into this country who are seeking asylum. we owe it to the american people to know who these people are. and when you've got a terrorist group like isis, who has said that they will exploit this refugee crisis to infiltrate america, this is an orgs that has -- an organization that has said their goal is to come to america and kill americans. i take them at their word. the number one responsibility of this body is to protect the american people. and it's not me saying that we

have challenges with the current vetting process, it's experts from president obama's administration. i draw your attention to the first quote from jeh johnson. it's true that we aren't going to know a lot about the syrians. that is definitely a challenge. i draw your attention to the next quote from director james comey of the f.b.i. we can only questionery against that which we have collected. if someone has not made a ripple in the pond in syria in a way to get reflected in our data bases, we can questioner question our data until the cows come home but nothing will show up because we have no record of that person. this is president obama's own administration saying that the current process is broken, that we are bringing in these refugees that we cannot properly

vet. so our legislation simply says, let's stop this flow unless and until the law enforcement experts that president obama has apointed, the f.b.i. director, director of homeland security can vouch for the fact that we have a process in place that they are comfortable with. how radical is that? this is common sense and that's why our polls show 75% of the american people support this measure. i know the president has issued a veto threat, but i hope today in this house, we can come together republicans and democrats and respond to the american people and we have a bipartisan vote that doesn't say no to refugees, it sauce pause the program unless and until the law enforcement experts are comfortable that we got a process. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation.

with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from virginia. mr. goodlatte: i yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from south carolina, ask that he be mr. conyers: i yield to the gentleman from new york, mr. nadler. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. nadler: i rise in opposition to this bill that would block syrians come to the united states for years. the shocking events in paris has strengthened our resolve to defeat the terrorist who is are responsible for these heinous acts and for bombing a russian airliner and carrying out

deadly bombings in beirut. but defeating terrorism should not be slamming the door in the face of those fleeing the terrorists. that's why i'm appalled by the actions by this house and by some of the words of my colleagues today. the united states has been -- has always been and should always be a place of refuge. remember the syrian refugees are running away from isis. they are running away from war on terror. they are its victims. to stop thousands of desperate people who are fleeing unspeakable violence is unconscionable. we might as well take down the statue of liberty. countries whose much smaller populations like lebanon and turkey has agreed to take a million refugees or more. even france announced they're increasing the amount of refugees they're accepting. we're talking about a mere 10,000. they're subject to an extensive vetting process which could take up to 24 months. but the real danger america faces is isis through its propaganda can radicalize people already here and inspire them to attack the united states from within. in paris, we saw that several

of the attackers were european nationals who could enter the u.s. without being vetted. so it is ridiculous to assert by denying access to refugees we would be making america safer. we face a choice that will echo through history. 1924, a racist xenophobic anti-semitic congress slammed the doors shut on jewish, italian and greek immigrants. if it were not for the 1924 immigration act perhaps two million of the six million jews who were murdered in the holocaust would be living safely in the united states instead. back then we shut our doors to people in desperate need. we must not do so again. we must not let ourselves be guided by irrational fear. we have a moral obligation and for those who care a religious obligation to extend the hand to those in need. is bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york yields back the balance of his time.

the chair lays before the house n enrolled bill. the clerk: senate 2036, an act suspend the current compensation packages for the chief executive officers of fannie mae and freddie mac and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. gowdy: mr. chairman, i yield a minute to the gentleman from california, the majority leader, kevin mccarthy. the speaker pro tempore: the majority leader is recognized for one minute. mr. mccarthy: well, i thank the gentleman for yielding. i thank those who have worked on this bill. congressman richard hudson, chairman mike mccaul, a number of other committee chairmens and chairman goodlatte and others. this is not an issue that comes before us just because of an action that happened recently, a horrific action. you know, mr. speaker, our duty is to protect the american people. you know, without security we cannot have freedom.

without security we cannot help others abroad. the american people are generous. and we want to help those in the world suffering from terrorism and civil war. the fact that america gives far more in foreign aid than any other country in the world is a testament to our generosity. ou know, in 2014, we gave over $6.5 billion in humanitarian foreign aid alone. and that doesn't even count the millions of dollars that privately have been offered by american people. but being generous does not mean we have to have a weak screening process for refugees. especially for those coming from iraq and syria where we know people are there who seek to do us harm and are looking to exploit a weak process. and it is wrong to condemn a strong screening process using

the language of charity and morality. when we allow refugees into this country, we must be guided by one single principle. if you are a terrorist or you are a threat to our country, you are not getting in, period. the bill before us increases the standards to keep those who want to do us harm out, but america's not saying no to refugees. america always stands as a beacon of hope for everyone fleeing oppression and terror. nothing will stop us from protecting the innocent while continuing our fight against evil. instead, this bill puts a pause on our refugee program until we are certain that nobody being allowed in possesses a threat to the american people. but to those who do not even want to consider increasing accountability in our refugee process and to the president who announced that he wants to

veto this bill, let me tell you this. it is against the values of our nation and the values of a free society to give terrorists the opening they are looking for to come into our country and to harm the american people, and we have an obligation to stop that from happening. but in the debate we are having n the refugee crisis, we should not lose sight of the root of the problem. the real problem is isil and our lack of strategy to destroy them. it asounds me that president refuses to face reality and admit that his strategy is failing. isil controls territory the size of maryland. attacks in paris, beirut and in egypt so that isil is not contained to iraq and syria. every day isil continues to exist is another day they can train, recruit and radicalize

more people to continue their war on the civilized world and threaten the safety of the american people. this danger is real, and nothing can replace a winning strategy. here in the house we will not accept half measures. we are committed to keeping america safe. that's why i ask all in the house to support this bill, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to recognize the distinguished member of the house judiciary committee, the gentlelady from texas, ms. sheila jackson lee, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas is recognized for two minutes. i'd like to e: thank the gentleman from michigan. i've been on the homeland security committee since the heinous and vial act of 9/11.

i've often said that i was at ground zero and i had the misery of seeing the recovering that was still occurring at that time. i take no backseat to the concern and love for this nation as i know that my colleagues do on both sides of the aisle. but this legislation is divided in a simple premise. no to refugees, stop the refugee program, turn your back on children and women and old people, broken and bent. this side saying that america's values can parallel the love, respect and commitment to the national security of this nation. isil determines to divide this bipolar world divided between muzz -- muslims but those who live every day under the sun who love freedom. e do not define the faith by

those who kill us and maim us. as president franklin delano roosevelt said, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. nameless, unjustified terrorists who convert, retreat and advance. this is the extensive, extensive review that only a small number of syrians go through that are able to get in this country from refugee camps. that is the only place they come from. this is an extensive way. i say to mr. president, certify it now, but what this legislation does is require that the 5-year-old syrian girl that has lived most of her life in a jordanian camp must be certified by four or five individuals who are already in the process of the certification. there are 60 million individuals who are displaced across the globe now. 20% of them are syrian fleeing

conflict that has taken 240,000 lives. right now the f.b.i. has 50 terrorist cells being investigated. they cannot count them as syrian refugees. this is the wrong direction. let us follow our values, mr. speaker. vote that bill down and bring refugees who are already certified. this bill is unnecessary. it stops the refugee program. where is our mercy? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. gowdy: thank you, mr. speaker. would yield three minutes to the gentleman from kentucky, the chairman of the appropriations committee, mr. rodgest. he speaker pro tempore: -- mr. gowdy: thank you. mr. speaker. i would yield three minutes to the gentleman from kentucky, the chairman of the appropriations committee, mr. rogers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. rogers: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise today, first, to reaffirm our solidarity to the

people in france, our brethren in beirut and to those who perished over the skies of the sinai. the senseless and unspeakable violence, the blind fanaticism, he utter and irrational hatred to human life by isis, together they present a threat to not only national and global security but also to the fundamental values that constitute the very fiber of civilization. isis must be stopped. the violence must end, and the united states must do more, more to stamp out this evil, more to eradicate the threats posed here and abroad and more to ensure that americans can tuck in their children at night with a feeling of security that they will be waking up tomorrow morning for school free from fear.

that's why we must support this safe act. it's thoughtful, it will further one of our principal national security priorities -- keeping americans safe as we work to eliminate the threat posed by isis. the instability in syria and the surrounding region has continued unabated for more than four years, and we've witnessed an indescribable humanitarian crisis because of the brutality of the assad regime and radical islamic groups such as isis. in the wake of the paris tragedy, we must step back and review the procedures in place for admitting refugees resulting from this conflict coming into our country. we can and must implement a system that assists the victims of the tragedy but that also prioritizes american security

first. will ensure that no refugee from iraq or syria steps foot on u.s. soil without the secretary of the department of human services -- d.h.s. and the f.b.i. director and the highest intelligence officer certify that each refugee is not a security threat to the u.s.. the department of homeland security, the f.b.i., the director of national intelligence must unanimously certify that a person seeking refuge in this country does not represent a security threat. this is an unprecedented vetting process to ensure dangerous people do not slip through the cracks. i urge your support, all in this chamber, so we can provide our military and intelligence personnel with the best possible chance for success as they work to keep us safe.

i urge support for the bill and yield back the time. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to recognize the ranking member on homeland security committee, mr. thompson of mississippi, for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi is recognized for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you very much, mr. speaker, and i appreciate the generosity from my colleague from michigan on the time. mr. speaker, we live in uncertain and dangerous times with ever-evolving terrorist threats. the brutality that isil has inflicted on innocent people is both chilling and demands action. as members of congress, we have a responsibility to do all we can to protect our citizens. in the wake of the paris attacks, questions have been raised about the screening

system that u.s. citizens on whether it can be exploited by terrorists. in light of those questions, mr. speaker, i ask unanimous nsent to enter in the record a letter from formal homeland security secretary janet napolitano and former secretary michael chertoff supporting the current system of vetting refugees. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. . we have seen a number of governors including the governor of my home state choose fear over facts. if they had done their research, they would have learned our program is an extensive 13-step process. it starts with the referral from the united nations of a

pre-screeped person within its refugee camps, requires department of homeland security to do in-person interviews and subject each applicant to reoccurring vetting against the department of homeland security, the state department, f.b.i., department of defense and intelligence community terrorist and criminal data bases. no excuses, mr. speaker. any one of those reviews pops up with a problem, that person can't be considered for the refugee program. no excuses. unlike in europe, where migrants across into country that have little opportunity to vet them, jailen is allowed on u.s. soil until all the checks are completed to d.h.s.'s

satisfaction. and has been said by representative lofgren, it takes 18 to 24 months for the process an applicant for refugee status. that process is thorough and complete, but there has been a reference to a stolen passport in the paris situation. that person, if they had applied for the refugee program, would have had to go through the same process of vetting that would ave required at least 18 to 24 months so the thought that that person can just get on a plane and get here to this country is actually not accurate. to perfect my effort the record. our system of vetting is a multi layered, multi agency approach

where the f.b.i. has veto authority on any applicant seeking refugee status. while no system is risk free, the protections in place in the american system are rigorous, robust and extensive. in fact, mr. speaker, yesterday, a witness that the majority invited to appear before our committee, matthew olesen, the former director of the national counterterrorism center, told our committee, no refugee program in the world is as extensive as what we do in the united states. yet here we are today considering h.r. 4038, a bill that would upend the current system which was developed by security personnel with one thought in mind, to protect the

homeland. and this -- these security personnel have done a wonderful job through the knowledge of all of us, none of the refugees that we are talking about from syria or iraq who come through this system have done anything have been model citizens since they have been here. for the record, del were 23,000 people that applied for refugee status from these two countries. those 23,000, about 7,000 were actually brewed and of those 7,000, only 2,000 were admitted. so, mr. speaker, our system is robust. it works and it speaks to our value as americans. i'm proud to say that people who e abused, people who are

oppressed can still look to this country, follow the rules and if those rules are properly applied, they can look to america as somewhere they can call home, because most of those individuals applying for refugee status can't go home. once again, i call on members to embrace facts over fear, mr. speaker. and vote against h.r. 4038. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. gowdy: i yield three minutes to the judge from the great state of texas, judge poe. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for three minutes. mr. poe: i thank the gentleman from south carolina for the time. mr. speaker, isis is at war with the united states. the question is is america at war with isis? i'm not so sure, since we don't have a strategy to defeat isis

other than if we are attacked, shelter in place, honker down, get more security guards around the capitol. use the tunnels rather than walk outside. that's what we were told after the paris attacks, mr. speaker. this legislation is really simple. it has with its core the idea to protect american citizens. it has nothing to do with refugees as far as being whether we accept refugees. the country accepts refugees. we always have. that's clear. it's not the issue of refugees, it's the issue of letting isis terrorists get into the country to kill us, mr. speaker. our own security that the gentleman from mississippi kept talking about tells us we cannot vet syrian refugees. the f.b.i. director says that. we can't do it.

one of the reasons many of these folks have no identity so we can't track somebody on someone who has no identity. this legislation says let's take some safeguards before we bring in these specific refugees. let's make sure that the people in charge of security certify that this person is not a threat. they can't do it right now, even the f.b.i. director says they can't certify. we owe that to the american public and this legislation does that. the gentleman from mississippi is correct, 31 governors of the states say wait a minute. not so fast. find out who these people are. i think that the governors of the state get it right. they ought to have the ability, i think, to decide whether people should come to their state or not, only after a

security check. so this legislation is a step to protect america. one of the things we're supposed to do. and the legislation is coming up quickly. why? because it's an immediate threat. you have refugees being bombed in syria. if we are going to take them in, let's have a plan to protect not only us but those refugees. and that plan is in this legislation. it seems to me it would be irresponsible not to pass the legislation to require a certification of everybody that comes into america so that america can be safe, because that is our responsibility, mr. speaker. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to recognize the distinguished the gentleman from washington, mr. mcdermott, for

one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized for one minute. without objection, so ordered. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, this bill is nothing but a p.r. piece that could have been written by joseph goebb emp are ls who said if you can make people afraid, you can make them do anything. they are attempting to panic the american people that there is not a system in place. let me tell you about this system that is there. mr. thompson said what is really there. i helped a woman who for two years was a translator for american troops in iraq. she was so good, she saved lots of people's lives. she was so good that the enemy put a mark on her and said they

were going to kill her. so she had to go into hiding. it took her from january, 2007 ntil september 2007 to get the papers and the witnesses and all the information necessary to get her into the united states. somebody who had put her life on the line for us. our soldiers, and it took nine months to get her in. then her mother and brothers and sisters who were 16, 12 and and nine, it took two years. we have a robust system that is working. this bill is p.r. baloney and we ought to vote no. it sends the wrong message and says only white christians can come into this country.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. gowdy: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from texas, chairman of the financial services committee, mr. hensarling. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hensarling: i thank the gentleman for yielding and all of his work to make our nation more secure. mr. speaker, i do rise in support today of the safety and security of the american people. as members of congress, we have no more sacred responsibility. thus, i rise in support of the safe act. now, i join all americans and all the people of the world in standing with the people of paris. and we are so sobered as to what happened to their homeland. but we are also sobered by the challenge and the grave responsibility to thwart the same evil from coming to our

homeland. the director of the f.b.i. has testified before congress just last month that a number of people who are of serious concern were able to slip through screenings of iraqi refugees. that's what the director of the f.b.i. said. this disturbing information, mr. speaker, obviously raises very serious red flags about lapses in the security within our current refugee vetting system. again, it is why i support and i encourage all members to support the american safe act of 2015. it would effectively hit the pause button on the refugee program, not to stop, but the pause button. and it's simple legislation. it simply requires more rigid standards so that the f.b.i.,

the department of homeland security and the director of national intelligence would positively certify that each refugee from iraq and syria does not pose a security threat to us, to our homeland, to our families. otherwise, they will not be permitted to set down on american soil. it is simple, it is common sense, it is needed. mr. speaker, our hearts also go out to the millions of refugees forced to flee their homes and save their lives and there is no other country in the world, no other country in the world that has been more generous with their time and treasure to refugees than the united states of america, but today is not the day to share our territory. not until and unless these people can be properly vetted to ensure they don't threaten our families. mr. speaker, hopefully the world has awakened.

there is a very real threat that isis poses and it is not the j.v. team, they are not contained and what happened in paris was not merely a setback. i urge my colleagues to take the responsibility to secure our homeland seriously. this will be the first of what i know will be many steps that this chamber will take to address the growing threats that are posed to our families and our country. and i thank the sponsors of the legislation for bringing it to the floor. i urge all my colleagues to adopt it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the the gentleman from texas has expired. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm honored to recognize our leader, ms. pelosi, for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding and for his great

service to our country promoting our values, strengthening our nation. i come to the floor in a very prayerful way today because we are all horrified at what happened in paris, what happened in beirut, what happened to the russian airliner to name a few recent incidents. we recognize that that is horrible and that we have to protect the american people from it. as we do so, we must be strong. but our strengths must spring from our prayerfulness for those who lost their lives or whose security was threatened physically, emotionally and every other way. in our body, -- in our country, we have a relationship with france. they were our earliest friends. and that's why in this chamber of the house of representatives,

any visitor can see there are only two paintings. . george washington, our hero, our founding father. the other painting in this hamber is the marquis de l lafayette in the friendship that the french government extended to the colonies in had our war for independence. just imagine george washington -lafayette, a long, long friendship. and so while we are concerned about violence exists in the world, when paris was hit in such a vicious way, in some ways it hit home for us, not that the other lives were not equally as important. so as we come to the floor to talk about what do we do next,

we take an oath of office, every one of us, to protect and support the american people, the constitution of the united states. keeping the american people safe is our first responsibility. it's the oath we take, and if the american people rbt safe, what else really -- aren't safe, what else really matters? we understand the concern, the fear that has -- goes out in the country when an act of terrorism strikes. and in fact, that's the goal of terrorists -- to instill fear, to instill terror. we cannot let them succeed. and so we have to take the measures necessary to protect the american people and to be very strong in how we do it. and that's why i have a problem with the bill that is on the floor today. because i think we have a much stronger, better option to

protect the american people, and that is in the form of the thompson-lofgren legislation. in the bill, unlike the republican bill, the democratic alternative applies tough scrutiny to all refugees, potential refugees, not just syrians and iraqis, as the republican bill is limited to. it would require -- the thompson-lofgren secure refugee process act, would require the secretary of homeland security to verify the identity of all refugee applicants, any application that contains insufficient, conflicting or unreliable information would be denied from day one. the bill also requires that at least five federal agencies -- the department of homeland security, the attorney general, the federal bureau of investigation, are the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the director of national intelligence -- check all refugee applicantses --

applications against their records. anything that has a national security or criminal threat would be denied. all. not iraq, syria. all. two former secretaries of homeland security, janet napolitano -- secretary janet napolitano and secretary michael chertoff, have written about the process that's in existence now and which the thompson-lofgren legislation respects, the process that is currently in place is thorough and robust and so long as it's fully implemented and not diluted -- and not diluted, it would allow us to safely admit the most vulnerable refugees while protecting the american people. fortunately, they say, these goals are not mutually

exclusive. there are other things we could be doing in a bipartisan way, and i would hope that was a place we could have gone with this, and one of them relates closing loopholes in the visa waiver program. our colleagues on the senate side today are putting forth their principles, and they state, if an isis recruit attempts to travel to the united states on a fraudulent passport, paper passport issued by a country that participates in the visa waiver program, that individual would avoid biometric screening and in-person interviews. how could we allow this loophole -- if we are truly addressing this challenge in a comprehensive way? and as if the republicans want to make the nation safer in the face of terror, there is another clear area in which we should act and that is we should be voting on congressman

peter king, republican peter king's bill to close the appalling loophole that's outrageous. it's outrageous that a person who's on the terrorism watch list -- listen to this. if someone is on the terrorist watch list could walk into a gun store and buy a gun. his bill is called the denying firearms and explosive to dangerous terrorists act. visa waiver, close the terrorist gun loophole. according to the g.a.o., over the last 11 years, more than 2,000 suspects on the f.b.i.'s terrorist watch list bought weapons in the united states. did you know that? did you know that? 91% of all suspected terrorists who tried to buy guns in the

united states walked away with the weapon they wanted over the ime period with just 190 rejected despite ominous history. 10:1 were 5: 1, able to get the guns? it is outrageous that we would be slamming the door of mothers and children while we still allow people on the terrorist watch list to walk in the door . a gun store and buy a gun and in regard to those mothers and children, i am with u.s. catholic conference of bishops o the episcopalians, presbyterians, evangelicals and juish groups, i say the republican bill before the house today fails to meet our values and fails to strengthen

the security of the american people. families in syria and iraq are desperately trying to escape isis' gruesome campaign of torture, rape and violence and terror from the assad regime. the republican bill before the use today severely handicaps the refugee settlement in the future in our country. instead, it slams the door -- that door, again, on desperate mothers and children fleeing isis' unspeakable violence. as lee anderson, president of the national association of evangelicals, said, quote, of course we want to keep terrorists out of our country but let's not punish the victims of isis for the since of isis -- for the sins of isis. did you know this? here are the facts. since 2001 only about -- in the last few years, only about 2,200 syrians have been

admitted to the united states. half are children. 25% are seniors. all faced an 18 to 24-month screening process. at the refugee council, a coalition of more than 80 states, humanitarian and human rights groups point out in their letter to congress, because so few refugees in the world are resettled, the united states often chooses the most vulnerable, including refugees who cannot remain safely where they are and families with children who cannot receive the medical care they need to survive. mr. speaker, i'd like to submit the refugee council's letter with all of the co-signers for the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. pelosi: thank you. as it is a proud american

tradition, we can both ensure the security of our country and welcome desperate women and children and seniors faces isis' brutality. my colleague that spoke before me said our hearts go out to the refugees, but our hand of iendship does not and it could. we could do this in a bipartisan way. if we betray our values as a country and slam the door in the face of those innocent victims of terror, we do not strengthen our security. we weaken ourselves in the ght against isis' savage ideology. as the refugee council wrote to congress, and this is important, it would send a demoralizing and dangerous message to the world that the united states makes judgments about people based on the country they come from and their religion. this feeds into extreme propaganda and all -- and makes

us all less safe. you know, i talked about the french to begin with. it was interesting to me to hear president hollande speaking to thousands of people in the wake of the tragedy. and what he said in some of his emarks at various venues was that france would be welcoming 30,000 refugees from syria in the period ahead. with all that they had suffered, the immediacy of the tragedy, the emotion of the moment and still doing the right thing. if we betray our values as a country and slam the door, again, on these victims, we do not strengthen our security, i said that. and all i can just say is this bill does not make us safer. the republican bill before us

does not make us safer. it does not reflect our values, and it does not have my support. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the minority leader has expired. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. gowdy: thank you, mr. speaker. i am pleased to yield a minute to the gentleman from nebraska, mr. ashford. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from nebraska is recognized for one minute. mr. ashford: i thank the gentleman from south carolina. mr. speaker, in my view, h.r. 4038 is in fact a commonsense pproach to address the legit imate security concerns that my constituents are expressing today in wake of horrific attacks in paris, in my view a game changer -- it's a game-changer -- we must and are obligated to reassess our existing procedures and that's what all this bill does. for admitting and monitoring refugees from countries associated with isis. i cannot sit back and ignore

the concerns of my constituents and the american public. this legislation does not shut down the refugee asylum process. if it did i wouldn't support it. we are simply asking the administration to reassure us that those coming to the united states do not pose a threat to the american people. we should not accept anything less from our federal government. i am very proud of our american legacy as a welcoming nation, and i have devoted much of my professional life to that concept and idea. this legislation, in my view, simply does not diminish that legacy. rather, this legislation will protect that legacy into the future and reassure americans that we are working to protect them. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from nebraska yields

back. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i yield to my friend from new york, mr. meeks, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. meeks: mr. speaker, i think it is without question that we have the strongest, the most stringent and the toughest refugee system in the entire world. i don't think anybody can dispute that. yet, we are still humanitarian bout what our system is. this bill is called america safe act, but where our greatest danger lies is when rhetoric is given for isis to utilize to recruit american citizens, those of us who are here to radicalize them and then they can go to a gunshop and buy an assault weapon.

if we are truly wanting to make sure that america is safe, we should make sure that no homegrown or radicalized person here has access to an assault weapon. we should have a bill -- we want every american to be safe, as i hear my colleagues talking, i'm with you. how we make them safe, make sure that nobody, refugee otherwise, has the ability to come to our nation and put their hands on an assault weapon that could harm our people, that's what will keep america safe. working together with the most stringent refugee system is what we need to do. this is just something to try to keep people from coming in who are running away from rape, rom violence, from persecution

. young children, women who are widows, who overwhelmingly are the individuals of the 2,000 that have been let in here. let's keep america safe. let's keep assault weapons out of our land, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. gowdy: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. rohrabacher. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. rohrabacher: i rise in support of h.r. 4038. this legislation will give us a pause to ensure that a safe haven in america is not used by terrorists to murder large number of americans. after the slaughter in paris, it be hoofs us to take a close look

to see americans will not be put in jeopardy by flaws in our own system that already exists. yes, we can be proud that our country has a tradition of assisting suffering refugees, but we will not, we will not be consistent with that by putting americans in jeopardy. what can we do to improve the system, protect more americans? if we pause for a moment, we might come up with some ideas. for example, let me be the first one on the floor of the house to advocate that all people coming here especially from the middle east be given polygraph tests. let's give them a lie detector test. this shouldn't be an option for our embassies but a requirement. timely, we heard several references to the jews being sent back in 1938 to nazi

germany. they had been targeted for genocide. it was wrong, it was horrible and immoral for us to send them back and not recognized they were targeted for genocide. today the christians in the middle east are targeted for genocide and i hear over here, no, but christians should get the priority the same way those jews should have been given the priority in 1938 because today christians are targeted for genocide in the middle east. if we are not to make the same mistake that september the jews back in 1938 to hitler's death camps let's not send christians back because it might people get upset. save the christians from genocide, but let's make our system better so americans are not put in jeopardy by the been

eff lens of our own people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: i'm pleased to yield to my colleague from california, mr. sherman, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. mr. sherman: we want to vote for a bill to reflect the angst of our constituents. if you eed this bill, you can't vote for it. the directors of f.b.i. and national intelligence and secretary of homeland security to personally review and vote on and certify each and every individual refugee file. we admitted 187 refugees last month. if our security leaders just spent two hours on each file, it will consume all of their working hours. isis cannot at the same time and permanently incapacitate our security leaders. this bill does. now some will say our security

leaders won't look at the files but this is an underhanded way without taking responsibility. but our security leaders are human. and our security leaders will know if they invest a couple of hours in personally reviewing the file, they can save a human life and if they spend another two hours, they can save another human life. our security leaders will be full-time refugee evaluators. this bill is not a pause bill but a permanent bill which personal nantly incapacitates our security agencies. read the bill and vote no. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. gowdy: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from mississippi, mr. palazzo. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. palazzo: we are under attack and we are being targeted and we

are at war. the ep my has brought war to us and make no mistake this is radical muslim extremism. last week in paris we saw a reminder of how dedicated our enemy is. we must fight back and must do more. the united states of america must do more. the president of the united states on the very day isis attacked paris argued that isis had been contained. he was wrong. last year, the president called isis the j.c. team. he was wrong. he has been wrong on isis since the very beginning and he is wrong now. where is the strategy? where is the will power? where is the leadership? two years ago secretary of state john kerry testified in front of the house armed services committee about the need to arm syrian rebels. i questioned this decision because we had no way of vetting these rebels and i told secretary kerry at the time, america is not buying what you are selling. two years later, the administration has shut down the

army in the syrian rebels because it was ineffective. now they want to bring in 10,000 refugees to the united states, refugees who the dect tore of the f.b.i. says cannot be fully vetted. mr. speaker, today we are going to pass a strong piece of legislation to protect the american people. the safe act will ensure the highest level of security is placed on every single syrian refugee and effectively stop this program to make sure americans are protected. i believe we should do more, but this is a powerful first step to stop dangerous terrorists from reaping our soil. but the president, our commander in chief, the one person charged with protecting the u.s. homeland above all others has threatened to veto this bill. i dare him. i dare the president because he is angrier at republicans than he is at terrorists. i dare him to veto this bill because he thinks his strategy is working. i dare the president of the

united states to tell the citizens of the united states that he is more concerned with syrian refugees than the safety of the american people. i dare him. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: i yield now one minute to the distinguished the ntleman from california, mr. liu. mr. lieu: i'm congressman ted bill. d i oppose the it is the wrong solution for the brong problem thrfment has not been a single act of terrorism on american soil committed by a refugee. and in paris those attacks were committed by french and belgian citizens. toought to be banning travel rance and belgium, and if that

isn't crazy enough, america is a country born of persecution and equality for all. we are that shining city upon the hill. we are better than this. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back his time. the gentleman from south carolina, mr. gowdy is recognized. mr. gowdy: it is my pleasure to yield two minutes to my friend from south carolina, mr. duncan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. duncan: i thank the gentleman from south carolina for yielding time. as a christian, i have compassion and sympathy for the refugees in syria. in fact, i visited with many of them at a camp in jordan that held 120,000 syrian refugees. we are criticized for not having compassion on this issue. let me tell you compassion cuts

two ways. we should be cognizant of the compassion we show our fellow citizens in america. that compassion is exemplified by using the good sense that god gave us addressing the national security concern that our nation faces. our compassion should be to the best of our abilities, and this legislation does, says we are going to use the best of our abilities. we should do everything we can to make sure elements of evil are not introduced and interviews compassion in the hearts, towns and cities and states that we represent. we lock our doors not because we hate the people on the outside, we lock our doors because we love the people on the inside. this legislation is a great step, first step, first step to hit pause and let's get this right for the people we serve and the great nation that we

swear to uphold and defend. and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina yield back. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: i yield one minute to the distinguished the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. blumenauer: my republican friends, unlike the french who had the vision and courage not to scape got desperate syrian refugees fleeing the mr. barrow:ians that attacked barbariansfleing the in paris. they would do what the 9/11 hijackers using this system. are we going to pause and certify visas for students, tourists and workers? why not? one objectionable portion of this bill for me is i have worked for 10 years to try and

help the iraqis who worked with us in iraq during that war to be able to escape the mercy of al qaeda with long memories who are killing and torturing them. this bill pulls the plug on that and condemns them to be left to the terrorists. i think that is reprehensible. these are people who depended upon us and relied upon us. we have been working in a bipartisan way for 10 years to help them escape to safety and this bill would slam that door shut. you ought to be ashamed. the speaker pro tempore: the time the gentleman from oregon has expired. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. gowdy: we reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized.

mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm pleased now to yield one minute to the distinguished the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. boyle. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. boyle: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, this bill is a great way for congress to appear as if it's acting and achieving something without actually doing anything. mr. speaker, i'm proud to be a member of the foreign affairs committee. we have had numerous hearings from the beginning of the year, including yesterday, on this issue specifically. one of the great challenges western countries face is the problem of home-grown terrorism. we saw that last week in paris when the overwhelming majority of those who perpetrated these acts were french nationals and belgian nationals. the big issue we face is what do we do with those who hold european passports and can come here easily by getting a plane

ticket? what do we do with the problem of home-grown terrorism here in the u.s. those are the key challenges we face and how we balance our civil liberties and need for tourism with our need for security. this bill sadly today does absolutely nothing about it. so we are going to pass this bill and pat ourselves on the back and go home and say we did something when actually we have done nothing to achieve the problem and protect the security of the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania yields back. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. gouddepoud we continue to reserve. the eaker pro tempore: gentleman continues to reserve. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: i yield to the ntleman from california, mr. becerra, one minute.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. becerra: the safety of our fellow americans and america itself is and must be our number one priority, our number one responsibility here in this chamber. the people of america have the right to expect indeed demand exactly that. our national security screening and background system for refugees is the toughest in the world. that is why so few refugees from syria have ever been able to receive their clearance to be accepted into this country. ut then paris, november 13 happened. we're reminded of 9/11. if i believe that this rushed legislation made our toughest of refugee screening systems work better, i would vote for it. but if this rushed legislation only adds another layer of bureaucracy that makes our screening process look tougher and then results in women and children who are fleeing the

very terrorists we seek to keep out dereknying them of a chance to seek refuge here in this country, i cannot support that. our tradition and our values open our door to those as in the past who fled europe to start this country in the first place. it is up to us to do this courageously and do it right, not with rushed legislation. i urge a no vet and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. gowdy: we continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm pleased now to yield to the gentleman from tennessee, a member of the judiciary committee, one member. -- one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen is recognized for one minute. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. conyers, thank you for the time. this bill is here not having gone through committee.

it's not our normal process. it's considered an emergency. it's not an emergency. refugees will not get in this country for a year and a half to two years from the time they apply. we could come back and look at the democratic bill of which i'm a co-sponsor that incorporates mr. king's amendment on terrorists, people getting guns who could be on the terrorist list, and get a democratic and republican bill that we might find we could agree on. instead, we're doing this for politics and we're doing it as a of inuing use of pinata president barack hussein obama. this is an attack on the president who has the response to believe the defend us. this doesn't make us safer, it's a political way to attack the president and it's wrong. that's why i will be voting no i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. gowdy: may i inquire how

much time we have left remaining on our side. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina has two minutes remaining, the gentleman from michigan has four minutes remaining. mr. gowdy: we continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record from today's "new rk times" editorial board, noted today, refugees from the ar aren't the enemy. this measure represents the election year pandering to the exene phobia that -- to the xenophobea that rears up when people from abroad arrive. people who know these issues, law enforce -- law enforcement and intelligence professional,, immigration officials and

humanitarian groups, say this wrongheaded proposal simply would not protect americans from foreign enemies. thank you, sir. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. gowdy: i will continue to reserve until such time as my friend from michigan has closed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: thank you. mr. speaker, i'm proud to yield to ms. lofgren a member of the committee, -- a member of the committee on judiciary, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. lofgren: mr. speaker, i have listened to all of this debate with keen interest. and a sense of great sadness that we were unable to come up with a bipartisan bill today. i would like to note, however, that a bill was introduced by

myself and mr. thompson of mississippi that is much tougher than the bill before us. it would relate to all refugees in terms of their identity and their excludeability, including nigerians, when we war worry about boko haram, somalians because we may be worried about el sagab. but we also took good ideas from mr. mccaul, it is a good idea to do some sampling on the i.g. it is a good idea to have some reporting to committees. unfortunately, our bill was not put in order. but it is a stronger bill. it incorporates the good ideas in the republican bill. but a smarter approach to deal with the threat. i yield back the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. speaker, i ask

unanimous consent to have included in the record letters of opposition to h.r. 4038. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. conyers: and now i yield to the gentlelady from florida, ms. fran tell, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized for one minute. ms. frankel: mr. speaker, our folks back home are understandably fright and there's no question that isil must be destroyed and that the safety of americans must be our first priority. to deny refuge to women and children who are fleeing rape and torture and who go through a two-year vigorous entry process will not make us a safer country. at a time we're trying to forge

a coalition of international nations, it is self-defeating to send a message of isolation. our anti-terrorism resources must be focused on terrorists, not on innocent human beings seeking shelter from the most unspeakable horrors. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from michigan is ecognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: thank you. members of the committee and of the house, instead of slamming our doors to the world's most vulnerable, we should be considering legislation to strengthen and expand refugee programs. unfortunately, the bill before us today is not a serious effort

to legislate and it will not make us safer. it's a knee jerk reaction, as evidenced by the fact that this measure was introduced to us -- was introduced just two days ago and has not been the subject of a single hearing of any meaning -- or any meaningful review by our committee. rather than betraying our values, we must continue to focus on the most effective tools to keep us safe while providing refuge for the world's most vulnerable. accordingly, i plead with, i urge my colleagues, to please oppose h.r. 4038. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields back. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. gowdy: thank you, mr. speaker. it seems common sense call that hen it comes o--

commonsenseical, that when it comes to this we should rely on the men and women who are experts who have dead kayed their lives to public safety and national security. these are the facts. we don't have sufficient information to appropriately nfingt and vet failed nation states. this is a fact. isis has sworn to bring this war against innocence here. this is a fact. the administration officials noted isis may well use the refugee program to infiltrate our country. this is also a fact, mr. speaker. the margin for error is zero. it is zero. and the presumption should always be in favor of national security and public safety because that is the preeminent role of government. and it's our constitutional duty, mr. speaker, so unless and until those we place in charge of our national security and public safety canned pro-- can

provide the necessary assurances, we should seek to aid those who need aid where they are. in conclusion, mr. speaker, the president says we are scared of widows and orphans. that's what passes for debate this day and age. with all due respect to the president, what we're really afraid of, mr. speaker, is a foreign policy that produces so many widows and orphans. he's the commander in chief, mr. speaker. his job is to make our home safer. you can also make the homeland of the refugees safer. he could restore order to the region and defeat that j.v. team he once thought he had contained. that would be the very best thing we could do for those who aspire to a better, safer life. with that, i would yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. all time for debate has expired. pursuant to house resolution 531, the previous question is ordered on the bill. the question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill.

those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: supplemental certifications and background investigations be completed prior to the admission of certain aliens as refugees and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi seek recognition? >> i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentleman opposed to the bill? mr. thompson: i am opposed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman qualifies. the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: mr. thompson of mississippi -- open the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will suspend. mr. gowdy: may i reserve a point of order. the speaker pro tempore: point of order is reserved. the clerk will read. the clerk: to the committee on judiciary with instructions to report the same back to the -- mr. thompson: i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection? hearing none, so order.

the gentleman from mississippi is recognized for five minutes in support of his motion. mr. thompson: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. if adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final assage as amended. mr. speaker, my motion to recommit will do several things. first thing it will do is require the secretary of homeland security to verify the identify of refugee applicants. any application that contains insufficient, conflicting, or unreliable information would be denied. the second point of my motion to recommit is that this motion would require at least five

federal agencies, the department of homeland security, the attorney general, and federal bureau of investigation, the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the director of national intelligence, all -- all together, to check refugee applicants against their records. any application that indicates a national security or criminal threat would be denied. in addition, mr. speaker, my motion would also require that the secretary of homeland security would certify that all relevant federal immigration laws have been complied with and that the applicant has not been resettled in a safe third party country and has the department of homeland security's inspector general's review as a sample of the certification. fourthly, mr. speaker, my motion

to recommit would require the department of homeland security inspector general to submit monthly reports to congress on refugee applications from syria and iraq. the secure refugee process act of 015 is a pro-security, pro-compassion bill that would ensure the u.s. continues to maintain the most extensive interagency security screening process in the world. to vet all people who seek safe harbor in a great nation. mr. speaker, the people we are talking about in this particular motion, they really don't have a country. many of them have been tortured. the women have been raped. the children, for the lack of a better term, are destitute. we are a nation of values.

my bill speaks to those values. it does not pause the process. it does not create a moratorium to the process. it adds an additional layer of security without stopping the refugee program. . it is not the immigration bill. it's a refugee program. as i said earlier, we had 23,000 individuals apply for status under this particular program who were iraqi or syrian citizens. of that number, 7,000 received interviewed of that number, around 2,000 were approved. so, it takes time. and so what my motion to recommit is a prudent approach to recognizing the values of this country. and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? >> i rise in opposition to the motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman withdraw his point of reservation? mr. gowdy: yes, mr. speaker, i do. the speaker pro tempore: reservation withdrawn. the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. gowdy: thank you, mr. speaker. a national security and public safety are the preeminent functions of government. national security and public safety are not simply factors to be considered in the administration of some broader policy objective. national security and public safety are the ultimate policy objectives. and the safety and security of our fellow citizens should be the driving force behind every decision that we make. this country, mr. speaker, has a long, proud, rich history of welcoming those fleeing persecution and liberating those suffering under oppression. we are the most welcoming, generous country in the world, having taken in over three million refugees since 1975. we are generous and compassionate, mr. speaker, because we are free. and we are free because we are

a country rooted in the law and public safety and standards of decency protected by a fundamental commitment to national security. the world we currently find ourselves in, mr. speaker, is imperfect and becoming more imperfect. so rather than address the underlying pathology that results in displaced people, this administration is focused on the symptoms. there are refugees from the middle east and northern africa because those regions are on fire. and riddled with chaos and our bright lines and policies of containment have failed. mr. speaker, terrorists took the lives of over 100 innocent people in france and injured many more because they could. they killed 100 only because they could not kill 1,000. their objective is evil for the sake of evil, murder for the sake of murder, wanten and willful violence -- wanton and willful violence, premeditated depravity, calculated to take innocent lives.

and the terrorists have been very open about their present and future objectives and we should therefore be equally clear about our objectives. administration officials responsible for national security and public safety, mr. speaker, have repeatedly warned us they cannot vet failed nation states. they cannot do background investigations where there is no database. isis will use any means available to harm us. what this administration needs to tell the american people, mr. speaker, is how much risk is acceptable. given the consequences of reconciling the risk wrongly, how much risk is this administration willing to take? when it comes to public safety, we have to be successful all of the time. and those who seek to do us harm have to be successful just once. so, how much risk are you willing to take with your own safety? how much risk are you willing to take with the safety of

those you swore an oath to represent? and you have done everything in your power to mitigate that risk? have you done everything in your power to explore alternatives other than resettlement here? mr. speaker, every decision we make as elected officials should be with the safety and security of our fellow citizens as the preeminent objective. unless and until those in charge of security and public safety can provide assurances the aid we render to those in need should be rendered where they are. in conclusion, mr. speaker, let me say this. the president's the commander in chief. he should help us make this our home -- this, our home, safer. he should help us make the homeland of the refugees safer. he should restore order to the region. that would be the very best and most humane thing we could all do, provide a better, safer life for those who aspire one where they are.

with that, i would oppose the motion to recommit and urge support for the underlying bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. without objection, the previous question is ordered. on the motion to recommit. the chair will receive a message. mark: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: mr. speaker, i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has agreed to h.r. 3996, cited as the surface transportation act of 2015, part 2. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. noes have it. the motion is not agreed to. the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: on that i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes

by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on the motion to recommit will be followed by five-minute votes on passage of the bill if ordered and agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal if ordered. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 180, the nays are -- the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 180 and the nays are 244. adopted.n is not

the question is on passage of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider -- the gentleman from wisconsin. >> mr. speaker, on that i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 289, the nays are 137. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. which the chair will put to de novo. the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the journal stand as i proved. - stands approved. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir. pursuant to section 8002 of the internal revenue code of 1986, in order to fill the house majority vacancy on the joint committee on taxation created by your resignation from the committee, mr. nunes has been

designated to serve on the committee. serve be on the joint committee on taxation for the house are kevin brady, sam johnson, devon nunes, sandra levin and charles rangel. igned, sincerely, kevin brady.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from nebraska seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. > he house will be in order. the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the fifth annual national rural health day. the third thursday in november is set aside each year by the national organization of state offices of rural health to recognize the needs of and challenges facing rural americans and their communities. these challenges include fewer health care providers and longer travel distances. the hospitals serving rural communities continue to be

burdened by orby trare regulations such as regulations as well as a 96-hour certification rules which we need to address this year, rural consumers in 12 statings also face the challenge of finding a new insurance plan because the so-called consumer oriented and operated plan, co-op, created by obe macare, from which they purchase coverage, has failed this includes 20,000 nebraskans and iowans who bought coverage through them. consumers the serve to know what went wrong and whether the $2.4 billion in failing loans to this program will be repaid. i will can't to fight for feeze -- fight for these answers and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute.

>> mr. speaker, today i rise to remember doctor kevin murphy, who passed away at his home in port st. joe, florida, on thursday, november 5, at the age of 71. throughout his decades in medicine, dr. murphy built up an incredibly long list of accomplishments, from starting a heart surgery program in indiana, to visiting impoverished and isolated villages across the world to provide care. in 2002, he moved to north florida where he became medical director for the gulf county health center. he worked there for more than a decade and became well known as a passionate health provider and advocate for equal access to quality care. as the proud great granddaughter of one of north florida's first country doctors, i have a special place in my heart for physicians like dr. murphy. the amazing care he provided for his community ensures he will

always be loved and remembered in north florida. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rom arkansas seek recognition? without objection the gentleman from arkansas is recognized for one minute. >> i rise today to honor one of arkansas' finest home son, dr. milton pitts crenshaw who passed away on november 17, 2015, at the age of 96. born in little rock, dr. crenshaw became known as the father of black aviation in arkansas. he was one of the original supervising squadron commanders providing training, instruction under the civilian pilot training program for the tuskegee airmen in world war ii. mr. hill: he served his country for more than 40 years of

federal service with the u.s. army air corps and the u.s. air force. laettner life, dr. crenshaw's advocacy on the part of veterans and his fellow tuskegee airmen was relentless. in 2007, dr. crenshaw along with other member os they have tuskegee airmen were awarded the congressional gold medal. his courageous service and sacrifice to his country is an example for all americans and arkansans, we will admire and remember dr. crenshaw forever. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to of course extend my heartfelt condolences to the victims of terrorism in paris, but what i

also want to do because i take my membership in this august body seriously, is to make sure we're not fostering the perception that black lives don't matter. if we look at the global terrorism index publish by the institute for economics and peace, we would see that boko haram has killed -- the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. please take your conversations off the floor. the gentleman may proceed. mr. richmond: thank you. we would see that boko haram has killed 6,644 people last year, 77% of them private citizens. on the other hand, isail has killed 6,073, 44% of which were private citizens. i want to take a moment and highlight over the last two months the terrorism that's been going on in nigeria, cameroon, and chad. just this wednesday, 15 people were killed at a mobile phone market. with a bombing.

34 people were killed with a bombing at a fruit and vegetable market. four people were bombed at a mosque. three people bombed at a mosque on november 9. and in october, more of they have same. october 23, 11 people were bombed at a mosque. october 14, 44 -- 42 people killed at a mosque. mr. speaker, i say this to just highlight the fact that terrorism is plaguing communities all across this world. we should make sure that we as the united states congress highlight all of those communities and express our condolences and seek to create peace around this country and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, the recent terrorist attack in paris is a terrible tragedy. our prayers go out to the victims and their families.

these heinous crimes and attacks are a reminder of the grave threats facing the united states and our allies. we must stand strong with our international partners to eradicate this evil. mr. marchant: here at home we must ramp up measures to keep the american people safe. that means halting the admitance of syrian and iraqi refugees until we're sure the vetting is airtight, and right now it is not. the president's own security advisors have reinforced this fact, yet he is moving full steam ahead with this plan to admit 0,000 refugees over the next year. this is irresponsible. our nation has the greatest and most generous refugee policy in the world. but we cannot allow terrorists to exploit our compassion. the safety of the american people must be our number one priority. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. and i'd like to associate myself with the remarks made by the gentleman from louisiana, terrorism is plaguing us not only in europe, we are concerned about naturally our country, the united states of america, keeping it safe. mr. payne: but it is happening all over the world. in europe, in africa, and that is the reason the notion of black lives mattering has been raised. the african people are suffering from boko haram, which has aligned itself with isil as well. so we need if we're going to fight terrorism in one place, we need to make sure we fight it everywhere. let me just say, mr. speaker,

that i'm very concerned about the vote that was just taken today, in terms of syrian refugees. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will yield. the house will be in order. please take your conversations off the house floor. the gentleman may resume. mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. we were asked to have a pause. well, you don't feel that 18 to 24 months is a pause in getting into this country, passing a 13 to 14 mark checklist, by the time a 5-year-old gets into this country, he's 7. so i think that the bill that was just voted on was flawed and miscued. we have a system in place that gives enough time and ample time to make sure that these people

seeking asylum have the right to come here as we have done throughout the history of this nation. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from washington seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise today because i'm deeply concerned about the future of american leadership abroad. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: for nearly five years this administration has defended a containment strategy, even as isis rapidly escalates. as paris tragically demonstrates, containment as a strategy is as ineffective as it is morally bankrupt. it aloud for the development of the world's largest humanitarian disaster since world war ii while placing us and our allies at grave risk this refugee crisis is a direct response to assad's mass atrocities against

syrian civilians and the associated expansion of isis. i call on the president to choose and execute a broader strategy that destroys isis, stops assad's reign of terror and allows refugees to return home and rebuild their lives. it's time for a real commitment and real courage. the american people and the world are waiting. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for ne minute. ms. jackson lee: this is a long list of the vetting process that desperate refugees who happen to come from camps in jor dab and

lebanon and who happen to be syrian go throughle it is more than 21, and in fact the last one says, prior to entry to the united states, applicants are subject to screening again from the u.s. customs and bureau -- and border patrol. applicants undergo number 20, expected interagency security check, that's after 19 other security checks. i want to thank lutheran service, catholic charities, interfaith ministries, for recognizing the importance of the face of america to be a refuge for those who have worn and desperate. i want to join my colleagues to say that we all have a responsibility for national security. i hope the senate will engage in vigorous debate, that the president will announce to the world that we are fighting isis, we are joining allies and taking it to the fight. but we must do other things besides denying and stopping innocent refugees from coming in, a small, small number.

secure our airports, ensure that the backside of the airport is secure. make sure that no foreign fighter is able to come into the united states and i've introduced legislation for this. we're not for not protect, we are for protecting, but we must do it in a way that america has been able to stand up and be respectful, recognizing of course all of those who struggle. i thank you mr. speaker, happy thanksgiving and i yield back. i know we are a great country, and i know those know that we are. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas -- or california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise to

welcome to washington the deputy hief of staff of president proshenko of the ukraine, who has joined us today in this hall in our gallery, and is accompanied by the ukrainian ambassador to the united states. mr. sherman: the ambassador was with me in los angeles last weekend, where he was there for the commemoration and remembrance of the catastrophic disaster and atrocity of 1932-1933, in which statin -- stalin killed millions of ukrainians. stalin failed in his ultimate goal, an independent ukraine today stands in resistance to aggression from moscow. i'd also like to recognize in our gallery ukrainian american inventor igorpasternack.

his company, eros, is the first american firm to provide the ukrainian government with the military equipment necessary to defend its sovereignty. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues in the administration to redouble their efforts to help ukraine protect its sovereignty by providing ukraine with the necessary assistance to protect her freedom. the united states stands with the people and government of the ukraine as they resist aggression once again and now in the 21st century. maintainsukraine that its territorial integrity is in america's interest. it's therefore important that ukraine have a strong and secure border. that's why i'm pleased to be joined by our guests here today and look forward to working with the ukrainian government to preserve ukrainian freedom and i'm proud that it is a company from los angeles that is the

first and unfortunately as of yet the only company to provide the ukrainian government with the military equipment it needs. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back. the chair will remind members that members -- the rules do not allow members to address people n the gallery. the chair lays before the house n enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 3996, an act to provide an extension of federal aid highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit and other programs funded out of the highway trust fund, and or other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i send to the desk a privileged concurrent resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the

clerk will report the concurrent resolution. the clerk: house concurrent resolution 95. resolved, that when the house adjourns on any legislative day from thursday, november 19, 2015, through wednesday, november 25, 2015, on a motion offered pursuant to this concurrent resolution by its majority leader or his designee, it stand adjourned until 2:00 p.m. on monday, november 30, 2015, or until the time of any reassembly pursuant to section 2 of this concurrent resolution, which ever occurs first. and that when the senate recesses or adjourns on any day from thursday, november 19, 2015, through tuesday, november 24, 2015, on a motion offered pursuant to this concurrent resolution by its majority leader or his designee, it stand recessed or adjourned until noon on monday, november 30, 2015. or such other time on that day as may be specified by its majority leader or his designee

and the motion to recess or you adjourn or -- or adjourn or until the time of any reassembly, which ever occurs first. section 2, a, the speaker or his designee, after consultation with the minority leader of the house, shall notify the members of the house to reassemble at such place and time as he may designate if, in his opinion, the public interest shall warrant it. b, after reassembling pursuant to subsection a when the house adjourns on a motion offered pursuant to this subsection by its majority leader or his designee, the house shall, again, stand adjourned pursuant to the first section of this concurrent resolution. section 3, a, majority leader of the senate or his designee, after concurrence with the minority leader of the senate, shall notify the members of the senate to reassemble at such place and time as he may designate if, in his opinion, the public interest shall warrant it. b, after reassembling pursuant to subsection a, when the senate adjourns on a motion

offered pursuant to this subsection, the senate shall again stand adjourned pursuant to the first section of this concurrent resolution. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the concurrent resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider s laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 5:00 p.m. on friday, november 20, 2015, unless it sooner has received a message from the senate transmitting its concurrence on house concurrent resolution 95 in which case the house will stand adjourned pursuant to that concurrent resolution. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the gentleman from louisiana, mr. graves, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.

mr. graves: mr. speaker, three years ago the louisiana international guard began a turnaround, after coming in 3th in the nation in the end of september -- 38th in the nation in the end of september, twelve, with a 98.4% strength. in 2013, the louisiana national guard moved up to 20th and last year ranked 15th. the louisiana army national guard's fiscal year, 2015, end strength goal of 9,554 soldiers, was surpassed with a tal of 9,650 soldiers or 101.2%. the air national guard surpassed its 2015 end strength al of 1,390 airmen, with

1,496 airmen. or 107% of its goal. strong numbers directly relate to our ability to respond to our state and nation. great leadership under major general glen curts i, putting a priority -- curtis, putting a priority on personal readiness. mr. speaker, i'll tell you, i've worked very closely with general curtis over the years and he's an incredible man. that has garnered incredible respect from the men and women of the louisiana national guard. here are a few other statistics for your information. the national guard end strength , at 9,652, is 101% or fourth in the nation. the air national guard end strength is 1,496 which is 108% or fifth in the nation. the army national guard retention rate is 80%, which constitutes first in the nation. the air national guard retention rate is 82%, which

puts them in the top 10. medical readiness rate is 9%. e 256 ibct ranked number one of 2 ibct's, army community of excellence program, placed in the top four of 38 and received a site visit to determine top three spots. mr. speaker, i want to commend the men and women of the louisiana national guard for their perseverance, for their strength and for their contribution to the state of louisiana and the united states f america. mr. speaker, the united states military has begun active engagement in syria back in september of 2014. when the united states led coalition began its ongoing air strike campaign, along with bahrain, jordan, qatar, saudi arabia and the u.a.e. during this period, the

pentagon also administered a $500 million, half a billion dollar, program, to train and equip moderate syrian opposition forces to target isis. this effort failed to train many soldiers or yield the desired results. so the administration scrapped the effort. the wide range of state and nonstate actors in syria has created one of the most geopolitically complex conflicts in recent memory. this highlights the urgency and necessity for a clear strategy in syria. what is the united states' end game? a definition of what success means in syria. a strong commitment to eliminating any and all threats that isis poses to the united states, its allies or a shift away from the conflict. i believe this administration has been incredibly vague about all of those.

and i've repeatedly reached out to the white house on this topic and will continue to call on the president to articulate a clear path forward in syria. before the united states risk any american lives and resources, the administration and state department, the department of defense, should provide clarity on u.s. objectives. and how the ongoing use of military force fits into a comprehensive strategy for success in the region. success needs to be defined. but i suggest defining success as the neutralization of all direct threats isis poses to america and our national security. we need to clarify the u.s. strategy in syria now and i hope to work with the administration and with other members of congress toward getting us on the right path. mr. speaker, well before this syrian refugee issue became a hot button issue, i joined together with members on the other side of the aisle in

bipartisan efforts to reach out to the department of defense, to reach out to the administration, to express these very concerns. and, mr. speaker, let's be clear. it's our failed policy in syria what has created this predicament of refugees. if we had a clear strategy, definitive strategy, if we had clear objectives, if we were aggressive in achieving those objectives, of eliminating of, of neutralizing isis, of creating a new government structure there to fill the void created by us removing and helping to remove what the -- with the international community the assad regime, we wouldn't have refugees, we'd have stability in syria. we'd have a place for people to live and there would not be this refugee situation. where tens of thousands of folks are being displaced into the united states and other areas. where we have this threat to our national security, the inability to vet these refugees before coming into the united states. mr. speaker, i want to be clear

on this. mr. speaker, as reports have indicated in recent days, and i want to be clear, this isn't from any classified setting, this is a place where you apparently get real information, the dredge report. there are reports right now of folks with fake syrian passports being questioned in honduras and in costa rica. there are reports of afghan and iraqi refugees from years ago in kentucky and other areas that have been involved in efforts to attack the united states. i'll say that again. refugees from other countries, from middle eastern nations, from iraq and elsewhere, that were previously brought to the united states. and apparently not gone through a sufficient vetting process, were caught trying to attack the united states. according to reports that are out there now.

there are reports of folks from the middle east trying to illegally cross over and come into arizona and texas. mr. speaker, this is clearly a systemic failure, the inability to place refugees, to secure our border, to secure our nation. this isn't a partisan issue. we should not be sacrificing the security of americans. there are ways to where we can be good community citizens, good world leaders and allow for refugees to come here, or, better yet, stabilize, help to work with the international community to stabilize their own countries. mr. speaker, i want to continue to work together with other members of congress, including our louisiana delegation, where just this week senator vitter introduced legislation to address the refugee problem, to ensure that we're not threatening our american security. that we're not sacrificing the safety and security for americans in exchange for those

from syria. together with congressman boustany, congressman abraham, congressman fleming, we introduced companion legislation in the house of representatives to ensure that that happens. i want to be clear again, mr. speaker, it's not some jumping to the hot issue of the day. before this issue became a crisis and in the news, we joined together with congressman babin and others to ensure america's safety, to ensure that we were properly vetting these refugees before they came to the united states, to understand the tax -- excuse me, the implications through taxpayers -- to taxpayers, the cost of having these folks here in the united states. so, mr. speaker, i want to say again, i'm very proud of the strong bipartisan vote that just occurred here in this body. but we need to continue to work together in a bipartisan fashion. this is not a partisan issue. terrorism affects every american. and we need to continue to be very aggressive. not allow this to degrade into partisanship. this is about the safety and

the security of the united tates. mr. speaker, the land and water conservation fund was first authorized in 1965. there was some time of -- type of compromise that was reached at that time, whereby this proliferation of offshore energy production would occur. and at the same time there was a concern that those activities could threaten the environment. so there was a negotiation reached whereby the first $900 million of this land and water conservation fund would be -- excuse me, first $900 million of offshore energy revenues from oil and gas production would be committed to the land and water conservation fund. the idea was that half of those dollars would be used to go toward the acquisition of federal lands for purposes of creating or growing national parks or wildlife refugees, b.l.m. land, national forests.

half the funds would be authorized to go to state side grant programs, for similar types of activities, to increase recreational opportunities, state wildlife refuges, state parks, for citizens in the united states. that stateside program is a match at 50-50. the states have to put up half the money. mr. speaker, i would call the land and water conservation -- funding its objectives a laudable goal, to preserve these recreational and conservation activities for americans. certainly as this nation's population grows, we're going to continue to develop areas. these areas that are especially sensitive, productive and beautiful, let's ensure that we create those opportunities and retain those opportunities for recreation, for americans, for generations to come. the land and water conservation fund expired for the first time in its history and so this program is no longer an authorized program. and there have been folks on both sides of the aisle that have been working to help to

re-authorize the program. i'll say it again, mr. speaker. i think it's a laudable goal. however, 50 years have passed and i think in 50 years, with 50 years of history of this program, it's appropriate to go back and revisit the lessons learned. i'm from louisiana and i'm from louisiana and i want to be clear. this offshore energy activity funding billions of dollars in conservation fund activities and other things like the historic preservation fund, it's from oil and gas and offshore energy activities, occurring off our coasts in louisiana. various bills have been introduced in recent weeks, or drafts have been proposed to take these funds and cut them up and algate them -- allocate them to different programs across the country, to slice up the pie. i think that's great for people to go out there and express their dream and vision for how

things happen. however, i'd like to bring you back to reality. i view this as being our money. i'll tell you why. right now when you produce energy on federal lands in the united states, 50% of those go to the states that host the production. so let me be clear on this. the states of wyoming an new mexico together receive other $1 billion a year with no strings attached whatsoever. an additional 40% of the money from those same activities go fw -- go into the reclamation fund to fund water projects in those same western states. so in effect, 90% of the funds from energy production on federal lands goes back to the states that largely host that energy production. on federal lands. yet when we go in the offshore, folks take the money and decide they're going to divey it up to these other states but not the state where the energy is produced. now here's a reason why i'm so

frustrated by all of these efforts to re-authorize and continue spending this money all over the country and other programs. mr. speaker, we have produced nearly $200 billion in revenues for the u.s. treasury. $200 billion. and we've received not the 90% that other states have received, not the 50%, we've received less than a fraction of 1%. the state of louisiana passed a constitutional amendment that would dedicate any funds received to go toward actually restoring the environment. things like coastal restoration. the state of louisiana has lost over 1,900 square miles of our coastal wetlands. why are we re-authorizing the land an water conservation fund in other states, particularly in western states, which i'll acknowledge again, it's a laudable goal, but why are we doing that before we're addressing environmental issues right there where these

activities are occurring? and in mis-- and in many cases are occurring as a result of historic, several decades ago, activities that occurred in the coastal area, related to this. it seems to me, mr. speaker, as we move forward on this, that needs to be a critical component. that needs to be the priority. addressing environmental issues, addressing conservation right here where this money is deprived -- deried from because the activities aren't sustain fble we don't address this. fully forth the re-authorization of the land and water conservation fund. i think it needs to be done in a principled manner that recognizes the lessons learned over the last 50 years. and most importantly, recognizes the fact that this area that has generated nearly $200 billion for the united states treasury has severe environmental consequences, or severe environmental problems right there as a result of the federal

overnment's actions. mr. speaker, the deepwater horizon disaster was truly one of our nation's worst environmental disasters in our history. that disaster resulted in millions of barrels of oil covering nearly 600 miles of the state of louisiana's coast. and the department of -- the u.s. department of the interior, i think appropriately, took a look at well control and blowout preventer regulations and guidelines to ensure that a disaster like the deepwater horizon disaster and the awful tragedy to the 11 lives that occurred would never occur again. i think that's appropriate to take a look at. the u.s. department of interior actually took 4 1/2 years behind closed doors to develop a regulation. well control and blowout preventer regulation. put forth in recent months. 4 1/2 years to write this regulation behind closed doors,

without involvement, without engagement of this industry, of this multibillion dollar industry. now the regulation was paired with a 30-day comment period. let me say that again. they took 4 1/2 years to draft a regulation. and they gave 30 days for folks to comment on it. of course being very concerned about that and the implications, whether the rule was going to improve safety, or be a detriment to safety, we asked more time be given to comments to allow us to fully understand it, to allow the industry to fully understand it, to allow the environmental community to fully understand it. the administration came back and gave a 60-day comment period which is absurd with the complexity, keep in mind, mr. speaker, it took them 4 1/2 years to draft it. now to give you an idea of the disconnect here, the u.s. department of interior said compliance with the rule will cost $800 million. a separate analysis that was done independently says that

that the -- says that the cost of compliance will be in excess of $30 billion, mr. speaker. the disconnect there is chris call clear just in the cost estimate. it's going to have a detrimental effect on the united states national energy security. what this is going to result in, it's going to result in us becoming more dependent on energy sources from around the world. why are we not being energy self-sufficient and utilizing our resources here, promoting jobs here? the study i read that says that for every dollar in u.s. produced energy, it has a $3 implication on our economy. for every $1 spent at the pump on foreign energy, it has a 40 cent implication on our nation's economy. i think the answer there is chris call clear. we should become energy self-sufficient. we should be utilizing our own resources. mr. speaker, analysis has determined that 20% of the oil and gas wells producing offshore

over the last five years would not be producible under this rule. not even producible. let me give you an idea what that means. that causes an estimated $12 billion economic loss to the united states. to the u.s. treasury. $12 billion just over the next 10 years. now you would think that u.s. department of the interior would want to get this rule right. you'd think they'd be engaging folks. yet we've had phone call after phone call from people saying they're refusing to engage, refusing to take meetings, refusing to discuss. i've actually experianed it myself. asking the u.s. department of the interior for a meeting with the gulf coast delegation, with house members and senator, sit down and cuss this, to ensure that the department of the interior gets it right and i want to be leer what right means. to make things safer, not to propose regulations that will result in the potential for disaster. which i'm not an expert in offshore production but i can read the regulations and determine the disconnect and the lack of technical understanding

of the folks who drafted this rule. yet the u.s. department of interior also told us that they would not meet with us. shutting the door. mr. speaker, this is the united states of america. that's not how this country works. people and agencies have to understand, they shouldn't be sitting in some ivory tower and drafting regulations that are going to export jobs, they're going to increase the trade deficit, they're going to make us rely and be dependent upon nations like venezuela for energy. nations that don't share america's values. what in the world are we doing? who is running this place? this is the united states of america. we've had people that have put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms, to protect our greatness. i don't think this is what they were protecting or what -- or that this is what they were fighting for. mr. speaker, i want to urge as

we move forward on legislation the end of this year, that we take appropriate action to ensure that america's energy security is protected. to make sure that america's energy dependence is protected. to make sure we don't take action that penalized or increased our trade deficit. that we promote american jobs. america's economy. america's work force. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the gentleman from california, mr. costa is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.

mr. costa: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. costa: madam speaker, i rise today to express my deepest condolences to all the individuals who have been affected in recent months by terrorist attacks throughout the world. and also to focus on the need for america to step up and to in a more comprehensive way, lead a global effort against these terrorists. i my thoughts and prayers, our thoughts and prayers as a nation, continue to be with the people of france, algiers, lebanon, and russia. and the victims and their families who are suffering during this time. with the worldwide attention and support for defeating terrorism, america has, i think, a new opportunity to draw a line in the sand leading a global

coalition. the united states, our allies, and those who oppose terrorist groups must come together on a comprehensive plan for eliminating terrorist organizations like isil and al qaeda. and all those who support terrorist activities, whether it be on the internet or in all sorts of ways we are discovering today. america must provide the leadership and use all of the resources at our disposal to eliminate these terrorist organizations and their supporters. i understand that the world is facing the hue -- a humanitarian crisis and it is a serious problem. but i think we here in the congress all understand that our first responsibility is to protect and defend the american people from all enemies, foreign and domestic. we take an oath when we are sworn in every two years to --

for that purpose. the syrian refugees are seeking safety. and the united states has a thor rogue vetting pro-- has a thorough vetting process for those refugees and others. but we can always improve our efforts to protect the american public while at the same time providing the very humanitarian aid that is necessary. recent terrorist attacks have led congress to assess this current process the united states uses to grant entry to refugees seeking safety from their country. these are women and children. these are innocent people. who have been terribly impacted by the civil war in siria. there are -- in syria. there are camps in jordan with a million and a half people, turkey has a similar number. we see accounts of these refugees fleing to europe. so what do we do? we have to respond.

the legislation that passed today and the legislation that the senate has introduced today is an effort to improve the current system. clearly these legislative efforts are a work in progress. and they will change. and to succeed, we must work closely with the president. always. to focus on ways we can improve to protect american citizens. because we know this, that terrorists never, ever sleep. i believe the administration is doing everything it can to make absolutely certain that our efforts to provide that humanitarian support do not threaten american lives. in addition -- in addition to ensuring that a strict and thorough vetting process is in place, we need to pursue comprehensive efforts that include working with our allies

to end this civil war in syria which as we know is the source of -- the primary source of this refugee crisis. let's be clear. it's easy to monday morning quarterback this. but there are multiple causes to in conflicts in syria and essence, more than one war that's taking place. there's a civil war that is caused by assad. but there's a proxy war between russia and iran against the sunni nations. and then of course there is a conflict going on between turkey and the kurds. and then of course there's our efforts collective efforts for the majority of the countries to go after isil. and their horrific crimes. and we have conflicting alliances within the multiple conflicts that are taking place

within syria today. therefore it is not easy as we try to sort this out in a way to put this comp rehence i have strategy together. -- comprehensive strategy together. if a global coalition is put in place we can, i believe, combat this terrorism activity and bring those terrorists responsible for these crimes, crimes against humanity, to justice. . and we must. let's face it. they have declared war on western civilization and our very way of life. i know that the president is working very hard to put this comprehensive effort to get -- together. ladies and gentlemen, madam speaker, this is not, nor should it be, a partisan issue. every member of congress and the president go to bed at night and we wake up in the

morning with the safety of the american people being always our first priority. lets let me repeat that. this is not a partisan issue. worst all fear for a case scenario. and there are we must be working together in a bipartisan effort on any concepts of legislation that we consider, with the administration, with the president, to continually improve our ability to protect our american citizens. now, it's important that we understand that this will be costly and sacrifices will inevitably be made. today america -- american men in omen are in harm's way the middle east, serving in our military, doing their very best on multiple fronts.

and it's not just the sacrifices they are making, but it's the sacrifices their families are making as well. but it is essential that we come together, to develop and implement a long-term comprehensive plan. at the end of the day, it's the only way we will protect our freedoms and our way of life. this is what's at stake and -- steak, and this is why, as we go home for the thanksgiving recess, with our family and friends, we contemplate how we might do a better job, working with the administration. as we look at this thanksgiving week coming up, truly we have a lot to be thankful for. in this nation. and we must remember that americans, the common values that we share, the bonds that we hold most dear, are far, far stronger than whatever

differences we may have. so, madam speaker, i wish my colleagues here in the congress, as we go back to our homes throughout america, a very blessed thanksgiving with their family and friends. may god blells the united states of america -- bless the united states of america and may he seek us the guidance to work together in a more united way, to solve these difficult challenges that we have in front of us today. because we know working together all is possible. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's announced licy of january 6, 2015, the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes.

mr. gohmert: thank you, madam speaker. these are the times that try men's souls. have o many americans given the last full measure of devotion for their country, for our freedom, for the freedom of so many others, we're at a time n our history when we have enemies reporting that they are ntering the united states. that is confirmed by the director of the f.b.i. and others in this administration -- s now reported administration. as is now reported, there are active isis elements in every state in the union.

some say, well, those who want o suspend bringing in syrian refugees, wouldn't that be like telling the jews during world war ii they couldn't come to america? and actually, it would be more like saying, we're going to suspend bringing germans, we're going to keep bringing in german jews because clearly they're being persecuted, we're going to try to save them from the holocaust, but we're going to suspend bringing in those to have similar backgrounds to the nazis. because we're not sure who's azi and who isn't.

welcoming in nazis, if that had been the policy of the roosevelt administration. thank god it wasn't. but unfortunately jews were turned away. efore and during world war ii. so, the president wants to continue bringing in refugees, continue the mass migration of illegal aliens into the united states. we have this report from , a report on eight syrians being caught at the texas border in laredo yesterday. the story says, two federal

agents operating under the umbrella of u.s. customs and border protection are claiming that eight syrian illegal aliens attempted to enter texas from mexico in the laredo sector. federal agents spoke on the condition of anonymity. however a local president of the national border patrol council confirmed that laredo border patrol agents have been officially contacting the organization with concerns over reports from other federal agents about syrians illegally entering the country in the laredo sectors. the reports have caused a stir among the sectors' border patrol agents. the sources claim that eight syrians were app rehelpeded on monday, november 16 -- apprehended on monday, november 16, 2015, according to the sources the syrians were in two separate family units and were app rehenleded at the juarez lincoln bridge in laredo, texas, officially known as port of entry number one.

the president has also stated in recent days, it's been played over and over, as the president condemns republicans and conservatives and liberals and moderate americans across the specter of politics, americans who are concerned about one thing, the safety of their homeland. and the president comes out and condemns and he said, and i quote, when i hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which a person who's fleeing from war-torn country is admitted, that's shameful. that's not american. that's not who we are. we don't have religious tests to our compassion.

it doesn't violate the rules of the house to point out when an elected official is ignorant. it is a violation to insinuate some ill motive. i'm insinuating no ill motive. i'm stating that the president is completely ignorant of what our laws are. because the law is very clear. 1158, i ok at 8 u.s.c. need to tipt hat to andrew mccarthy -- tip the hat to andrew mccarthy, have his article in front of me here from yesterday, from nationalvery view.com, and he points out that -- nationalreview.com, and he points out that under federal law religion is take noon account in determining who is granted asylum. under the provisions granding sigh lum, and again, that's 8

an alien tion 1158, applying for admission, and his is the law, must establish that religion was or will be at least one central reason for persecuting that applicant. now, there are other potential reasons that can be given for establishing the persecution, but religion is a very important one. and we've always looked at that issue as being important. if you're being persecuted for your religious beliefs in the world, that is always historically american. to look at that fact and determine, yes, there's a religious test and these people are being persecuted because of their religious beliefs and only if we look at their ppings -- religion and whether or not that religion is being persecuted, can we determine

whether or not they are entitled to asylum? so, to answer the question that's raised by the ignorant statement by our president, the uth is, yes, it is american, it is the law, we need to know what religion you are to determine whether or not you're being persecuted for your religion. in another place, and this is over from 8 u.s.c., this is in section 1101, and this is the section regarding refugee status, but to qualify, the applicant must be a refugee as defined by federal law and then that definition is what's in section 1101-a-42. the term refugee means, a, any person who is outside any country of such person's

nationality and who is unable or unwilling to return to that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of religion. religion is important to take into account. in determining whether someone is truly a refugee. it is american, it's not shameful, it's what we've done historically and that's why i would have a bluche minority in my office today talking to me about persecution against the bell uche people -- beluch people in iran, is because, as he says, americans have traditionally been compassionate when people are being persecuted un. -- unfairly. and we have. and to take such persecution into account, we look at

whether or not religion is a factor in their persecution. that is american. t's recognized even in iran as being american. and being unshameful, not only not shameful, but being to the glory and credit of the united states of america. that we do care. his article goes on. it says, in the case of this war, the islamic state is undeniably persecuting christians. it is doing so, moreover, as a matter of doctrine. even those christians, thes i lack imstate does not kill -- christians the islamic state does not kill it otherwise persecutes as called for by its construction of shari'a. observed, for example, the ongoing rape jihad and sexual

slavery. from my discussions when i've been in nigeria with the poor africans whose children have been kidnapped, they explained it was only the daughters that were being kidnapped and that they were kid -- the school was attacked, i asked, was it attacked because it was a girl's school and they don't want girls having education? they said, they don't want girls having education, but that's not the reason they attacked it. they attacked it because it was a christian school. so these radical islamists associated with islamic state, they attack schools, particularly christian schools, and after they attack a christian school, the nigerians explained, they bring the children out and if they're boys, they just go ahead and kill them immediately.

because they're christian boys and they don't want that to spread. if, however, they're girls, these nigerian africans explained to me, that were victims of boko haram, they explained if they're girls, they don't kill them. no. but you couldn't really say they weren't persecuted because they're kidnapped and they're kept strapped to beds and they're repeatedly raped until such time as they're sold into sexual slavery. . and this administration, according to some in nigeria, said, hey, we may help you but you have to adopt a same-sex marriage provision or we're not going to be such help to you. and as one nigerian bishop said, to his deep credit, our religious convictions are not for sale, not to president obama, not to anybody. god bless them. me effort was made to push

kenya into adopting same-sex marriage laws against their religious beliefs in that country. and i was so proud of the kenyan president, and i heard other african leaders say they were so proud, they were all so proud in africa of the kenyan president not being intimidated by president obama's demand that they change their marriage laws to go against the teefings of the man whose profoil -- teachings of the man whose profile is up here named moses who said he was speaking for god and that according to god's law a man shall leave his father and mother and a woman leave her home and the two will become one flesh. that was to be marriage. when jesus, who was asked about marriage, divorce, he quoted

moses perfectly. the man we have depicted right up here in our house chamber, he quoted moses perfectly. a man shall leave his father a mother and leave with woman and the two will become one flesh. o anyway, our perfect was over in africa trying to push them to change their laws but for people that are in areas that radical islamists have reigned, if you're christian, you're being persecuted for your religious beliefs and if you're a christian boy in a school that boko haram attacks, they'll most likely shoot you, kill you. if you're a girl, they'll take u into sex slavery, in all likelihood.

to the contrary, the islamic state seeks to rule muslims, not kill or persecute them. i think that's a very important point mr. mccarthy makes. the radical islamists are not seeking to kill or persecute muslims, like they are christians. they're seeking to rule them. mr. mccarthy goes on, obama prefers not to dwell on the distinction between the jihadist treatment of muslims on the one hand and of christians, jews and other religions on the other hand because he, like much of washington, inhabits a world in which jihadists are not islamic and therefore have no common ground with other muslims, notwithstanding that jihadists emerge whenever and wherever a population of shahrya adherent muslims reaches critical mass.

while there's no question that isis will kill and persecute muslims, whom it regards as a posttate, for refusing to adhere to its construction of islam, it is abject i had yossy to -- abject idiocy that they're facing the same ue big wit and intensity of persecution as christians. and it's downright dishonest -- i'm quoting andrew mccarthy -- it's downright dishonest to claim that taking such religious distinctions into account is not american, let alone shameful. how can something american law requires be not american? how can a national expression of compassion expressly aimed at alleviating persecution be shameful? andrew mccarthy yesterday, national review online --

nationalreview.com. christian syrian refugees, the united states won't admit nonmuslims, this article by nina shea, november 2. she says over the past five years of serious civil war, the united states has admitted a grand total of 53 syrian christian refugees, a lone azidi and fewer than 10 drews, zorastians, combined that so few syrian refugees coming here are non-muslim minorities is due to american reliance on a united nations refugee resettlement program that disproportionately excludes them. past absolute totals of syrian refugees to the united states, under this program, were small but as the obama administration now ramps up refugee quotas by

tens of thousands, it would be unconscionable to continue with a process that is consistently fore saken some of the most defenseless and egregiously persecuted of those fleeing syria. the gross underrepresentation of the non-muslim communities and the numbers of syrian refugees into the u.s. is reflected year after year in the state department's public records. they show, for example, that while syria's largest non-muslim group, christians of the various catholic, orthodox and protestant traditions, constituted 10% of syria's population before the war, they 2,000 ly 2.6% of the syrian refugees that the united states has accepted since then. syria's christian population, which before the war numbered two million, has since 2011

been decimated by what pope francis describes as religious genocide. i want to insert at this point, madam speaker, that actually i've been advised that this administration is now saying that the persecution of christians is not being deemed a genocide by this administration. perhaps it's because this administration feels like, well, if you're taking the young girls and putting them into sex slavery and you're not outright killing them, you're just raping them and putting them into sex slavery, then maybe that's not a genocide. you're letting the girls live so maybe they're so callous they would consider it's not genocide if you just rape and put into sexual slavery these

young girls who are christians r from christian families. this article from nina shea says, clearly for more than a dozen members of syria's religious my -- minorities should qualify for refugees under the legal definition of a refugee is someone with a well-founded fear of persecution based on religion. but instead of minorities -- instead, minorities have difficulty getting to step one of the u.n. process. the religious terror that drove them from syria blocks their registering. the office of the united nations high commissioner for refugees is largely limited to ollecting refugee applications at resettlement -- accepting resettlement referrals from its own camps and centers.

the burden of feeding creates strong incentives for this practice. in an email to me, knox tims, the state department's new special advisor for religious minorities wrote, quote, many minorities have not entered the u.n. system because they are urban refugees. that is because they live far from the remote u.n. camps and aid snrts, they lack the information -- centers, they ck the information and can't register and many avoid these camps. the reason christians try to avoid these u.n. camps is that they are muslim and there are plenty of reports of -- well, in fact in this article. it's pointed out, according to british media, a terrorist defector asserted that militants enter u.s. camps to assassinate and kidnap

christians. an american christian aid group reported that u.n. camps are, quote, dangerous, unquote, laces where isis, militias and gangs traffic women and threaten men who refuse to swear allegiance to the caliphate. such intimidation is also reportedly evident in migrant camps in europe, leading the german police union to recommend separate shelters for christians and muslim migrant groups. though, the article goes on and points out that according to recent u.n. h.c.r. posting, 19,000 syrians picked straight from refugee camps in turkey, lebanon and jordan have received u.n. approval and are waiting resettlement in the united states. in october, president obama ordered their expedited admission without further action, however, only token number of non-muslims

minorities will be among those rescued. former archbishop of canter berry called it right about the -- canterbury called it right about the refugees and it equally applies to syria's other non-muslim communities. they are being, quote, left at the bottom of the heap. this article from todd starms, november 18, yesterday, entitled "obama's importing muslims but is deporting christians." well, if this is true, so much for his test we don't care about religious tests. but this article says that when christians say -- oh, he's quoting president obama. when individuals say we should have religious tests, that only christians, proven christians, should be permitted. that's contrary to american values. the president said that's one

day after he called such behavior un-american. but, as todd said, what's offense and contrary to american values is refusing to properly investigate those wanting to come to our nation, especially those coming from regions that are hotbeds of islamic extremism. those of us who fear the islamic radicals may be lurking among the refugees have been called every name in the big -- big otts, islamicphobs, but they only inflame the islamic jihadists. ll, president warns that's counterproductive, needs to stop. truth is -- i'll insert again a person they -- paraphernalia theycally, what has been a

recruiting tool for isis, isil, the islamic state, has been american weakness, an unwillingness to confront radical islam upfront and call it what it is. we found back when we were engaged in iraq that one of the big recruitments that was used by radical islammists, they would go back to 1979, and the fact that jimmy carter did nothing after they attacked our embassy and took over 50, 51 people or so as hostages we did basically nothing to them. and they point out that we pulled out of beirut after our marines were killed there. and they point -- go out and point under the 1993 attack on the world trade center under bill clinton, we really did nothing after that in response. and that after the u.s.s. cole was hit we basically did nothing effective. and they go on to point out each time that america's been hit and we did nothing

effective to counter the attack upon us, that is the biggest recruiting element that isis has had, that any radical islammist group has had. when they can show they've attacked and we've been weak. and nothing has been shown to be less effective in responding to our attacks against us, against americans, against christians, against minority groups, against moderate muslims than what's happened during this administration. call george w. bush what you will, but the fact is the world knew that while he was president if you messed with america, he would strike back. that's what led gaddafi to abandon his nuclear efforts, led him to open up his doors. you tell me what weapons i can keep? he was afraid we were going to

invade them next. according to this article, says, but the cold-hard reality is that protestants, catholics and jews aren't the ones being heading people. the lutherans and nazarenes aren't gunning down young folks in concert venues. nevertheless, the president remains steadfast, the muslims will come. . quote, we don't have religious tests to our compassions, end quote. he told journalists from high top his soapbox. . last year the obama administration led a legal battle to have a christian family thrown out of the united states. they fled their homeland in search of a nation where they could home school their children. a judge granted them asylum believing they were escaping from religious persecution.

the obama administration waged a fierce campaign demanding they be returned to germany. the family lost the court battle but at the 11th, the white house let them stay. just a few months ago, a federal immigration judge ordered a dozen iraqi christians deported from a facility in san diego. and immigration customs enforcement person declined to tell "the san diego tribune" why they were being sent back to the native land. the next time president obama wants to lecture the nation about religion, maybe he could explain why his administration is importing muslims and deporting christians. i realize i have a few minutes left. our hearts, prayers, thousands

have been with the people of france and lebanon and russia, victims of radical islamist attacks and anywhere they have been occurring, brussels as well. there's great irony. on wednesday of last week, the european union announced what it had been building to for some time. in essence it declared it was delirg economic war on israel. anti-semitism has grown all over the european union to levels i never would have dreamed as a little boy would ever come back to germany where we read and studied about the holocaust and the persecution of jews, not just in germany but around europe and there were other countries that assisted the

germans. there were people like george soros who is jewish, who helped finger other jews. i never thought we would get to the level of anti-semitism that europe would declare economic war against israel. incredible how anti-semitism has grown there. and then within 48 hours of them siding war on behalf with the muslims and the palestinian muslims -- the speaker pro tempore: the entleman's time has expired. mr. gohmert: they are attacking the christians and jews in israel and siding with the wrong people. the speaker pro tempore: may i have a motion? r. gohmert: madam speaker --

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. mr. gohmert: i move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. accordingly, pursuant to the previous order of the house of today, the house stands adjourned until 5:00 p.m. on friday, november 20, 2015, unless it sooner has received a message from the senate transmitting its adoption of house concurrent resolution 95, in which case the house >> the house today approved a bill that would block syrian and iraqi refugees from entering the u.s. unless they pass background checks from three federal agencies. the final vote was 289-137. 47 democrats voted yes.

two republicans voted no. the debate about refugees continues on the senate side of the capital this afternoon. right now we're joining the senate homeland security committee live as they look at the implications of the paris attacks and refugee resettlement. >> don't you think it makes sense for us to prioritize those folks that have compelling stories but that we now a lot about? >> [inaudible] >> apologies. whatever questions. i am accountable. let me say it with the microphone. i am accountable to the american people first and foremost. so whatever questions they have are questions that i am fully repared at all times to answer and i think there are questions of how we conduct this process and how we prioritize within this process. the basic design of the refugee

referral process is to prioritize individuals in the most need. and at that point it starts what is a very rigorous process of screening and a lot of information is gathered from everybody that we encounter, and if we can't get that information we don't clear them. we don't approve their cases and they either go on home or outright denied. >> and i think that's something that's been missed in this discussion today because you say you know nothing about them, what the f.b.i. director said. what you said now, if you can't find enough about them, if there isn't any third-party verifiable information, that person may not in fact probably won't make it into our country, is that what you're saying? mr. rodriguez: not entiring. the individual has to give us enough information that matches other information that we know about what's going on. >> wouldn't that be third-party -- mr. rodriguez: i guess you're

right, senator. >> that's an important question about how you prioritize because no one here is suggesting there isn't a need or there aren't compelling stories but there's a lot of compelling stories and maybe we prioritize those where we actually have a higher level of assurance. senator heitkamp: and i want to get to this issue of the northern border because we have a fairly open border with canada. i can attest to that, and i think the ranking member who's flown over the canadian border can also attest to that. and i know the chairman mentioned the northern border during his opening statement. canada's goals -- again, canada's goals regarding syrian refugees, i think border security remains a critical priority for this country. i think we also have to include the northern border, which i've been beating the drum for on this committee since i've been on this committee. so we have to make smart investments on the northern border. one of the issues or questions that i have regarding the

refugee program, especially as it relates to canada, are there any issues with how the canadians vet their refugees? any suggestions that you made to expand their vetting process or improve their vetting process? and can you speak to what would occur if someone was admitted into canada as a refugee and that person later tried to legally cross the border to the united states? would that person, even though they may not have passed the rigor in our country, be allowed entry through canada? mr. rodriguez: and i'll ask assistant secretary richard to add what i missed. we are in constant consultation in particular with the other english-speaking countries on how we conduct our refugee screening process. the canadians have been in this business for a long time. they do conduct, at least sort of the basic outline of their system which is what i'm

familiar with is also quite rigorous. but we are in a constant state of dialogue with them to make sure we're -- senator heitkamp: is the system as rigorous as ours? mr. rodriguez: i can't say. senator heitkamp: that's something you can get back to me on. i used up my time and the chairman has offered to gavel us down if we go too far over. this is a dialogue that i think we need to continue. >> senator, i'm meeting with the canadian official tomorrow so you give me questions i'll get answers for you. >> i love you being a motivating factor. senator peters. senator peters: thank you for your testimony today. this has been an interesting hearing, one i think we'll be continuing to discuss for sometime but it is of particular importance to me and the folks in the state of michigan, as i think both of you are aware. we have one of the largest middle eastern populations outside of the middle east, is

in primarily detroit metropolitan area. we are the home to many refugees from around the world, but particularly from the middle east, that come to the detroit area. i've had an opportunity to work with refugee resettlement groups, with the religious community, got to know many refugees who have come to this country who contributes to the country. they are for the most part -- i shouldn't say the most part -- the refugees i talk to are patriots. they are so excited to be in the united states because they are away from a very hazardous situation where their life was in jeopardy and this country opened up their borders and opened up our hearts to bring them here. they are storeowners. they're entrepreneurs. they are physicians. they are engineers, transcripting to our country. and basically what this country has been about since our founding is we have people that want to pursue the american dream and be patriots but i think it's also important, for us to know, i think we were

discussing, we're dealing with a humanitarian crisis that we've not seen since world war ii. we have literally millions of people being displaced from sear & they are displaced because thousands and thousands of syrians were murdered and they left because they are not -- they fear for their safety, for their loved ones. i was in about two months ago a syrian refugee camp in jordan. the largest refugee camp there. at the time there was about 85,000 individuals crammed in a camp in the desert not far from the syrian border and not the best of conditions to live in. they were receiving food allowance that was equal to 50 cents a day is what they were living on. you can't buy a whole lot of food for 50 cents a day. you have one propane bottle for your family to cook from. you can't do a whole lot of cooking. but what was certainly -- had most impactful to me was the conversations that i had with

those refugees who just had a sense of hopelessness, that they had been there for a long time. usually think you go to refugee camp you're there for six months and you're back in your country. that's not the case. these folks have been there for forse years with no idea what the future held for them and their children were there and had to work and had difficulties surviving, not getting an education. i asked them, i said, where do you want to go? obviously you're in this camp. you don't know what your future is. where do you want to go, the united states, do you want to go to europe? and every one of the refugees i had a chance to talk to, they had the same answer. we just want to go home. we just want to go home. we don't want to go to a foreign country. we don't want another language. we just want to go home. certainly everybody in this room today if we were in that situation we would just want to go home. the most important thing is we have to stabilize the region. we have to deal with isis. we have to have a credible government there we have to have a strategy that folks can go back and be comfortable, but we also know in the meantime that's going to take some time.

it won't happen overnight. you have people not just there but the millions of other folks weren't in camps, in jordan. jordan has taken incredible responsibility saying we will help these people who are displaced, those people who are hurting, running away from the bad guys. they're running away from war, they're running away from violence, they're trying to find peace where they can raise their children. the united nations were at that camp. i know they were looking at folks to prioritize. i want to get a sense of how we get screened. you talked about the prioritization that the numpt has as to how do they determine which families should be in this program and i think another important number, if both of you could respond to, is that my understanding is about 20,000 folks have been referred to the united states from the united nations as potential refugees, roughly. out of that number, i understand we have looked at about 7,000. you can correct me on these numbers but around 7,000ed a we admitted less than 2,000. already the u.n. has done some

screening, prioritizing, probably those in most need who have been there a long time but i'd like to know what that is, how we can continue to screen down. i think those numbers alone show how robust the system is and that i think we heard some folks discuss here, you know, if you're a terrorist wanting to get in this country, you're going to take the path of least resistance. i look at this process, this is far from the path of least resistance. do you have to be in a refugee camp for a while before you're even looked at by the u.n.? this is a multiyear process that folks go through, and from seeing it firsthand, it is horrible conditions that oftentimes these folks find themselves in and there isn't anybody in this room that would want to be in that position and you have people that say, we know you could contribute. can you talk about priorities and why we moved those numbers down so much? ms. richard: so they work with

us all around the world and refers refugees to us and they know that we would like to take the people who are most vulnerable and could most benefit from the safety and the economic prosperity that america offers. and so they send us some of the most vulnerable people. so -- and my experience has been like yours, senator, most of the refugees you meet want to go home again so the resettlement sort of tears families apart in some ways. but the people who reoffer resettlement too, then, are widows with children, sometimes an older generation as well. people who have been victims of torture, trauma. people who have seen terrible things happen in front of them for whom there really is no going home ever again. we also give a home to people o are persecuted religious minorities, people who are lesbian, gay, bisktual, lgbt. and we also -- anyone who --

perhaps people who would feel there would be a death threat on them if they would go home again. >> thank you, senator peters. just a couple quick questions and i'll give you a chance to wrap up if you have some closing comments. mr. rodriguez, we're going from 70,000 to 85,000 refugees total. that's a 21% increase in fiscal year 2016. senator johnson: a goal going from 70,000 to 100 thousands, 2000 a 43% increase from in 2017. can you take on that large an increase? mr. rodriguez: we do. it requires us to look for efficiencies in our process. you've often said when organizations are challenged in this way it actually becomes an opportunity to improve themselves. that's how we're treating this challenge. but it does require us to move some resources around. it requires us to improve our processes where we can. keep in mind we're a $3 billion a year organization.

so the challenge is an operational one more than a financial one, but we are rising to that challenge. senator johnson: how many syrians are currently in the hopper that are being reviewed? mr. rodriguez: currently in review -- i thought i had this information. you know what, i'll need to get back to you with that information. senator johnson: the house passed the american safe act of 2015. i introduced the senate companion bill. it basically says that no refugee may be admitted until the director of the f.b.i. certifies to the secretary of homeland security and director of the national intelligence that each refugee has, quote, received a background information that is sufficient to determine whether the refugee is a threat to the security of the u.s. then, the refugees may only be admitted to the u.s. after the secretary of department of homeland security and director of the f.b.i. and director of the national intelligence certifies to congress the refugee is not a threat to the security of the united states.

that passed in 289-137. that seems like a pretty reasonable way to assure that these checks that this robust process you've been describing is carried out. under sarbanes-oxley, c.e.o.'s have to certify their financial statements are accurate. do you think that's a pretty reasonable response? mr. rodriguez: i think you saw the white house took a position indicating that its view is it didn't add that much. i will say that the process that we engage in is essentially equivalent to the process contemplated in that bill. people are subjected to the most intense scrutiny. there is intent supervisory review. cases that present concerns are actually elevated fraud and national directorate. it has analysis of those cases. so it would be my view, along

the lines of what the president as said, that in fact it would not necessarily add much beyond the process that we are in now. senator scombroons: very legitimate questions of the panel, i think this would be one additional level of control to provide that kind of comfort to make sure these -- you know, this redundant system would actually work. ms. richard, do you have any closing comments? ms. richard: yes, sir, thank you. i want to assure senator mccaskill that another way for us to help make america safer is to work with europeans to make their own border safer and that's something that is an active discussion right now overseas. senator peters asked about the 23,000 who had been referred to us, and we have brought 2,000 to the united states but we continue to review cases and we'll get new referrals. and it's really more of a pipeline that people are flowing through.

senator tester asked, how many have been denied? and worldwide -- sorry i didn't tell him this when he was here. under our current screening -- worldwide it's about 80% are approved. 20%, so one in five are denied. and so i don't have specifics by nationalities. the issue about the f.b.i. having no holdings, it is normal for the u.s. government to have very little information about most refugees at the beginning of the resettlement process. refugees are, after all, innocent civilians who fled war zones. iraq and afghanistan are the exceptions. we have a lot of information about people who worked alongside or with the military or nearby. and the people who, therefore, are referred to the program, we work with them so they tell their stories and put together a case file and fill in the gaps that i know are a concern right now to everyone based on the fact that the f.b.i. doesn't have the whole picture onhand for syrians. so i don't think that has to be

stop the program. i think we can work with the nctc and with other intelligence agencies to help fill in those gaps, working with other agencies. i want to reassure this committee that we work very closely with d.h.s. this is my fifth time on the hill in the last three days. that's partly why i was so glad you gave leon all the tough questions, but we're very happy to continue to -- we work together on a daily basis and we're happy to continue to respond to you. one question was, should which be -- should we be looking closer at our program? the white house has asked us to go through the entire process carefully to look at, are there ways to have efficiencies with it without cutting corners on security? s that the best process, we're convinced that's a secure process. everyone has noticed it's

lengthy. it's part of our jobs. thank you. senator johnson: mr. rodriguez. mr. rodriguez: chairman, ranking senators, thank you for leading an incredible, from my perspective, an incredibly thoughtful and productive hearing. i think the questions that you've asked of us are questions that we needed to be asked. and i hope the answers that we offered offered some clarity. i think one of the things that's become very clear to me over the last two weeks is that we have a burden with the american people in really explaining to them how this process works, what the safeguards are in that process. this has been a great opportunity the way this hearing has been led to accomplish that. senator heitkamp asked me a question i fear i didn't actually answer which is, are you looking for ways to make your process better, and the answer is, absolutely, yes. it's something that i and my staff, some of my leadership is here with me today, we do it every day.

because we realize what this means to the american people. we realize what this means to the individuals often in great distress who are asking us to admit them to the united states. and so to that extent we always are looking to improve and we always are willing to engage with this committee to talk about how we can improve that process further. so thank you, again, for your invitation up here today. senator johnson: we want to thank you both for your service, taking the time. thank the administration for making you available. i know this was very short notice. i think we all agree, this is very important and useful information for the american people to hear. so thank you very much. with that you're dismissed and we'll call up the next panel.

senator johnson: why don't you all stand up? raise your right hand. do you swear the testimony you'll give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? thank you. please be seated. i'd like to be as efficient as

possible. again, appreciate you all for taking the time. our first witness of the second panel is mr. peter bergen. mr. bergen is the vice president at new america in washington, d.c. where he's also director of studies and of several programs. professor -- mr. bergen is also cnn's national security analyst and national fellow at fordham university. he's currently writing a book about homegrown terrorism which hbo is basing a film on. mr. bergen. mr. bergen: thank you, senator johnson, ranking member carper for allowing me to speak today. so my brief was to answer, what are the responses to the isis attacks in paris and the say inside? we answered the questions about the refugees. there were so many belgium and french citizens in the plot who might qualify for these visa waiver program. it wasn't clear from the answers from the witnesses how many of these people were on

watch list but assume some of them weren't and if they weren't it certainly shows with 1,800 french citizens having one to syria and 700 brits and 700 germans, you had substantial numbers. the visa waiver program is different than the resettlement program. the last thing you do is apply to a refugee because it would be so lengthy and so onerous. it would be much easier to come on a student visa or through the visa waiver program. and i think another issue we learned from, the bombs in the paris attacks were were made in tatp attacks, which was used in the planes attacks, the plot to bomb the manhattan subway. around the eighth anniversary of 9/11. i think that's a reminder to us that hydrogen peroxide bombs,

which are easily -- readily easy to access, what the jihaddi terror groups want to use in the future because hydrogen peroxide is easy to acquire and doesn't flag in the same way if you have ammonium nitrate or other issues. hydrogen peroxide, during the planned attack in manhattan is something that law enforcement should be flagging. another, i think -- a lesson of the sinai attack is the question of airport workers. we've seen five members -- five american citizens since 9/11 involved in jihaddi terrorist crimes, had jobs at american airports. threatt minneapolis airport. two members of that back. one member of isis. one of them at j.f.k. who was a baggage handler but used in a plot that did not work out and one part of l.a.x. who was part

of a cell that was planning to attack l.a.x. and u.s. military recruiting facilities in california four years after 9/11. so -- and then extend that problem to somewhere like heathrow airport where an employee gave information about security to a self-described member of al qaeda. luckily she was arrested and he was arrested. an employer of british airways was in touch with the leader of al qaeda in yemen about a plan to put a plane -- a bomb on a plane, a british airways plane coming to the united states. i think this shows a huge vulnerability. we have 200 airports around the world, many of them are not in countries with necessarily particularly strong security services. and if you want to kill a lot of people, don't send a group of people to paris with ak-47's. put a bomb on the plane. look at the sinai. the question of airport security i think is an important one. and then in the brief time i have left, new america where i work, we've done a survey of

474 named foreign fighters going to isis. and here are the headlines what we found. we find that one out of seven were women. that's an astonishing finding because they track these jihads, they're very masodge nistic groups. did not atrack women. in paris we had a woman blow herself up 24 hours ago. we found the average age was very young. the average age of 24. we found a lot of teenagers. we found and astonishing 80 named teenagers from the west who had gone, including, of course, from the united states, from places like colorado and chicago. many of them have familial ties to jihadism. brothers, sisters who also fought with the jihad. people get married in syria or people who have been participating in previous terrorist plots. and two brothers were involved in paris and the leader of the plot brought his 14-yard line brother to syria to basically

fight there. the american employee file of these foreign fighters is very similar to the overall western profile. young, one in six are women and a key point here is for the american recruits, nine out of 10 were very active online jihaddi circles and that is posting repeatedly on jihadi websites. the war in syria and iraq deadly. 6% of the females are dead, even though they are not on the front lines. senator johnson: thank you. next is brian michael jengens, senior advisor of the and corporation. and part of the national transportation security centers. he's a decorated veteran. served as a member of the white house commission under president clinton as well as an advisor to the national commission on terrorism. mr. jenkins. mr. jenkins: chairman johnson, ranking member carper, member

of the committee, thank you very much for inviting me to address this urgened issue. i would like to be able to report in response to the terrorist attacks in paris, all of the perpetrators have been identified and apprehended. think will be executed promptly, that they snatched the islamic state and an event such as this will never happen again. however, the reality is that this conflict is likely to go on. there are no quick or easy solutions. and terrorists certainly will attempt further attacks. let me give you some observations from the written testimony i have presented. first with regard to the conflict itself. fighting in syria and iraq will continue. right now, the situation is at a military stalemate. syria and iraq are now effectively partitions, i think these partitions will exist.

sectarian and ethnic divisions now drive the conflicts. that will make them hard to settle. the world will be dealing with the fallout of this conflict for years to come. isil's ideology will continue to excerpt a powerful pull, despite the bombing, the coalition bombing, the number of individuals joining or planning to join isil has not diminished. isil right now is calling on more to come. the uniquely destructive nature of this conflict has produced four million refugees, caused four million to flee from syria, in iraq, another 12 million are internally displaced. these are the new palestinians. neighboring countries cannot absorb them. they will be a continuing source of instability. we will be dooling with this issue for decades. hundreds of thousands of these refugees have headed to europe.

raising fears that terrorists can hide among them. some may have done, which brings me to the events in paris. the attack in paris offers some important takeaways. it underscores the importance of intelligence. now, just how this group managed to get past french intelligence, we're still not sure, but the french services are simply being overwhelmed by volumes. the numbers that peter mentioned, those who have gone from france. the number that is suspected, planning to go. the number that is in france, suspected of planning to carry out homegrown terrorist attacks, that is simply overwhelming the authorities. it's thousands. the availability of terrorist recruits in france and belgium and elsewhere in europe reflects some societal problems, marginalized and

alienated communities where extremist ideologies can easily take root. that's going to take a long time to fix. the aparis attack has increased pressure on the u.s. to step up against isil. we can do more militarily but we must keep cool and stay smart here. we should not be provoked into measures that in the long run, and this has the potential to be a very long run, could prove to be unsustainable or counterproductive. now, paradoxally, military success against isil in syria may heighten the threat of terrorism beyond. that is it will scatter the foreign fighters, it will vy date isil's propaganda this is the final showdown between the believers and unbelievers and we could see a surge of terrorism worldwide, even as we achieve some measure of success the of isil in syria.

further terrorist plots must be presumed. we must prepare for an array of scenarios, including armed assaults at multiple locations, like the one we saw in paris, although we're more likely to see low-level attempts. that still may be lethal. with regard to refugees and immigrants, immigrants since the 19th century have brought theirs qurls with them. the phenomenon is not new. these are refugees fran active war zone, where loyalty are fluid, where foes continue to exor the followers to carry out terrorist attacks here. this adds a layer of risk. however, the good news, the u.s. is not europe. the numbers here are much smaller. the american audience for isil's propaganda remains unreceptive.

they're simply not selling a lot of cars here. and the new laws and structures that congress has put in place to prevent terrorist attacks appear to be working. moreover, we're not dealing with hundreds of thousands of refugees landing on our shores but much smaller numbers and we have more opportunities to vet them and select them. important point here, we're not just trying to filter out bad guys. efforts to radicalize and recruit continue after arrival. so this is not a one-time signoff that gets us through. but america historically has been successful in assimilating immigrants. and finally our domestic intelligence efforts have achieved a remarkable level of success. we're betting about -- we're batting about .900. senator johnson: thank you. ur next witness is daveed

gartenstein-ross, foundation for defenses of democracies. mr. gartenstein-ross. mr. garten stein-ross: it's an honor to testify before you today. i thought the first panel was quite strong and it was gratifying to echo my conclusions in my written testimony. i'd like to go over a couple of points and look at the broader issues. the first and most important point is i concluded, as did the previous panel, that the risk of refugee resettlement in terms of moving operatives in the united states is low because it's such an inefficient way to place operatives. not only do they have to wait 18 to 24 months but they have to be selected. 're selecting about 10,000 out of 2.1 million refugees in

recognized camps that is a very small figure. they have no control over whether an operative would be selected. and given the way we privileged the most vulnerable populations it's highly unlikely they would be. that being said, i think it's also significant that the previous panel acknowledged the intelligence gaps which i think we need to be forthright about. the panel characterized i think accurately the situation as one in which the risk we face is low but it isn't a no-risk proposition. there is some risk but the selection process significantly reduces the risk as well as the inefficiency of moving operatives in. that being said. i think the selection process is much more of a barrier than the screening process. it is a multilayered screening process, but as f.b.i. director comey acknowledged, as nctc director rasmussen talked about, we don't have good

visibility and that means inherently there are limitations on our intelligence. indeed, recent events in paris dramatically underscore the limitations of this intelligence. not only did you have two -- at least two large cells that were interlocking but it's important o look at the travels of abdel hamid. he was able to move from europe after a plot he was involved in belgium was interrupted on january 15 of this year back into syria, then moved back into europe to personally direct the plot in france. that's significant. that means while he was a wanted man he was able to move past european authorities into syria, then past european authorities again as he moved back in. that indicates a much more significant intelligence gap than i think anybody would have nticipated prior to this plot. the third thing i'll say is it's important to highlight the fact, when you look at vulnerabilities the united states has to terrorist entry,

things like visa waiver, is just more important than refugee resettlement. the reason we're talking about refugee resettlement so much is the pictures of large numbers of refugees and migrants moving into europe. as we all know, the situation is different in the united states. rather than a refugee population that's crossing into the u.s.'s borders, they're ones being selected out of camps. it's a fundamentally different situation and i think it's important for this legislative body to look at the means of entry that is of highest risk and refugee resettlement is not. the fourth point is i do think we should think about the islamic state's use of refugees. not so much the united states in europe because this is a problem that i will as rise. the islamic state sees the refugees fleeing its self-proclaimed caliphate and syria as a major public relations problem. between september 16 and 19 they released a dozen videos about the refugee situation. it seems that either one of the

attackers used a refugee route or else planted a refugee's passport or syrian passport following the attack. we don't know which one yet. there's evidence that points in both directions. but one thing they will do in my view do is either infiltrate that way into europe or else make it seem like that has happened in order to provoke a backlash against refugees. they talked about their desire to destroy the gray zone between the european population and the islamic state so that muslims have nowhere to go. that's something that's worth thinking about. not so much for our own resettlement program, so much that's an issue that will come up and if such a backlash occurs, if such an attack occurs, we need to have thought about that, i believe, so we can fashion appropriate policies. the final thing -- the final policy point i want to make is that we -- as several senators said, we should consider our own policies towards syria in order to reduce the

destabilization. the final point i make in my testimony is our c.i.a. response to syrian rebels. i think it deserves much more scrutiny because i think there are deep problems. i don't want to divert this hearing but i don't think it's separateable from this issue. the finally, taking off my hat is talking as an american. i want to thank you for this hearing because i think that it was very sober at a time when we've had a political discussion, which is extraordinarily hyper bollic. senator mccaskill said we should come together as americans, and i think that's very important. it's worth acknowledging on both sides of the debate people have legitimate concerns. some are concerned about security. are they safe? and on the other hand people are concerned about that we as americans are compassionate people, we want to welcome refugees. and i think both sides should recognize that there are legitimate concerns and be able to talk about this and advance ourselves as opposed to having partisan finger-pointing. so thank you as an american for