Congressmen Pressure GOP Leaders To Strip Funding For Syrian Refugees

United States Senator Jeff Sessions (Republican of Alabama) asks questions of U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey, U.S. Army, as they deliver testimony ... United States Senator Jeff Sessions (Republican of Alabama) asks questions of U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey, U.S. Army, as they deliver testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services on the U.S. policy towards Iraq and Syria and the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) Hagel and Dempsey Testify on ISIL, Washington D.C, America - 16 Sep 2014 (Rex Features via AP Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

As numerous Republican governors announce that they will not accept Syrian refugees in their states, members of Congress have started to put pressure on Congressional leaders to restrict funds allocated for settling refugees from Syria from the government spending bill.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) on Monday wrote a letter to his colleagues urging them to restrict President Obama’s ability to increase funding allocated for settling refugees in the U.S.

Sessions wants Congress to vote on Obama’s plan to accept refugees, which is currently included in the funding bill that must pass in December.

“In my capacity as Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, I write to respectfully request that any upcoming appropriations legislation – including any Omnibus legislation – require Congressional approval for the President’s refugee resettlement plans and the funds to carry them out,” Sessions wrote in the letter.

The senator cited the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday and expressed concern that the U.S. does not do a good enough job screening refugees before they enter the U.S.

“Our track record on screening is very poor. My Subcommittee has identified at least 26 foreign-born individuals inside the United States charged with or convicted of terrorism over approximately the last year alone,” he wrote. “The barbaric attacks in Paris – an assault on civilization itself – add immense new urgency.”

Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), told Breitbart News that he hopes his colleagues in Congress will use the omnibus spending bill to stop the Obama administration’s plan to settle Syrian refugees in the U.S. He told Breitbart that he’s concerned that many of the refugees coming to the U.S. are of age to enter the military.

“You’re not seeing women and children and families,” Duncan said. “You’re seeing a lot of military-age males… Be alarmed, America, about that. Be alarmed.”

Reo. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told Brietbart News that House Speaker Paul Ryan has not committed to pausing U.S. settlement of refugees.

Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Monday also called on House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to end Syrian refugee resettlement programs in the U.S.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: