[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 169 (Tuesday, November 17, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7976-S7977]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TERRORIST ATTACKS AGAINST FRANCE

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, earlier in this session we observed a 
moment of silence to exhibit our solidarity with the people of France. 
I add my voice to others here today in sharing my deepest condolences 
and solidarity with the people of that great nation. As a result of 
barbaric violence that occurred over the weekend, we are finding this 
solidarity coming together from across the world, standing behind the 
people of France in their hour of need.
  These events that occurred in Paris were heartbreaking and 
infuriating. America knows well from the tragic events of September 11 
that this kind of savagery is a challenge to the civilized world, one 
which we must collectively stand and defeat.
  As French President Hollande said to a joint session of the French 
Parliament, when France is attacked in such a manner, the whole world 
is attacked. I agree.
  The people of Russia are also victims of such violence in the recent 
downing of their airplane departing Egypt, another tragedy for which 
ISIS has claimed credit. The people of Lebanon and Turkey have suffered 
horrific bombings in their capitals in the last few weeks from these 
same terrorist groups, and the brave reformers in Tunisia--one of the 
few countries to emerge from the Arab spring with an inclusive and 
inspiring democracy--have faced similar violence against innocent 
people at their museums and tourist destinations.
  The perpetrator of all of these monstrous attacks is ISIS, which has 
filled the void created by the wars in Iraq, Syria, and the broader 
political chaos of the Arab spring. These murderous henchmen have 
conducted the most heinous of acts: beheadings, mass rape, torture, and 
the murder of innocents in a sick attempt to intimidate the civilized 
world and to feed their own warped ideology.
  I have supported President Obama's leadership in organizing a global 
coalition to defeat ISIS and will continue to do so. I applaud 
Secretary Kerry for his efforts to negotiate an end to the Syrian civil 
war, but we must do more.
  When France is attacked and President Hollande reaches out to his 
allies, he is reaching out to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 
NATO, of which the United States is a member. He should reach out as 
well--and we all should reach out--to Russia which, as I mentioned 
earlier, has been victimized by this terrorist group in the downing of 
that aircraft. Then reach out to the Saudis and Muslim leaders around 
the world. Join us in a coalition to destroy ISIS, first in their 
occupied territory in Syria and in Iraq, and then in their murderous 
web of recruitment and hate around the world.
  Several people in the United States have reacted to the tragedy in 
France by calling for us to suspend refugees coming to this country. 
Many of these people have not reflected on the refugee situation in our 
country. Each year, the United States of America accepts about 70,000 
refugees from around the world. These refugees are each carefully 
investigated, reviewed and vetted. That process takes anywhere from 18 
to 24 months before a refugee from any part of the world is allowed to 
enter the United States. We do everything humanly possible and take 
extraordinary efforts to make certain dangerous people do not arrive on 
our shores. That vetting process must continue and when it comes to 
suspicious circumstances, must be doubled in its intensity to make 
certain our Nation is safe, but for those who are focusing on that as 
the answer to what happened in Paris, they are very shortsighted.

  One out of four of the refugees coming to the United States in the 
last fiscal year came not from the Middle East but from Burma. In 
addition to that, we find many refugees coming to the United States 
from Iraq. It turns out that over 3,000 refugees came from Iran. In 
each and every instance, we should apply the standard of strict vetting 
and the highest standards of investigation. I certainly stand by that, 
but those who say we should turn away refugees coming to the United 
States have forgotten the lesson of history. It was May of 1939, a ship 
docked in Florida. The ship was named the SS St. Louis. On that ship 
were almost 1,000 Jews from Europe who were trying to escape 
persecution. Sadly, the United States turned them away and they had to 
return to Europe. They were afraid for their lives. The Nazis had 
engaged in Kristallnacht and violence against Jewish people, and these 
refugees were coming to our shores seeking refugee status. In May of 
1939 we turned them away. They returned to Europe and over 200 of them 
died in the Holocaust.
  Since that time the United States has taken a different approach to 
refugees. We have been a country sensitive to the reality that in many 
parts of the world people are living in fear of death every day and can 
only find safety on our shores. Over the years we have accepted 750,000 
refugees from Vietnam; we have accepted over 500,000 Cuban refugees, 
including the fathers of two U.S. Senators, one who is running for 
President; we accepted over 200,000 Soviet Jews who were escaping 
persecution in the former Soviet Union; we have accepted refugees from 
around the world--from Somalia, from Bosnia. The list is long. That is 
an indication of who we are and our values.
  Now, we need to be careful when any refugee comes to the United 
States. We should give them a thorough investigation, but for us to 
step back and say we are going to stop being a refuge for refugees from 
around the world is a retreat from America's values. Let us make sure 
the process for refugees, immigrants, and visitors is the very best. 
Let us carefully follow through on each one of them, but let us not 
turn our backs on many around the world who fear for their lives and 
are looking for the safety of the United States. That has been part of 
our heritage for over 60 years and it should continue.
  What can we do? We know we have an obligation to keep America safe, 
and we know ISIS and terrorists like them are trying to find ways into 
the United States. First, we must acknowledge the obvious. For more 
than 14 years, with the exception of the Boston Marathon, involving 
lone-wolf terrorists, we have kept America safe. It has been through 
the good work of our men and women in the intelligence community, the 
military, the FBI, and in so many different aspects of our government.
  So what can we do in the Senate to make sure they are able to do 
their job effectively? Why don't we do our job in the Senate. Why don't 
we pass the appropriations bills for these agencies. Imagine, here we 
are, over a month into this fiscal year, and the Senate has not passed 
the appropriations for the FBI, the appropriations for the Department 
of Homeland Security. What are we waiting for? Instead, we have vote 
after revote after revote over old issues that have been resolved on 
the floor of the Senate months ago. This week, if we want to fight 
terrorism and protect the United States, let us pass the appropriations 
bills for all of the agencies of our government. It is time to do it 
and to do it now.
  Secondly, we need to make sure our country has the tools to fight 
terrorism, the kind of terrorism we have seen in Paris, France. We know 
we need to change the approach when it comes to the encryption of data 
and communications so that we have access

[[Page S7977]]

to the communications of terrorists. Technology is leaping ahead of our 
capacity. We are told by our agencies of government that to keep 
America safe we have to deal with encryption standards today. That is 
the reality of the challenge to the United States.
  Some would dwell on refugees. I think we ought to be careful on every 
single refugee that comes to this country, but there is more we can do. 
Pass the appropriations for the agencies that keep us safe, put in new 
standards so we can deal with the encryption where would-be terrorists 
are hiding their communications from our surveillance even under court 
order.
  Third, we need to come together--France, the NATO nations, Russia, 
those Muslim countries that abhor this extremism that is exhibited by 
ISIS--and wipe ISIS off the map in Iraq and Syria. We need to rely on 
local forces there who have been so effective, like the Kurds, who are 
willing to fight the ISIS troops on the ground and to defeat them. 
Eliminating them from Iraq and Syria is no guarantee they will not 
continue their efforts around the world, but let us have a common enemy 
in ISIS and come together in a large global coalition to fight them and 
stop their efforts.
  I come to the floor with some emotion today because my wife and I, 
for years, have visited France. We consider it to be a wonderful 
country with great people. We have had our differences on foreign 
policy from time to time, but any student of history knows the French 
stood with us when it came to our Revolution. The French have been by 
our side time and again, and we have been by their side in both World 
War I, World War II, and in so many other theaters.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I will conclude by saying, from the birth 
of our Nation to this day, France has always been one of our closest 
allies. America stands arm in arm with the people of France.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. HELLER. Mr. President, like the speaker before me, I rise to 
offer my condolences to the nation of France. As the previous speaker 
said, she is one of our oldest allies, and the people of America stand 
proud with her during this tragic time.

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