[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 169 (Tuesday, November 17, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8022-S8023]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. VITTER (for himself, Mr. Lee, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Perdue, Mr. 
        Cassidy, and Mr. Barrasso):
  S. 2284. A bill to suspend the admission and resettlement of aliens 
seeking refugee status because of the conflict in Syria until adequate 
protocols are established to protect the national security of the 
United States and for other purposes; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I rise to strongly urge the adoption of my 
bill, S. 2284, to stop the Syrian refugee resettlement program, unless 
and until we have complete and adequate safeguards in place for the 
security of our homeland and all of our States. It is very clear to me 
that we do not have those safeguards right now.
  What my bill would do is stop the program for 270 days, demand a 
thorough review of all security issues related to the program, demand 
that changes be made and brought before Congress, and that the program 
only continue with the consent of Congress after we are assured the 
homeland and all of our States will be fully protected. Again, it is 
very clear to me that is not the case now.
  I expressed strong concerns and opposition to this program from the 
very beginning. When I first learned of it in September, I wrote 
Secretaries Kerry and Johnson regarding the real dangers of taking in 
thousands upon thousands of refugees from a country and an area of the 
world where enemies of the United States are all around them, and that 
clearly it posed a danger of those terrorist enemies infiltrating the 
refugee resettlement process. Tragically, we saw that happen and we saw 
the horrible results in Paris last Friday. As we all know now, at least 
one of those terrorists in Paris got into France under the Syrian 
refugee resettlement program there, and that is the same danger that is 
posed to us.
  Now, I have looked at this. I have had briefings on this. It is clear 
to me that we do not have adequate safeguards against this. Let me just 
cite one example of testimony in this regard. FBI Director James Comey 
has testified that the Federal Government doesn't have the ability to 
fully vet 10,000 or more Syrians refugees. Recently, during a hearing 
before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Mr. Comey stated:

       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 until 
     the cows come home, but there will be nothing show up because 
     we have no record of them.

  That puts in simple, straightforward terms the real danger--that we 
cannot properly vet all of these refugees. And this is not from just 
any part of the world or any country. This is from a hotbed of anti-
American terrorist elements.
  There is an additional grave danger with the program as it stands 
now, and that is our complete inability to track these individuals once 
they are in our country. Unfortunately, I have an example of this right 
from my home

[[Page S8023]]

State of Louisiana. Just last week, a Syrian refugee was resettled into 
Baton Rouge. As of today, he is no longer there. He has gone missing. 
Allegedly, he, on his own, is relocating to Washington, DC. But from 
the briefings I have had from the State police, no one is in contact 
with him, no law enforcement or government agency is tracking him in 
any way, and he may or may not check in to a social service agency in 
Washington, DC. They have his information. Apparently, they are not in 
contact with him.
  Now, this is within a week of his being resettled into where he was 
supposed to be, in Baton Rouge, LA, which I object to as a Louisianian. 
Again, he allegedly is coming to Washington. By the way, our Nation's 
capital is under high security alert. And no one knows exactly where he 
is. No one is tracking him adequately at all.
  This clearly underscores the inadequacy of our current program. We 
need to put a stop to this until proper, full, and aggressive 
safeguards are in place. My bill, S. 2284, would do that. I am very 
happy the House of Representatives is acting and considering similar 
legislation.
  I believe Congressman Graves will be introducing my legislation in 
the House, and the House may take up this matter as soon as Thursday. I 
hope that they do, because it is very time sensitive and our security 
is at stake. I hope that we do, by considering this and similar ideas 
absolutely as soon as possible. We must put a stop to this. We must put 
real security measures in place. We must not allow the flow to continue 
until we do.
                                 ______