[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 31, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H754]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      AMERICA IS AND MUST REMAIN A COUNTRY THAT WELCOMES REFUGEES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Swalwell) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, America is and must remain a 
country that welcomes refugees, and we must welcome refugees of all 
religions.
  President Trump has our country under a Muslim ban that makes us less 
safe and less American. Less safe because we already have in place 
since World War II a process for vetting refugees who come to this 
country, an intense process that takes 18 to 24 months before anyone 
can get here.
  Less safe because it makes us less of a team player on an 
international stage that requires cooperation among our allies and 
those in the Middle East who are helping us fight terrorism. If we are 
not taking on refugees, as our allies, like Jordan and Germany and 
others who are in the thick of this fight, we will not be seen as a 
team player and we will not be able to count on them for cooperation.
  Less safe because it motivates and inspires an enemy who is 
determined to dispel a message that the United States is not welcome to 
Muslims.
  It makes us less American because refugees have helped America as 
much as America has helped refugees. We have seen this in the wisdom of 
Albert Einstein, the patriotism of Secretary Madeleine Albright.
  I have seen this in my own congressional office with my chief of 
staff, Ricky Le, who came to our country at age 4, on a raft, fleeing 
Vietnam, and was welcomed into this country, where he was given an 
opportunity to be the first in his family to go to college, started 
working on Capitol Hill as an intern, and serves as the chief of staff 
in my office today.
  I have seen this spirit of the refugee in Mohammad Usafi, who was my 
guest at the State of the Union just 2 years ago. Mohammad served our 
country as an interpreter in Afghanistan. He lost his father, who was 
kidnapped and killed by the Taliban for his service. His little brother 
was kidnapped, and he gave his life savings to save his brother's life.
  We brought Mohammad over to the United States. But today, if Mohammad 
was on his way to the United States, under this Muslim ban, he would be 
detained in an airport.
  But what is American?
  American is standing up and welcoming people in need. Being American 
means going to an airport, as I saw thousands do when I went to SFO 
airport in San Francisco this weekend. I saw the lawyers on our staff 
working to provide casework to anyone who was detained. I saw the 
spirit of generosity across our country at airports and town squares.
  Being an American means supporting Congresswoman Lofgren's SOLVE Act, 
the Statue of Liberty Values Act, that will fix and end this Muslim 
ban.
  Being an American is what Sally Yates did last night when she stood 
up against an illegal order and she was fired. Acting Attorney General 
Sally Yates was not the person who deserved to be fired yesterday.
  To stop this Muslim ban, we must unite in this country; unite and 
make sure that we are safe and welcoming to those in need; unite to say 
we will not target people for persecution based on religion; unite to 
live out, indeed, what we are taught in the Bible.
  In Luke 10:25, a student asked Jesus: ``What must I do to inherit 
eternal life?''
  Jesus says: ``Love the Lord with all of your heart, and love your 
neighbor as yourself.''
  The student asks: ``Who is my neighbor?''
  And Jesus tells him the story of a traveler from Jerusalem headed to 
Jericho who was attacked, robbed, and beaten along his journey, and 
stripped of all of his clothes. He encounters a priest, who walks to 
the other side of the road when he sees the traveler.
  He encounters a Levite, who also, like the priest, walks to the other 
side of the road when he sees this beaten, weary traveler. But then he 
comes across a Samaritan. The Samaritan took pity on the traveler, 
bandaged his wounds, and took him and paid for him to stay at an inn.
  Jesus asked the student: ``Which of these men was a neighbor?''
  The student said: ``The one who showed mercy.''
  Jesus said to the student: ``Go and do likewise.''
  To my colleagues in this House, Republicans and Democrats, and 
Americans across this great land, refugees are our neighbors. They are 
the weary travelers. How will we receive them? The American spirit is 
to be like the Samaritan. We must go and do likewise.

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