[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 37 (Thursday, March 2, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H1490]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REFUGEES WANT TO LIVE IN PEACE

  (Mr. VEASEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, it has been a little more than a day since 
our President addressed this body for the first time. Many of us hoped 
that President Trump would finally lay out a positive vision for 
America. Instead, the address flamed the fears about immigrants and 
refugees.
  I invited Syrian refugee Bothina Matar as my guest to the joint 
session to show our President that, despite false claims, refugees 
approved through our vigorous vetting program simply want to live in 
peace.
  After speaking with Bothina about her family's experience in Syria 
and at a Jordanian refugee camp, it is clear that our refugee program 
is successfully completing its mission.
  After Bothina and her family were first referred as potential 
candidates for resettlement, they endured a rigorous 18-month-long 
vetting process. Only then was the family offered the opportunity to 
seek refuge in Dallas and put on the path to self-sufficiency.
  Our country is welcoming, and it is a place that, despite what the 
President and House Republicans claim, we can both protect the American 
people and extend our hand to the most vulnerable amongst us.

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