[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18264-18265]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      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 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

[[Page 18265]]

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.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. KAINE (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Schatz, and Mrs. 
        Murray):
  S. 2289. A bill to modernize and improve the Family Unification 
Program, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, children raised in loving and supportive 
households grow up to become more productive individuals, benefiting 
both the individual child and society at large. However, housing 
instability is linked to poor outcomes for children. Unsafe housing 
conditions and homelessness can threaten a child's safety. These 
conditions are often the reason for an investigation by the local child 
welfare agency, out-of-home placement, or a delay in family 
reunification.
  Homelessness can also lead parents to voluntarily place their 
children in foster care while they search for housing. Families may 
also be separated because of shelter policies that exclude teenagers, 
especially boys. Further, youth aging out of the foster care system are 
particularly vulnerable to homelessness because they must make the 
transition to adulthood without support, financial or otherwise, from 
parents or other trusted guardians.
  In Virginia, the Governor's office reported that as of September 2015 
there were 5,140 total children in the Virginia foster care program. 
For fiscal year 2015, the average annual cost of foster care in 
Virginia was almost $47,000. Further, in 2013 Virginia had 
approximately 550 youth age out of the foster care system at age 18 
without being connected to families. Nationally, over one-fifth of 
children who age out of the foster care system will experience 
homelessness at some time after age 18.
  The Family Unification Program, FUP, an interagency collaboration 
between the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, and the 
Department of Health and Human Services to provide housing vouchers to 
youth aging out of foster care and families involved with the child 
welfare system. Some of these vouchers also include supportive 
services, such as money management skills, job preparation, educational 
counseling, and proper nutrition and meal preparation. Research has 
shown that housing vouchers, coupled with supportive services, promotes 
family stabilization and reduces youth homelessness.
  While these vouchers have yielded some success, the connections 
between HUD and HHS are often inadequate to provide effective 
assistance. Further, no dedicated source of funding is available for 
the supportive services promised, and too often families and youth are 
left without the help they need.
  That is why I am pleased to introduce with my colleagues Senator 
Collins, Senator Schatz, and Senator Murray, the Family Unification, 
Preservation and Modernization Act. This legislation modernizes and 
improves FUP vouchers, as well as creates and provides supportive 
housing for at-risk youth and families involved with the child welfare 
system. By utilizing a housing first model, similar to the one used to 
combat veterans' homelessness, this legislation will ensure safe and 
stable housing for youth and families. This bill also strengthens the 
connections between local public housing agencies and child welfare 
agencies to promote family stabilization and reunification, replaces 
the arbitrary 18-month time limit for youth vouchers with a more 
workable 36-month time limit, expands youth eligibility to those who 
are 18 to 24 who have left foster care at age 14 or older or will leave 
foster care within 90 days and are homeless or at risk of becoming 
homeless, provides competitive grants for supportive services 
specifically targeted to FUP recipients, and promotes self-sufficiency 
by providing incentive payments to successful, data-driven 
interventions that improve outcomes.
  My wife Anne and I have been long-term supporters in improving our 
child welfare system. When I served as Governor, we worked together to 
reform Virginia's foster care system. I am proud to introduce this 
commonsense, bipartisan legislation that will ensure family 
preservation and reduce youth homelessness.

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