Sen. Cruz Issues Statement After Democrats Block American SAFE Act
“Border security is national security.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today released a statement after voting to advance the American SAFE Act (H.R. 4038), authored by Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) in the House of Representatives. The bill, which would require the Obama administration to certify that any Syrian or Iraqi refugee admitted to the United States is not a national security threat, was blocked by Democrats and failed to proceed to consideration.
“Today, partisan politics prevailed, as Democrats joined to block consideration of a bill that would have taken a modest but important step toward ensuring terrorists do not exploit our nation’s refugee programs. Remarkably, the Democrats are unwilling even to require this administration to certify that it’s safe to admit refugees from Syria and Iraq. This obstructionism is especially egregious given that earlier this month, two terrorists, who came to the United States as Iraqi refugees, were apprehended in Sacramento and Houston,” Sen. Cruz said.
“The Obama administration continues to allow thousands of insufficiently vetted refugees to flood our borders. Their plans to import refugees from war-torn Islamic nations not only make our country less secure, but also endanger American lives. Unfortunately, due to the obstruction of Sen. Harry Reid, Democrats appear to have a greater allegiance to President Obama than to the safety and security of the American people.
“While the Syrian refugee bill today was not perfect, proceeding to debate on the bill would have provided opportunities to improve it by confronting broader national security issues and considering legislation such as Kate’s Law and the Expatriate Terrorist Act, both of which I introduced last year to secure America’s borders. Border security is national security, and we ought to be considering common-sense legislation that takes basic steps to protect American citizens.”
Sen. Cruz continued: “Despite today’s temporary setback, I look forward to future opportunities to debate this issue in addition to the bill I introduced late last year, the Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Prevention Act of 2015, which would immediately bar refugees to the United States from any high-risk country, including Syria and Iraq, that contains territory substantially controlled by a foreign terrorist organization.”
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