This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/18/us/politics/paul-ryan-calls-for-halt-to-syrian-refugee-program.html

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Paul Ryan Calls for Halt to Syrian Refugee Program Paul Ryan Calls for Halt to Syrian Refugee Program
(about 9 hours later)
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan called Tuesday for the suspension of a program to accept Syrian refugees into the United States, and two influential senators announced a renewed push for a formal authorization of military force against the Islamic State as Congress moved to respond to the terrorist attacks in Paris. WASHINGTON — Seizing on the terror attacks in Paris, congressional Republicans on Tuesday demanded the suspension of a program to accept Syrian refugees, but along with Democrats, they continued to shy away from explicit authorization of military force to confront the Islamic State.
For two years, Congress has been conflicted about supporting military action in Syria, preferring to mostly let the Obama administration fashion a strategy on its own, while Republicans have accused the White House of failing to come up with a coherent approach. For more than two years, Congress has been deeply conflicted about authorizing force in Syria, preferring to let the administration grapple for a strategy on its own. That view seemed to prevail on Tuesday even as two members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — one from each party — renewed their call for Congress to vote on a measure authorizing force.
The developments on Tuesday suggested that the attacks in Paris had shifted the calculations on Capitol Hill, with potentially greater support for authorizing military force against the Islamic State. But there was also a fast-rising backlash, particularly among Republicans, against allowing Syrian refugees into the United States. Senate Republican leaders asserted that it was up to President Obama to put forward a more coherent strategy, while Democrats said they wanted to wait until a classified briefing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon before deciding if there was a need for any new legislation to confront the Islamic State.
Led by Mr. Ryan, the Republicans said there were grave reasons to fear that terrorists would be permitted to enter the country posing as refugees. “It’s pretty obvious that ISIL is not contained and it’s pretty obvious they’re not the J.V. team,” the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said at a news conference, alluding to a characterization of the group Mr. Obama made in January 2014. “This is a serious threat. The president still has not laid out a strategy for dealing with this. In the wake of this mass casualty attack in Paris, hopefully, not only our own administration may wake up, but NATO may take an enhanced interest in dealing with this problem.”
The general inaction in Congress, despite the escalation of terror activity by ISIS — from beheadings of hostages to the bombing of a Russian airliner and a major attack in Paris — reflects both a nation weary of war and the inherent peril of taking any firm position on the quagmire in Syria, which has no obvious solution.
There is largely no middle ground between Democrats, who want a very limited and targeted authorization of force, and Republicans, who want far broader empowerment for the executive branch, yet do not trust Mr. Obama to implement the more aggressive response they demand.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, embracing his new role as the highest-ranking Republican in Washington, was the leading voice in his party urging immediate suspension of a State Department program to settle Syrian refugees in the United States. The Republicans cited evidence that at least one of the Paris attackers may have entered Europe by posing as a refugee.
The Republican demands raised the possibility that legislation temporarily barring the admission of Syrian refugees could be attached to a spending measure that Congress must pass before Dec. 11 to avoid a government shutdown. Republicans said they had not yet settled on a legislative strategy.
“Our nation has always been welcoming,” Mr. Ryan said at a news conference. “But we cannot allow terrorists to take advantage of our compassion. This is a moment where it is better to be safe than to be sorry. So we think the prudent, the responsible thing is to take a pause in this particular aspect of this refugee program in order to verify that terrorists are not trying to infiltrate the refugee population.”“Our nation has always been welcoming,” Mr. Ryan said at a news conference. “But we cannot allow terrorists to take advantage of our compassion. This is a moment where it is better to be safe than to be sorry. So we think the prudent, the responsible thing is to take a pause in this particular aspect of this refugee program in order to verify that terrorists are not trying to infiltrate the refugee population.”
In 2013, Republicans and Democrats broadly opposed plans by President Obama to carry out airstrikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in response to his use of chemical weapons against civilians. A year later, there was somewhat more backing for strikes against the Islamic State, but ultimately Congress approved only a temporary authorization for financing and training Syrian rebels. Mr. McConnell also endorsed a suspension of the program, which so far has brought only small numbers of Syrians to the United States and, Democrats noted, only after a lengthy screening process. The administration earlier this fall pledged to take in up to 10,000 additional Syrian migrants.
On Tuesday, with the French ambassador, Gérard Araud, scheduled to meet Senate leaders on Capitol Hill, two senators who had previously pushed for the authorization of military force announced that they would renew the effort. “We’re going to continue to have refugees as long as Syria looks like it does, and so what we need is a strategy obviously to give the refugees an opportunity to stay in their own country,” Mr. McConnell said.
The senators, Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, and Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, said they would push for a motion to be brought to the floor for a formal Senate vote. Previous efforts for a formal authorization of force have not reached the floor because of obvious opposition and the certainty of a filibuster. A few Democrats, including Senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, also indicated that the refugee program may need to be halted.
Mr. Ryan on Tuesday said that Congress had already demanded that the White House develop a clearer strategy against the Islamic State, through language in the annual military policy bill that the speaker was due to sign later Tuesday and send to Mr. Obama for his signature. More than two dozen Republican governors are also vowing to try to block the entry of Syrian refugees into the United States. Top Obama administration officials held a 90-minute conference call on Tuesday with 34 governors to answer questions and try to ease concerns about the refugee plan. The White House sought to assure them that rigorous checks were in place to guard against security risks.
“What happened in Paris is pure evil,” Mr. Ryan said, expressing sympathy to the victims’ families and France. “It’s clear that this was an act of war, and that the world needs American leadership. The national defense bill that I will sign later today requires the president to come up with a plan for defeating ISIS, not just containing but defeating ISIS. A containment plan is not enough. That has failed.” Democrats in Congress echoed the administration on the screening measures that were in place. “We should continue to accept refugees under the rigorous standards that have been set up,” said Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey.
Mr. Ryan said he would invite Democrats to join Republicans in addressing the worries about terrorists arriving in the United States as refugees. “All of this rises above politics,” Mr. Ryan said. And Democrats generally praised the administration’s strategy in Syria, noting, for example, that the American-led coalition had eliminated the threat of an ISIS invasion of Baghdad. Still, they acknowledged that much more needed to be done in light of the Paris attacks.
Still, a robust debate seems likely, especially if Congress considers authorizing military force, which could increase the number of refugees, while simultaneously refusing to give shelter to at least some of the millions of people already displaced by the long war in Syria. “One thing that’s frustrating to me as a senator but also as a citizen is why we are not getting more help from our regional and Gulf allies when it comes to putting fighters on the ground, especially from countries that have a high Sunni Arab population,” said Senator Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania. “It’s their fight.”
While Republican leaders sought to pressure the administration over the refugee issue, two senators on the Foreign Relations Committee, Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, and Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, urged a formal authorization of the use of military force against the Islamic State.
Republicans said far greater leadership, and a much more detailed plan, were needed from Mr. Obama before requesting a congressional authorization of force.
In 2013, Republicans and Democrats broadly opposed plans by President Obama to carry out airstrikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in response to its use of chemical weapons against civilians. Ultimately, Congress approved only a temporary authorization for financing and training Syrian rebels.
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas, said he was drawing up legislation to suspend the refugee resettlement program.The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas, said he was drawing up legislation to suspend the refugee resettlement program.
“I call on you to temporarily suspend the admission of all additional Syrian refugees into the United States pending a full review of the Syrian refugee resettlement program,” Mr. McCaul wrote in a letter to Mr. Obama. “Our nation has a proud tradition of welcoming refugees into our country,” Mr. McCaul wrote in a letter to Mr. Obama. “But in this particular case the high-threat environment demands that we move forward with greater caution.”
“Our nation has a proud tradition of welcoming refugees into our country, but in this particular case the high-threat environment demands that we move forward with greater caution,” Mr. McCaul added.