"This Is An Important First Step'

Statement

At his weekly press conference, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) discussed the fight against ISIS and the need to protect the American people from terrorists trying to take advantage of our refugee program. Following are Ryan's remarks from his weekly press briefing this morning:

"The first duty of our government is to keep the American people safe. That's why, today, the House will vote on a plan to pause our Syrian refugee program. If our law enforcement and intelligence community cannot verify that each and every person coming here is not a security threat, then they shouldn't be allowed in. Right now, the government can't certify these standards, so this plan pauses the program. It's a security test--not a religious test. This reflects our values. This reflects our responsibilities. And this is urgent. We cannot and should not wait to act--not when our national security is at stake.

"Often, in times of crisis, bills like these come together sort of haphazardly. That's not the case here. The Homeland Security Committee has been looking at this issue all year long. It held hearings. It issued recommendations to deal with the very refugee problem we're talking about today. Right after the attacks, the majority leader put together a task force of relevant committee chairs to draw upon this work. We had an intelligence committee briefing for our members. We reached out to our Democratic colleagues. We didn't think of party labels when we mourned for France. We should do the same thing when protecting our country.

"This is an important first step. But we need to do more. Not just about the refugees, but in the fight against ISIS. The defense bill that we sent the president this week requires him to present a plan to defeat ISIS. In the meantime, our task force will continue the work on these grave challenges."

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