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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the issue of the Syrian refugees and the Islamic State terrorists who are coming across our southern border and, in relation to this, the Office of Refugee Resettlement loophole that exists there.
Also, Mr. Speaker, as I begin my remarks, I commend the House and our Speaker for speaking out and taking an action to condemn the Paris attacks.
This administration has announced its intention to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees within the United States in fiscal year 2016. Now, I want you to think about that number, 10,000 in the year 2016. They will go to resettlement communities all across the country, if the administration has its way.
It is important to note that the Office of Refugee Resettlement, or the ORR as it is called, does not simply resettle refugees from overseas. In fact, the ORR has been resettling thousands of illegal aliens that are coming across our southern border.
I want to read to you from their 2013 report to Congress:
``Other Categories Eligible for Assistance and Services.
``Certain other persons admitted to the U.S. or granted status under other immigration categories also are eligible for refugee benefits.''
In addition, certain persons deemed to be victims of a severe form of trafficking, though not legally admitted as refugees, are eligible for ORR benefits to the same extent as refugees.
That is correct; the ORR resettles illegal aliens not classified as refugees, providing another potential gateway for the Islamic State terrorists.
Frankly, we would know more about the ORR activities if they filed their annual reports, as required in section 413(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and did it in a timely fashion. The last report we have from them is 2013. It is not transparent, it is not accountable, and it cannot be trusted.
I know this firsthand, Mr. Speaker. I wrote Secretary Burwell twice last year about resettlement activities at the ORR and have been investigating them since July 2014, when Congressman Bridenstine and I traveled to a UAC facility at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record those letters to Secretary Burwell.
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Mrs. BLACKBURN. We know that there are more than Mexicans and Central Americans coming across that southern border, and we know that once they are here, the ORR has no way of tracking them and keeping up with them.
In April, a Judicial Watch report cited a Mexican army officer and police inspector who advised that ISIS was operating training bases in close proximity to the U.S. southern border. Another report from August 2014 advised that social media traffic indicated ISIS was planning to infiltrate the southern border in order to carry out a terrorist attack.
Due to these findings, all of our resettlement services must be temporarily suspended. I am currently working on a solution with several of my colleagues to address the loophole that allows nonrefugees to be resettled.
In the past 3 weeks, Islamic State terrorists have bombed a Russian jetliner, committed suicide bombings in Beirut, and massacred French citizens in Paris. They are now exporting their terror. There is simply no method that will allow us to determine with 100 percent accuracy whether Syrians or illegal aliens that we resettle into the U.S. are really ISIS jihadists.
Mr. Speaker, is the ISIS threat contained? No.
Can we guarantee that Syrian refugees who are resettled into the U.S. will not commit acts of terror against Americans? No.
Do we know who these people are? No.
Are they properly vetted? No.
Would it be responsible to bring Syrian refugees into this country after the attacks in Paris? No.
Do Americans across this country want the administration to resettle Syrian refugees into the U.S.? No.
Is the administration dangerously naive on this policy? Absolutely.
I encourage my colleagues to look closely at the issue.
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