U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), citing recent reports that an ISIS terrorist disguised as a refugee killed 10 tourists in Istanbul, called for swift congressional action on Wednesday to halt Syrian refugees from entering the United States.
Buchanan said that the U.S. Senate must pass the SAFE Act immediately to freeze the influx of Syrian refugees while an iron-clad screening process is put into place. The SAFE Act passed the House in November but is stalled in the Senate.
Under the SAFE Act, the FBI director, secretary of Homeland Security and the director of National Intelligence would be required to personally certify that each refugee from Iraq and Syria is not a security threat.
“The attacks in Paris and Istanbul demonstrate how radical Islamic jihadists are using refugee populations as cover to carry out murderous attacks,” Buchanan said. “The safety of Americans comes first. Congress needs to put a bill on the president’s desk to freeze the Syrian refugee resettlement program until we have a better screening process.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, Turkish officials identified the bomber as a Syrian national named Nabil Fadli who was fingerprinted last week in Turkey as part of the refugee registering process. Fadli was reportedly not on any terror watch lists shared with Turkey by other countries.
“We should be using every tool at our disposal to stop terrorists in their tracks,” Buchanan said. “The Senate should pass this bill immediately and require the president to fix the gaping holes in the administration’s vetting system.”