The issue doesn’t seem to be going away.
The growing refugee crisis in Syria attracted more attention after the terrorist attacks in Paris.
We’ve gathered the reactions of a number of PA officials but ten congressional Republicans from the Keystone State are doubling down on their belief that the U.S. should not bring in any additional refugees at this time.
The ten men wrote a letter to Governor Wolf, who has no power over the issue but is one of the relatively few state executives to say he would welcome Syrians fleeing the turbulence.
The full text of the letter is presented below:
Dear Governor Wolf
The United States has a proud history, as does the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in offering refuge to peoples persecuted and displaced across the globe. But in the midst of a highly volatile and potential threat against the homeland, our nation has an obligation to protect American citizens from those who seek to take advantage of our generosity at the expense of innocent lives.
The recent terrorist attacks in Paris, France are a stark reminder that we cannot risk the safety of our homeland and our Commonwealth; therefore, we write to ask you to suspend Pennsylvania’s participation in President Obama’s Syrian refugee resettlement initiative.
Despite concerns expressed by his own national security team on the lack of screenings and background checks, President Obama has directed his Administration to scale up the number of Syrian refugees coming to the United States next year. The United States expects to admit 70,000 refugees from all over the world next fiscal year, including 10,000 Syrian refugees. Though promised to Congress, the Administration has not provided details of a rigorous and thorough screening plan one that will thwart ISIS infiltration for this refugee initiative. Meanwhile, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the Secretary of Homeland Security have all provided testimony to Congress in recent weeks stating that they cannot properly screen refugees coming from Syria and the surrounding regions for national security threats.
Mayors from larger metropolitan areas in Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh and Allentown, have agreed to accept Syrian refugees for resettlement. Given the shocking and depraved nature of the terrorist attacks in Paris, we request that you join the leadership of Governors from 27 states and indefinitely suspend efforts to bring Syrian refugees to Pennsylvania until there are verifiable and robust mechanisms in place to properly screen all participants for potential security risks.
Sincerely,
Rep. Tim Murphy
Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick
Rep. Patrick Meehan
Rep. Keith Rothfus
Rep. Bill Shuster
Rep. Tom Marino
Rep. Ryan A. Costello
Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson
Rep. Joe Pitts
Rep. Mike Kelly
The signatures of all five Democratic PA Congressmen (Brendan Boyle, Bob Brady, Matt Cartwright, Mike Doyle and Chaka Fattah) as well as GOP Congressman Charlie Dent are noticeably absent. Republican Representatives Lou Barletta and Scott Perry wrote their own letters to the Governor.
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18 Responses
We can welcome Syrian Christians.And the other Syrian refugees , about 60 to 70% are men between 18 to 30 . We can give each a gun and send them back to fight ISIS and set up a safe haven for Syrian refugees. Then we will find out if they will fight ISIS or Join them.
Send them to tommyd’s glass house.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/turkish-soccer-fans-chant-allahu-akbar-paris-attacks-remembrance/
HaHaHa – the answer is 5) Cowardice
Do Repervlicans suffer more from:
1) Stupidity
2) Diabetes
3) Hatefulness
4) Gout
Yest, Tim America is great. I’ll bet your grandparents or great-grandparents thought so too. From where did they come?
Iran has already reneged on Obama’s deal.
ChuckBronson, that one can murder thousands. Yet you want to make the choice for them.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/11/17/video-turkey-fans-boo-moment-of-silence-for-paris-attacks-then-break-out-into-this-chant/
500 Syrians in downtown Butler, Pennsylvania would be great! Congressman Mike Kelly could give the ones who wanted to work jobs at his car dealerships. The other ones can kick back collecting their government checks while the maid cleans their apartments. Then they just have to wait until the chauffeur picks them up to go grocery shopping with their ebt cards. Ain’t life in America grand? And it’s all paid for by YOU the taxpayers! Now, THAT is really something!
I already did two tours in Iraq. How about you?
jmarshak—-To be accurate it should be a bowl of 132,863 M&Ms and one is poisonous. I will take those odds to save the lives of innocent woman and children fleeing death and destruction. Here is another stat for you! 2 out of 100 soldiers we send to fight ISIS will die or be seriously wounded. Are you willing to be one of them?
You should eat the whole bowl and have another cup of TEA.
I’ve got a bowl of 1000 M&Ms. 10 of them are poison. How many of you whiny liberals are going to just eat a handful?
I don’t get the name calling. It’s a simple fact that we don’t know who these people are.
Sad day in Pennsylvania. God Bless these poor misguided politicians, may they find peace someday.
These people are pandering to an element in out society that is base and depraved. What does that make them???
It’s not very Christian; that’s for sure.
The Party of Fear and Hate. Quite a legacy.
Shocker !!
Cowards all.
Quite a group of Constitutional Scholars we have representing us in Washington, eh? Embarrassing morons, every one.