Rolla Republican: I will oppose Obama's plan to relocate refugees to Missouri

(From Rep. Keith Frederick, R-Rolla)

I have had a number of inquiries from concerned constituents regarding the potential for ISIS terrorists gaining entry to the U. S. and Missouri to carry out terrorist attacks. Like you probably have, I have been following the events in Paris and the response of political leaders here in the U. S. and around the world. I have serious concerns about our safety if we take in refugees whom we will not be able to properly vet. 

I have copied for you below the email response I sent to a constituent yesterday who was very concerned about the possibility that Missouri will be taking in such refugees. I will also be seeking all methods at our disposal in the legislature to oppose President Obama's plan to relocate any such refugees to Missouri. I believe Missouri should assert its rights under the 10th amendment aggressively now and in the future to combat an over reaching federal government.
Please respond to this update with your opinion regarding this issue. I serve to represent you, and I believe at this point my position on this issue is in keeping with the large majority of constituents in district 121. 

Here is my response to a constituent yesterday:

"Hello .............,

Thanks for your email. I agree with you.

I co-signed a letter along with a number of other Missouri State Representatives which was authored by Speaker of the Missouri House Todd Richardson and delivered to Governor Nixon yesterday. That letter urged the Governor to join the other 30 Governors calling for a halt to the relocation of Syrian refugees to the U S. I spoke with a representative from Congressman Jason Smith's office in person today and urged the Congressman to push for preventing entry into the U. S. of refugees from Syria unless and until we can provide rock solid assurance that terrorists will not be among them, which I believe will be just about impossible in the near term given the circumstances.

I have concerns about the well understood risks of suicide bombers and attacks using automatic weapons but also the under-appreciated bio-warfare risks such as the intentional introduction into our country of infectious agents such as Ebola. A few cases of a highly communicable disease could overwhelm our public health system if the infected individuals intentionally sought to spread the disease. That might not be easy to accomplish, but it is possible, and the impact could be so large that we should take every precaution to prevent it from occurring.

This is an issue for our federal government, but everything we can do at the state level, we should do, including withholding of any necessary funds associated with this effort. Our Governor needs to take steps to protect Missourians by reducing the likelihood of attacks such as recently occurred in Paris, and that means denying entry into our state by those who seek to kill us. In my opinion, the U. S. needs to work with other countries to establish safe areas for refugees to remain in or near their own countries rather than relocating them to Missouri or other states where they would seek the safety net of our social services that are in place for our own citizens. Our national debt is approaching $19 trillion which represents another national security threat in my opinion, and increasing numbers of refugees will only worsen our debt. In the meantime, we should not admit un-vetted refugees from an area of the world where large numbers of people want to kill us and who are willing to die to accomplish their mission.

I hope this addresses your concerns and let's you know I am taking this seriously and attempting to take action that will protect Missourians. Thanks again for contacting me. If you have further thoughts or concerns, please let me know. "

Sincerely,

Keith

Dr. Keith Frederick

State Representative