Graves: Why I introduced a bill to keep Obama from bringing in more refugees

(From Sixth District Congressman Sam Graves)

Over the past year, we’ve seen all the dangerous unintended consequences of out of control refugee programs in Europe. We can’t let the same thing happen here.

Unfortunately, the White House announced last week that it’s pushing to significantly increase the number of refugees brought to the U.S. in 2017.

The White House’s plan would increase the number of refugees admitted into the United States from 85,000 in 2016 to 110,000 in 2017. This represents a 57% rise in refugee arrivals in the United States over the past few years, and could place an undue burden on local communities and national security officials across the country.

I refuse to allow this administration to jeopardize the safety of Americans everywhere by passing along a potential refugee crisis to the next President. That’s why I wrote and introduced a bill that will block funding for the White House’s newest refugee proposal.

H.R. 6044 withholds the money Obama needs to implement this plan or any other refugee increase extending into the next Presidential administration.

The administration has failed to develop an appropriate vetting process to protect the American people. It’s unfortunate that extremists have used situations in Syria and across the Middle East to breed a new generation of terrorists, but we cannot let people into the U.S. without guaranteeing they pose no threat to our security.