Washington - Tuesday evening, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduced the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act of 2015 (H.R. 4038). Earlier in the day, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said "the responsible thing is to take a pause in this particular aspect of this refugee program in order to verify that terrorists are not trying to infiltrate the refugee population." The SAFE Act would not pause the program. Heritage Action released the following statement from chief executive officer Michael A. Needham:
"Speaker Ryan was right. Senior national security officials acknowledge there are significant difficulties with properly vetting Syrian refugees. The Obama administration should not be allowed to go forward with this program. Although the SAFE Act sets up a more stringent vetting system for Syrian refugees, it provides no leverage for Congress to weigh in and relies solely on President Obama's appointees to carry out the new vetting process. With our national security at risk, Congress has a duty to ensure there is a thorough and transparent vetting program in place. Lawmakers should deny funding to this program to ensure that there is a real plan to mitigate the serious national security risks posed by Obama administration's current resettlement plans."