On the recordNovember 19, 2015
I have listened to all of this debate with keen interest, and it is with a sense of great sadness that we were unable to come up with a bipartisan bill today. I would like to note, however, that a bill was introduced by myself and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) that actually is much tougher than the bill before us. It would relate to all refugees in terms of their identity and their excludability--including Nigerians because we are worried about Boko Haram and Somalians because we may be worried about al Shabaab--and that is a tougher approach. I recommend it. But we also took good ideas from Mr. McCaul's bill. It is a good idea to do some sampling on the IG. It is a good idea to have some reporting to the committees. Unfortunately, our bill was not made in order; but it is a stronger bill that incorporates the good ideas from the Republican bill and a smarter approach to deal with the threat.
