Ron Johnson

So in 2009, we basically had about 50 people in this capacity, roughly, because you are not going to really change much.

Would you please look at your laws and end the ambiguity in your laws that actually incentivize our children, their future, from leaving their countries and coming to America?

What has happened is we have become more--it is being swept under the rug.

Literally, failure is not an option.

I will tell you, as a Protestant Lutheran, if there is a radical band of Lutherans committing terrorist attack after terrorist attack, I would call them, 'Lutheran terrorists,' and I would denounce them, and I would renounce them.

As soon as this administration were to present and we were to have Democratic support for an Authorization for Use of Military Force that shows the full commitment of this Nation and this administration to accomplish the goal of defeating…

If we are going to accept, let us say, 10,000 refugees, which is just a pittance in terms of the numbers of refugees, why do we not establish criteria.

I hope that you understand as well as the American people watching this understand, this is one area of completely unanimous agreement that we must honor the promises to the finest among us to provide them with quality care.

I do not think that we can turn this into a risk-free world.

That seems like a pretty reasonable way to assure that these checks, that this robust process that you have been describing, is carried out.

If we do not address ISIS with what they are doing in Syria and Iraq, then we are not going to be in a position--if we do not work together with our allies to defeat ISIS, then the refugee problem is going to continue

I guess, I could sign on to former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, and say the greatest threat to our national security is our debt and deficit.

When I took over as Chairman of this Committee, working with Senator Carper, we developed a rather simple mission statement for the Committee.

My final comment, the House just passed the American SAFE Act of 2015. I have introduced the Senate companion bill.

I think that is, I think, one of our greater vulnerabilities.

I truly do appreciate and I think everybody on this Committee appreciates the fact that you are taking the time to lay out that reality for the American public.

It basically says that no refugee may be admitted until the Director of the FBI certifies to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence that each refugee has received a background investigation that is…

The root cause of this problem is that ISIS exists, that it was able to rise from the ashes of what was a defeated al-Qaeda in Iraq.

We are a compassionate, humane society.

And it pretty well renders Congress pretty much useless.

We love our environment, and we want to keep it clean.

We have a climate change problem in this world. We need to deal with it.

President Obama, when he was a candidate, was talking about his proposed cap-and-trade policy. And he said, if enacted, because of his cap-and-trade proposal, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.

If the Federal Government gets involved and claims jurisdiction over these things, you are concerned...

We cannot afford to pay the costs anymore of these overreaching rules that have no benefit to them.