WASHINGTON—House Speaker Paul Ryan called Tuesday for a “pause” in Syrian refugees coming to the U.S. in the wake of the Paris attacks, and assembled a task force to bring legislation to a vote as soon as this week.
“Our nation has always been welcoming but we cannot let terrorists take advantage of our compassion,” Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters after a closed-door House GOP meeting. “This is a moment where it’s better to be safe than to be sorry, so we think the prudent, 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.”
Republicans said the chairmen of national security-focused committees were working on legislation dealing with Syrian refugees that the House could vote on as early as Thursday, though it was not clear exactly what the legislation would involve. Thus far the numbers of Syrian refugees admitted to the U.S. from their war-torn homeland have been extremely limited and they are vetted in a lengthy process. Some Democrats denounced a rush to judgment on Capitol Hill and the presidential campaign trail.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois likened the GOP reaction to the U.S. government turning away Jews fleeing Nazi Germany and placing Japanese in internment camps during World War II.
“Let us as legislators rise above petty politics, rise above sectarian fears ... the underlying layer of xenophobia,” Gutierrez said on the House floor. “Let us maintain America’s commitment as a beacon of hope.”
