Texas Republican Congressman Blake Farenthold on Tuesday said the Obama administration is lying to the American people about its “robust vetting procedures” for Syrian refugees entering the country.
“They’re basically lying to you saying, ’oh we’ve got this vetting process to make sure that their safe.’ But you had the FBI director testify before Congress, under oath saying that if they have no information on someone they have nothing to vet them against,” Mr. Farenthold said in a radio interview with The Washington Time’s Tim Constantine.
“We have testimony saying, and I think common sense also dictates that in a failed state like Syria you don’t have any government information, police reports to rely on to vet somebody,” Mr. Farenthold continued. “So there’s no way to do a background check from somebody coming out of Syria. There’s no way we can find out whether they’re safe or not.”
Mr. Farenthold’s comment echoed those of other members of congress, including Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.).
“There’s virtually no vetting. There are no databases in Syria. There are no government records,” Mr. King told Fox News on Sunday.
House Speaker Paul Ryan told his Republican colleagues at a meeting on Tuesday that the chamber would look to move new legislation this week to block Syrian refugees from coming to the U.S.
The hesitance to allow more refugees in to the country ballooned after it was revealed that some of the attackers in a series of coordinated terrorists attacks in Paris over the weekend traveled to Europe with Syrian migrants.
Several governors, including New Jersey Gov. and GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie, have said they will not receive any Syrian refugees in their states.
Administration officials will host a phone call with governors later on Tuesday to provide them with more information about the administration’s refugee relocation program.
Nearly 2,000 Syrian refugees have relocated to the U.S. since 2012 and President Barack Obama has said that the U.S. will accept 10,000.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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