Senate Democrats block Syrian refugee bill

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

Senate Democrats blocked consideration of a Republican bill to curb the flow of Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the United States in order to prevent terrorists from slipping in.

In exchange for taking up the bill, Democrats wanted votes on amendments including one that would have forced GOP senators to go on-the-record on Donald Trump's controversial plan to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S.

The 55 to 43 vote largely split down party lines and fell short of the 60 votes needed for the bill to advance. The result means the refugee bill, which passed the House with broad bipartisan support in November, likely is dead for the year.

...snip...

Republican presidential candidates, Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, returned to Washington to vote to advance the bill. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, missed the vote.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/20/politics/syrian-refugees-senate-vote-2016/index.html

[pampango]

1. "Senate Democrats Call For Vote On Syrian Refugees And Donald Trump Muslim Ban"

Senate Democrats effectively blocked a vote Wednesday on a bill that would have halted the U.S. refugee resettlement program, USA Today reported. The Senate voted 55-43 to advance the bill, just a few shy of the 60 votes required.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid offered up a sort of compromise; he offered to allow the bill to advance only if Republican leaders agreed to permit a vote to denounce Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States. However, Senate GOP leaders rejected the offer.

“Republican leaders ... have pledged loyalty to Donald Trump and his disgraceful policies if he's the nominee," Reid said, according to USA Today. "Republicans who support these illogical plans should be prepared for the next logical step, voting on Donald Trump’s vision for America."

The bill had passed in the House in November and would have required the FBI to certify that refugees from Iraq and Syria had undergone "a background investigation sufficient to determine" whether the person were a national security threat, according to U.S. News and World Report. In order to enter the U.S., the refugee would have had to be certified to Congress by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the director of national intelligence. The extra certification was expected to be so difficult that it would have essentially halted the admission of Syrian and Iraqi refugees fleeing war-torn regions in the U.S.

http://www.ibtimes.com/senate-democrats-call-vote-syrian-refugees-donald-trump-muslim-ban-2273476