MOVING QUICKLY

Congress to Vote on Refugees Thursday

Forcing a pause in admission.

Congress will move swiftly for new legislation reacting to the Paris terror attacks, opting to vote on a bill placing new restrictions on Iraq and Syrian refugees by Thursday. In the short term, the bill would force a pause in the admission of such refugees while the Obama administration implements a more vigorous screening process. Under the new rules, Iraq and Syria refugees would only be admitted to the U.S. if the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI director, and the director of national intelligence unanimously agreed to certify to Congress that each refugee is not a security threat. The FBI would conduct background investigations, the agencies would report monthly to Congress, and the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security would do annual reviews of the process to assess risk. Out of the four million people who have fled Syria due to its civil war, less than 1,900 Syrian refugees have been admitted to the U.S. since 2012. —Tim Mak

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Tim Mak

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