Goodlatte Statement at Markup of the Refugee Program Integrity Restoration Act

Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) today delivered the following remarks during the House Judiciary Committee’s markup of the Refugee Program Integrity Restoration Act (H.R. 2826). Chairman Goodlatte: The United States has a generous refugee program and has provided millions of people fleeing persecution with safe haven.  Just last fiscal year we resettled 84,994 refugees.  And while we should continue that great tradition, it has become clear that our refugee laws can be abused and need reform. The Refugee Act of 1980 created our current refugee resettlement process, in which the President sets the annual limit for the number of refugees the United States can resettle during the next fiscal year. And the Act set forth who could be considered admissible as a refugee and how and when those refugees could adjust to lawful permanent resident status.  In addition, the Act put in place a process for the federal government to work through nongovernmental agencies to resettle refugees. Thirty-seven years later, Members of Congress and the American public are voicing a growing number of concerns about how many, and the way, refugees are admitted to the United States, as well as what happens once they are admitted. But the Federal government has done little to respect those concerns. Under the previous Administration, when a State or locality expressed security concerns about refugee resettlement, the Administration simply repeated the soundbite that ‘refugees undergo the most rigorous background checks of any immigrant to the United States.’  That statement ignored those of several security officials that if there is no information regarding a potential refugee in the databases that are checked, then no derogatory information will show up during the check.  And it ignored the fact that in many failed states, like Syria, there is no reliable information about refugees. We know that over 300 individuals being actively investigated for terrorist related activity by the FBI, came to the United States as refugees. And we know that at least two of the ten successful terrorist attacks carried out on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001, were perpetrated by individuals who entered the U.S. as refugees. So we should certainly be concerned about resettlement of refugees from countries that are hotbeds of terrorist activity. In addition to security concerns, if a State or locality expressed concerns about the costs of refugee resettlement or the lack of available employment opportunities, the prior Administration did little in response.  It was simply their view that “the Federal government has the right to resettle refugees all across America….”  And while that may be true, it is not necessarily the best practice. I know that many resettlement organizations do wonderful and necessary work.  But essentially ignoring the pleas of communities across the U.S. and leaving refugee resettlement decisions to the Administration is no longer a viable option. Also ripe for change is the process by which the annual refugee ceiling is set. Currently the President sets the refugee ceiling after “appropriate consultation with Congress.”  But such “appropriate consultation” had become simply a September meeting between the Secretary of State and some Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, at which the Secretary told us how many refugees the President had decided could be admitted.  This was the case under multiple Administrations. And in 2015, when the Secretary did in fact provide us a number during the consultation, the final FY 2016 determination by the President was 10,000 more than what the Secretary had told us just days before. So among its many reforms, H.R. 2826 sets an annual limit for refugee admissions, curbing the President’s limitless power.  And the bill places the power in the hands of the States and localities to determine whether or not refugee resettlement is best for their communities. After 37 years, it is time to make some needed reforms to U.S. refugee law and policy.  H.R. 2826, the Refugee Program Integrity Restoration Act does just that. I urge my colleagues to support the bill and I yield back the balance of my time.