PRINTER'S NO. 1435
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
248
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY RAFFERTY, SCARNATI, SCAVELLO, AUMENT, FOLMER,
ARGALL, GORDNER, SMUCKER, EICHELBERGER, BARTOLOTTA, MENSCH,
McILHINNEY, YAW, WARD, BROOKS, TOMLINSON, DINNIMAN, STEFANO,
VULAKOVICH, HUTCHINSON, VOGEL, GREENLEAF, WHITE, CORMAN AND
BAKER, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
A RESOLUTION
Urging the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the
President of the United States and the Secretary of the
United States Department of Homeland Security to discontinue
the resettlement of Syrian refugees in this Commonwealth
until such time as systems are in place to conduct effective
and thorough security and background checks on Syrian
refugees and to send a report detailing the increased
measures to the states that are under consideration to
receive Syrian refugees.
WHEREAS, In order to address the migrant crisis in Syria, the
Federal Government has indicated that the United States will
accept at least 10,000 Syrian refugees during fiscal year 2016;
and
WHEREAS, This Commonwealth has an abundant and successful
history of embracing immigrants; and
WHEREAS, The most important responsibility of government is
to protect the safety and security of its residents; and
WHEREAS, On November 13, 2015, coordinated terror attacks
were carried out in Paris, France, killing at least 129 people
and injuring more than 350 people; and
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WHEREAS, On November 14, 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS), a
deadly terrorist organization based in Raqqa, Syria, claimed
responsibility for the attacks and pledged further attacks
worldwide; and
WHEREAS, French police discovered a Syrian passport belonging
to a Syrian asylum seeker who entered Europe through Greece near
the body of a suicide bomber; and
WHEREAS, Despite our sympathy for the plight of innocent
Syrians trying to escape the horrors of their war-torn region,
this raises concerns that the security vetting procedures used
in addressing the Syrian migrant crisis are completely
inadequate; and
WHEREAS, On February 11, 2015, Francis X. Taylor, Under
Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis for the United States
Department of Homeland Security, stated, "We are concerned about
any group of people coming to the United States who may be
coming to the United States for nefarious purposes"; and
WHEREAS, Under Secretary Taylor also testified that officials
"want to make sure that if we are asked to vet individuals from
any part of the world to come to the United States, that we have
applied the most rigorous screening that's available within the
U.S. government"; and
WHEREAS, On February 11, 2015, Nicholas J. Rasmussen,
Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, testified in
front of the United States House of Representatives' Committee
on Homeland Security that Syrian refugees are
clearly a population of concern and, as Under Secretary
Taylor said, what we want to be able to do is apply the
full weight of U.S. intelligence community holdings to
the vetting and screening process so that we can unearth
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any information that we may have in our holdings that
gives us concern about particular individuals;
and
WHEREAS, On February 11, 2015, Michael B. Steinbach,
Assistant Director, Counterterrorism Division, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, United States Department of Justice, testified in
front of the United States House of Representatives' Committee
on Homeland Security that
You have to have information to vet, so the concern in
Syria is that we don't have systems in place on the
ground to collect the information to vet. That would be
the concern we would be vetting--databases don't hold the
information on those individuals, and that is the
concern;
and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvanians recognize the desperate plight of the
hundreds of thousands of refugees and want to aid those who are
fleeing war and terror, however, at the same time, increased
security measures are necessary following the recent terror
attacks in order to protect the security, safety and basic
freedoms of the residents of this Commonwealth; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
urge the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the
President of the United States and the Secretary of the United
States Department of Homeland Security to discontinue the
resettlement of Syrian refugees in this Commonwealth until such
time as systems are in place to conduct effective and thorough
security and background checks on Syrian refugees and to send a
report detailing the increased measures to the states that are
under consideration to receive Syrian refugees; and be it
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further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the President
of the United States and the Secretary of the United States
Department of Homeland Security.
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