47 House Dems -- Including Janice Hahn -- Join Repubs To Approve Bill That Would Require Directors Of FBI & Nat'l Intelligence Plus Sec'y of Homeland Security Approve Entry For Each Individual Syrian Seeking Refugee Enrty; Congressmembers Lowenthal, Lieu, Sanchez Vote "No" w/ Dem Leadership

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47 House Dems -- Including Janice Hahn -- Join Repubs To Approve Bill That Would Require Directors Of FBI & Nat'l Intelligence Plus Sec'y of Homeland Security Approve Entry For Each Individual Syrian Seeking Refugee Entry; Congressmembers Lowenthal, Lieu, Sanchez Vote "No" w/ Dem Leadership

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(Nov. 18, 2015) -- As seen LIVE on LBREPORT.com, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 4038 (text here) by a margin of 289-137 -- with 47 Dems joining Repubs in voting "yes" -- sending to the Senate the repaidly-introduced Repub-leadership crafted bill that would require the Directors of FBI & Nat'l Intelligence, plus Sec'y of Homeland Security, to as not a threat to national security the entry of each Syrian seeking refugee entry status.

Among Dems voting "yes" were Cong. Janice Hahn (now running to succeed L.A. County Supervisor Don Knabe, a Repub.) Area Congressmembers Alan Lowenthal, Linda Sanchez and Ted Lieu, all Dems, voted "no" with their party leadership. CA Dems Julia Brownley (Oxnard/Thousand Oaks) and John Garamendi (north and west of Sac'to) voted "yes." For the full vote tally, click here.

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The bill [salient bill] provides:

...In addition to the screening conducted by the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall take all actions necessary to ensure that each covered alien receives a thorough background investigation prior to admission as a refugee. A covered alien may not be admitted as a refugee until the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation certifies to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence that each covered alien has received a background investigation that is sufficient to determine whether the covered alien is a threat to the security of the United States...A covered alien may only be admitted to the United States after the Secretary of Homeland Security, with the unanimous concurrence of the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Director of National Intelligence, certifies to the appropriate Congressional Committees that the covered alien is not a threat to the security of the United States." It now heads to the Senate. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) has publicly voiced doubts about current screening procedures. The House vote on HR 4038 -- with the support of several dozen Dems -- indicates bipartisan misgivings in the Obama administration's current screening procedures. Pres. Obama has indicated he would veto a bill if it restricts his announced plan to allow the entry of 10,000 refugees from Syria.

The House vote on HR 4038 -- with the support of nearly four dozen Dems -- reflects some bipartisan misgivings over the Obama administration's current screening procedures. Pres. Obama has indicated he would veto a bill if it restricts his announced plan to allow the entry of 10,000 refugees from Syria.

During House floor debate on the bill, Cong. Dana Rohrabacher (R., Huntington Beach) went further and announced that to ensure the safety of Americans against terrorists, he would favor requiring all individuals seeking refugee status from Syria to pass polygraph (lie detector) tests.

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