U.s. congressman Rodney davis proudly representing the 13th district of illinois

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), along with other members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation, sent a letter urging President Obama to engage in a comprehensive strategy with our allies to defeat ISIS and suspend the flow of Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S. The letter was signed by U.S. Reps. Bob Dold (IL-10), Peter Roskam (IL-6), Mike Bost (IL-12), Randy Hultgren (IL-14), John Shimkus (IL-15), Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) and Darin LaHood (IL-18).

“Our first priority must be protecting the American people here at home,” said Davis. “We do that by leading abroad, by engaging with our allies in a comprehensive strategy to destroy ISIS. Unfortunately, this administration has failed on both accounts. Until we can properly vet Syrian refugees and prevent what happened in Paris from happening here, we cannot and should not commit to taking additional refugees. Americans are compassionate – we are the largest donor of humanitarian aid to Syria – and we will continue to be, but not at the risk of our own safety and security. I commend Governor Rauner’s actions in putting Illinois families first and will continue to work with my colleagues in Washington to ensure we are doing the same.”

Governor Rauner announced Monday that Illinois would temporarily stop accepting Syrian refugees following the Paris terrorist attacks.

French and other European officials have said that at least one attacker used the flow of Syrian refugees to gain entry into the European Union. Senior U.S. government officials have expressed concerns that the flow of Syrian refugees could also be used to enter the United States. In September 2015, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper expressed a “huge concern” that ISIS may attempt to infiltrate Syrian refugees to enter Europe and possibly the United States. In October 2015, FBI Director James Comey expressed concerns about the U.S. government’s ability to vet all Syrian refugees.

“My concern there is there are certain gaps ... in the data available to us,” Director Comey said at the time. “There is risk associated of bringing anybody in from the outside, but specifically from a conflict zone like that."

Despite these concerns and the Paris terrorist attacks, President Obama has stated that he plans to move forward with his plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year. Since 2012, the United States has admitted 1,854 Syrian refugees.

Text of the letter is as follows:

November 17, 2015

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Our number one priority must be protecting the American homeland and keeping the American people safe from terror attacks. The recent bombing of a Russian airliner and the coordinated, barbaric terrorist attacks in Paris should erase any doubt about whether ISIS is simply a regional threat that can be contained geographically. Instead, these horrific events have made it crystal clear that ISIS is intent on waging a global war against our way of life, and that innocent civilians are the targets of these Islamic extremists.

Eliminating the threat posed by ISIS requires a comprehensive strategy – one that combines increased American diplomatic leadership on the global stage, a renewed military focus on defeating ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and enhanced intelligence tactics to combat the threat of homegrown terror that conspires with ISIS. However, one area that must also be immediately addressed is the growing concern that ISIS fighters and sympathizers could exploit the Syrian and Iraqi refugee crisis to enter the U.S. through the refugee resettlement program.

It has been publicly reported that your administration is moving to accelerate the number of Syrian refugees taken in by the United States in the coming year. In an interview on November 15, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes sought to allay concerns by stating that, “[W]ith respect to refugees, we have the most extensive security vetting that we have ever had to deal with Syrian refugees coming into the United States.”

We do not doubt that the administration seeks to screen refugees from Syria to the best of its abilities. However, it is entirely appropriate for the American people to be alarmed when they hear FBI Director James Comey and the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, voice concerns about the ability of ISIS-affiliated individuals to hide among the waves of Syrian refugees.

Balancing our nation’s compassion with our basic security needs is particularly difficult during times of great uncertainty and heightened threats. However, given the inability to vet these individuals against government records in Syria, we ask that the administration respond to the legitimate concerns of the American people by ceasing the flow of refugees from Syria or Iraq until there is an updated system in place that can actually verify the background of each refugee.

ISIS’ techniques are rapidly evolving and there is no room for error when the stakes are so incredibly high. Before moving forward, we must have 100 percent certainty that no individual with sympathies to ISIS is brought into the United States. In this war on terror, the safety and security of our nation demands that we stay one step ahead.

Sincerely,