WASHINGTON -- Moving swiftly less than a week after the Paris attacks, the U.S. House cleared a bill this afternoon that halts the entry of refugees from Syria and Iraq until FBI background checks and additional certifications are added to their screening process.
Georgia Democrats David Scott of Atlanta and Sanford Bishop of Albany crossed the aisle -- and defied a veto threat from President Barack Obama -- to support the bill. All of the state's Republicans joined in, except Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Coweta County, who did not vote. Reps. John Lewis, D-Atlanta; and Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia; voted no, along with their party leaders.
The final tally was 289-137, above the two-thirds mark required to overturn a veto.
Said Scott in an interview today:
"So I'm going to keep my people of Georgia safe and the nation safe, and until we are absolutely confident that we cannot allow [any] slippage or any refugees that could be a terrorist. It doesn't take but one."
Scott also said Obama has lacked "backbone" in taking on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and he wants the U.S. to invoke Article 5 of NATO to get all of the allies on board with a response to the attack on France.
Earlier this week, Johnson had said he wanted a "pause" in the refugee program, but today he said the Obama administration -- which has been selling the merits of its refugee vetting process publicly and privately -- convinced him to oppose the bill:
"From what I've heard, after being briefed about it, I'm comfortable that the process is extensive and it is -- I can't say that it's foolproof, no process is. But it's as close to being as tight as it can be, and I'm sure it will get tighter. I'm sure that red flags have gone up, and people are looking more closely at these refugee referrals than we have in the past."
Traveling in Asia, Obama has had tough words for Republicans looking to limit refugees, saying at one point: "Apparently they are scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America."
Rep. Tom Price, R-Roswell, cited polls showing support for stopping Syrian refugee resettlement:
"The American people are demanding action. How the president can stand not with the American people astounds me daily."
Some conservatives were worried the bill does not go far enough to shut down the program. Heritage Action for America, the influential conservative group, opposed the bill, saying it gave too much authority to the administration to decide if the new vetting process was strong enough. But only two Republicans voted no.
With both houses of Congress off next week for Thanksgiving, and Senate Democratic leaders prepared to mount a filibuster, the bill's future is unclear. It's all but certain that the refugee fight will roll into an omnibus spending bill ahead of a Dec. 11 government shutdown deadline.
"It's the first step," Price said of today's vote. "Not the final step."
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