Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said that “there should be a pause” in accepting Syrian refugees and criticized the Obama administration for not sending “a clear signal of what the vetting process is, and, governors have a legitimate concern about that” on Wednesday’s “America’s Newsroom” on the Fox News Channel.
Jeb said, “I’ve been consistent. I think that there should be a pause. The Obama administration hasn’t sent a clear signal of what the vetting process is, and, governors have a legitimate concern about that. I also think that there’s a humanitarian crisis. If you’re a Christian in the Middle East, you’re being beheaded, and but for us who? Who but the United States will provide support for the persecuted? And I think there’s ways to do this. Ultimately though, the issue needs to be resolved in the region. We need safe zones in Syria. This president, and his secretary of state, want to double down on a policy that has failed. This humanitarian crisis is created because the United States’ credibility is zero in the Middle East right now because of red lines and no support for the Syrian Free Army, and chaos has ensued. We need to lead a coalition to take out ISIS if we’re serious about dealing with the threats in our homeland.”
He added, “I think it’s — what the Obama administration needs to do is to answer Governor [Rick] Scott’s (R-FL) question…which is what is the criteria? How do they go about screening? There is now, we see that there was someone embedded amongst refugees that made their way to Paris that killed, was part of an effort to kill 129 innocent people. That’s a legitimate issue that needs to be resolved. And ultimately, we’ll get back to the business of helping a small number of people that desperately need help. That’s part of what we’ve done as a country. But I think bigger issue is what are we going to do about Islamic terrorists.”
Jeb further stated, “I think he needs to explain to the American people what the vetting process is to allow people — widows and orphans to come in, and make sure that terrorists don’t. It’s his responsibility to tell the American people and governors who are concerned about the security in their states, what the plan is. And I haven’t seen any evidence that he’s done that. And meanwhile, he’s been a party to creating a foreign policy that has allowed for a caliphate the size of Indiana to be formed, that now is organized to destroy Western civilization. And he views this as a law enforcement exercise. And Hillary Clinton, in the last couple of weeks, in South Carolina, has said that she would not be more aggressive in her foreign policy.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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