Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said Thursday that he would oppose the continuing resolution because it would open up the United States to “unlimited” Afghan refugee resettlement without any vetting.
Senate Democrats blocked Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) amendment to the continuing resolution (CR) that would limit benefits to Afghan refugees.
Punchbowl News described the amendment, saying it:
… limits federal benefits for Afghan “parolees” brought into the United States under humanitarian circumstances. SIVs (special immigrant visa recipients) get eight months of benefits, and parolees can get indefinite benefits. This amendment will be considered under a 50-vote threshold.
Refugees wait for transportation at Dulles International Airport after being evacuated from Kabul following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, August 27, 2021, in Dulles, Virginia. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
After Democrats blocked the amendment, Hagerty said he would oppose the continuing resolution:
In light of @SenTomCotton’s amendment to the government funding bill failing, I have no choice but to oppose this dangerous bill from the Democrats. It opens the U.S. to unlimited refugee resettlement from Afghanistan with zero vetting, putting our security at even greater risk.
Breitbart News’ John Binder noted that President Joe Biden wants to resettle roughly 95,000 Afghans to the United States over the next year.
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) told Breitbart News Daily that the United States has zero capacity to vet all of these refugees.
“We have zero capacity to vet these folks properly,” Rosendale said. “The mass media goes out and tries to act like ‘Oh, everyone that we’re bringing in now is an SIV, a Special Immigrant Visa, they were a translator, they were working with our soldiers and our troops.’ That is absolutely a blatant lie.”
“We’ve got a lot of people that we don’t know anything about,” Rosendale said. “We’re starting to see the crimes take place on the military bases … and again, we go back to the health and safety and security of our nation.”
Matt Rosendale talks with supporters, November 6, 2018, at the Delta Hotel in Helena, Montana. (AP Photo/Eliza Wiley)
“We don’t know what kind of health issues they’re bringing with him, we have zero idea of what kind of security issues they’re bringing with him, we don’t know anything about these folks,” he added.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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