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Washington, DC – U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (TX-36) joined a bipartisan, veto-proof majority today in passing H.R. 4038, which requires the heads of the FBI, DHS and DNI to personally certify the background investigation of each refugee coming into the United States.  Babin, who has been a leader on the refugee issue, introduced legislation back in July to place an immediate moratorium on all refugee resettlements and is currently circulating a letter in support of a provision to be included in the upcoming spending bill to fully defund the President’s Syrian refugee plan and restore Congressional oversight of this program.

“While today’s bill is not as strong as I wanted it to be, it does place new restrictions on the President by requiring the FBI Director, DHS Secretary and DNI Director to personally sign off on each refugee to ensure he or she is not a threat to our national security.  This is certainly better than current law and will compel these agencies to conduct a more thorough background check.  If they cannot conduct such an investigation, they won’t be coming in,” said Rep. Babin.

“Nonetheless, I believe we must do more and have a sworn duty to do so.  I’ll continue fighting for an immediate moratorium on Obama's reckless refugee program, and we need to use the upcoming spending bill to defund this madness.  A clear, strong majority of the American people want a pause in this refugee program.  They’ve seen what happened in Paris and they are rightfully concerned.  I will not stop this fight – and in my mind it has only begun.  I’d also add that nothing stops us from continuing to provide basic humanitarian aid to them right there by their homeland.  We continue doing that while putting the safety and security of the American people first.”