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Rep. Babin: Defund Refugee Resettlement
NEWSMAX | By John Gizzi | Tuesday, 08 Dec 2015 | LINK

Rep. Brian Babin hit back hard at the White House Monday over its opposition to his proposal to bar tax dollars from the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the federal spending bill.

Babin told me that suspending the process of refugee requests for six months was something President Obama himself directed the State Department to do in 2011 after several dozen terrorists slipped through the Iraqi refugee security checks.

Last Thursday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told me that Babin’s proposal is “obviously something the administration would vigorously oppose” and “obviously is not the kind of thing the president believes will be good policy.”

“It’s astounding the president would oppose this bill over the thought of simply suspending our broken refugee program,” Babin said. “The oath of office that I took was to the American people, not foreigners, and I will do all that I can to protect the American people from those seeking to cause us harm.”

Babin, who has so far been joined by 72 GOP colleagues in urging the House leadership to include his measure in the Omnibus Spending Bill, noted that President Obama’s own secretary of Homeland Security, director of National Intelligence, and the director of the FBI have already admitted that they cannot properly vet those claiming to be Syrian refugees.

“Common sense dictates that if we cannot guarantee there is no connection to terrorism, then we should not let them enter the U.S,” added the Texas Republican, recalling President Obama’s own suspension of Iraqi refugees for six months in 2011 after terrorists slipped past security checks.

Asked if defunding the Office of Refugee Resettlement would lead to a veto by the president, Earnst replied, “What I am going to do is resist the urge to pass judgment [as a reason for a veto] on the possible inclusion of one proposal or another that’s floated by members of Congress.”

Later on Monday, Babin’s proposal received the blessings of Saba Ahmed, head of Republican Muslim Coalition. In denouncing Donald Trump’s call for banning all Muslims who seek asylum in the U.S., Ahmed told Newsmax she had “no problem at all” with Babin’s idea of a 120-day moratorium on refugees from Syria, the Middle East, and North Africa resettling in the U.S.

“It is more important that separate arrangements be made for them to settle in Islamic countries near their own for easier assimilation,” she said. “Saudi Arabia has not taken a single refugee so far.”

Under Babin's Resettlement Accountability Act (H.R. 3314), reasonable funding would be maintained for food, medicine, and shelter for refugees overseas.

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.