--- title: Here's What the Syrian Refugees Bill Would Do description: The House is expected to vote on legislation its authors say would tighten oversight of a federal program for Syrian and Iraqi refugees. canonical: https://time.com/4119155/syrian-refugees-congress-safe-act/ author: Alex Altman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-19T04:32:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:40:04.449Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's What the Syrian Refugees Bill Would Do og:description: Supporters say it would tighten oversight. og:url: https://time.com/4119155/syrian-refugees-congress-safe-act/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90500e602e311443/698871dd0a4a225ab19c7214/refugees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: A refugee child looks at a map of Europe inside a make-shift tent at a refugee camp close to a registration center on the Greek island of Lesbos November 18, 2015. UNHCR has appealed to the Greek authorities to create additional accommodation and recepti og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What the Syrian Refugees Bill Would Do twitter:description: Supporters say it would tighten oversight. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90500e602e311443/698871dd0a4a225ab19c7214/refugees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What the House Bill on Syrian Refugees Would Do > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c6451e45-eab5-422c-bdd3-a17f14e929b7&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Politicians React to U.S. Policy on Syrian Refugees [Watch (HLS stream): Politicians React to U.S. Policy on Syrian Refugees](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xRGMbKjA.m3u8) (1:57)  _Published 2015-11-17_ by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/) and [Massimo Calabresi](https://time.com/author/massimo-calabresi/) Nov 19, 2015 4:32 AM UTC by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/) and [Massimo Calabresi](https://time.com/author/massimo-calabresi/) Nov 19, 2015 4:32 AM UTC The House is expected to vote Thursday on legislation its authors say would tighten oversight of a federal program for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, an issue that has seized the national political stage in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. The bill would change little about the program. It requires the Administration to certify procedures already in place, and adds a layer of oversight by the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security. But the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act (or the SAFE Act) does serve as a test of newly elected Speaker Paul Ryan’s ability to manage the more radical elements of the GOP conference. The [bill](https://homeland.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/111715-HR4038.pdf), sponsored by House Homeland Security chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, would block the settlement of Syrian and Iraqi refugees until Congress receives additional certification that asylum seekers from those countries have been subject to a thorough background investigation and don’t pose security threats to the U.S. The legislation requires the director of the FBI to vouch for the completion of a background investigation on each refugee, as well as to certify to Congress that they are not a security risk. The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence would also be required to certify to Congress that individual refugees are not security threats. And the bill stipulates that Homeland Security officials submit monthly and yearly reports to relevant congressional committees about the program. Syrian and Iraqi refugees are already [the most heavily vetted category](http://time.com/4116619/syrian-refugees-screening-process/) of people to enter the U.S., the subject of an intensive process that lasts an average 18 to 24 months. Their screening already includes background checks by the FBI and DHS, and seven other federal agencies, Administration officials say. **Read More:** [_Republican Candidates Weren’t Always Skeptical of Syrian Refugees_](http://time.com/4119275/syrian-refugees-republican-flip-flops/) Just weeks ago, the existing refugee-resettlement effort enjoyed broad bipartisan support. The U.S. has taken in some 2,200 Syrian refugees out of the more than 4 million fleeing the war-torn nation. In the Middle East, America’s allies and other countries are overwhelmed with Syrian refugees. Turkey has more than 2 million, Lebanon more than 1 million, and Jordan has more than 650,000. President Obama has called for the U.S. to take in at least 10,000 more over the next fiscal year. That would be far less than Western allies have already taken or committed to taking. Germany is preparing to assimilate some 800,000, while France said it would welcome another 30,000 even in the aftermath of the attacks. Top Democrats such as Secretary of State John Kerry and his predecessor Hillary Clinton have called for the U.S. to up its figure to around 65,000. But a backlash to the program built swiftly in the aftermath of the carnage in Paris, unleashed by a terrorist cell that included one attacker who may have entered European amid the tide of Syrian refugees flooding the Continent. Republicans from the Capitol to the campaign trail have since called for a halt in the program, while the governors of some 30 states have said they will not accept new refugees. The national call for protection from a population that is already heavily vetted poses an early political test for the newly anointed leader of a fractured GOP conference, Speaker Ryan. Earlier this week Ryan called for a “pause” in the resettlement program. “We can be compassionate, and we can also be safe,” Ryan said during speech on the House floor on Wednesday. **Read More:** [_Republicans Hit Back at President Obama Over Refugee Criticism_](http://time.com/4118395/barack-obama-republicans-isis-refugees/) Though some Democrats are expected to join the chamber’s Republican majority in supporting the bill, a majority are expected to oppose it. [Democrats may offer alternative](http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-11-18/house-democrats-said-to-mull-alternative-bill-on-syria-refugees) legislation. Some Republicans on Capitol Hill are already attacking the bill. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama said it “ensures the President’s refugee-resettlement initiative will continue unabated,” and called for a measure to cut off funding for the program. A [new Bloomberg poll](http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-11-18/bloomberg-poll-most-americans-oppose-syrian-refugee-resettlement) conducted in the days after the Nov. 13 attacks reveals 53% of Americans oppose Obama’s plan to resettle 10,000 Syrians here. Another 11% said they would support admitting Syria’s Christians but not Muslim refugees, an idea the President blasted as “shameful.” Just 28% of respondents said they would continue the current program. The White House threatened Wednesday to veto the bill if it makes it to the President’s desk in its current form, saying it serves “only to create significant delays and obstacles in the fulfillment of a vital program that satisfies both humanitarian and national security objectives.” The Senate will hold hearings on the issue Thursday. A bill in that chamber is unlikely to move before the Thanksgiving recess at the end of this week. **Read More:** [_This Is How the Syrian Refugee Screening Process Works_](http://time.com/4116619/syrian-refugees-screening-process/) ## Transcript When I hear political leaders [ BLANK_AUDIO ] suggesting that there would be a religious test [ BLANK_AUDIO ], for which [ BLANK_AUDIO ] a person who's fleeing from a war torn country is admitted. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] When some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that's shameful. That's not American. And when hundreds of thousands of people have lost everything, have nothing left but the shirts on their backs, we will not turn our backs on the refugees from Syria and Afghanistan. [ APPLAUSE ] Refugees are pouring into our great country from Syria. We don't even know who they are. They could be ISIS. They could be anybody. What's our President doing? Is he insane? We can't act as though we're shutting the doors to people in need without undermining who we are as Americans and the values we have stood for. [ APPLAUSE ] Our nation has always been welcoming. But, we cannot let terrorists take advantage of our compassion. This is a moment where it's better to be safe, than to be sorry. We need to hear from the White House and Homeland Security on exactly what these background checks are. What they, how they communicate to us in the States where these people are settling, so we can keep track of exactly what's occurring within our states. I believe the United States and the world needs to go on offense and stop the reason people have to leave Syria. The good people are leaving because they're being raped and murdered, and some terrorists are trying to get in their ranks. My heart says that we should let them in. 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