{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://delaney.house.gov/news/press-releases/delaney-leads-letter-calling-for-increased-funding-for-refugee-screening-and", "Delaney Leads Letter Calling for Increased Funding for Refugee Screening and Resettlement", "2015-12-03", "2015", "2015-12", "Democrat", "House", "MD", "John Delaney", "D000620", "delaney.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Congressman John K. Delaney (MD-6) led a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees calling for more resources to be dedicated to refugee processing in the Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill.\nI believe we have the capabilities to speed up the process to accept refugees from places like Syria so that it doesnt take 18-24 months. These are people in need and as a country we have the ability to accept more innocent people fleeing ISIS. However to accomplish this, we need to provide the agencies vetting refugees with enough resources to expedite the process while maintaining effective screening procedures. That is why I am requesting supplemental funding to ensure the appropriate agencies have the necessary resources to both improve and expedite the refugee screening process to address this humanitarian crisis, said Congressman Delaney.\nThe letter was authored by Delaney and signed by 30 additional members of Congress and was sent to Sen. Thad Cochran, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations; Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Vice Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations; Rep. Hal Rodgers, Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations and Rep. Nita M. Lowey, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Appropriations.  \n\t\nThe text of the letter is below:\n\nDear Chairman Cochran, Vice Chairwoman Mikulski, Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Lowey,\n\nWe have all seen and heard about the horrors Syrians have faced due to civil war and terrorism. Millions have fled their homeland in the hopes of seeking safety. While the United States has a thorough system in place for screening at-risk refugees, it is lengthy and not as efficient as it could be for low-risk refugees. Most Syrians first register with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which can take anywhere from a few weeks to more than a year before a very select few are referred to the United States for our own stringent checks, which on average, take between 18-24 months. We should improve security standards to ensure that terrorists dont enter the United States; however, we also can expedite the process for low risk populations at the same time.\n\nThere are three main agencies that are tasked with refugee processing and resettlement which include the Department of States Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), and the Department of Homeland Securitys U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). PRM runs the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, which includes the Resettlement Support Centers, and the Reception and Placement Program. ORR provides social services that help refugees become self-sufficient after arrival while also offering guidance and medical assistance. USCIS makes the final determination about whether or not each refugee is admissible to the U.S.\n\nAs you finalize the Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill, we encourage you to significantly increase funding for these critical programs to allow for more resources to be dedicated to more efficiently process refugee applications. By allocating additional resources effectively, we can both improve and speed up the refugee screening process which is so important to our national security. As you know, we can be both humanitarian and cautious and do not need to sacrifice one for the sake of the other.\n\nWe appreciate your attention to this lifesaving matter.\n\nSincerely,\nRep. John K. Delaney  \n\tRep. Pete Aguilar  \n\tRep. Ami Bera  \n\tRep. Julia Brownley  \n\tRep. Cheri Bustos  \n\tRep. John Carney  \n\tRep. Yvette D. Clarke  \n\tRep. Gerald E. Connolly  \n\tRep. Jim Cooper  \n\tRep. Jim Costa  \n\tRep. Joe Courtney  \n\tRep. Debbie Dingell  \n\tRep. Gene Green  \n\tRep. Janice Hahn  \n\tRep. Ron Kind  \n\tRep. Ann McLane Kuster  \n\tRep. Ted W. Lieu  \n\tRep. James P. McGovern  \n\tRep. Patrick Murphy  \n\tRep. Richard Nolan  \n\tRep. Eleanor Holmes Norton  \n\tRep. Scott Peters  \n\tRep. Chellie Pingree  \n\tRep. Jared Polis  \n\tRep. Mike Quigley  \n\tRep. Charles B. Rangel  \n\tRep. Kathleen Rice  \n\tRep. Raul Ruiz  \n\tRep. Kyrsten Sinema  \n\tRep. Albio Sires  \n\tRep. Adam Smith\n\n\n##", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://delaney.house.gov/news/press-releases/delaney-leads-letter-calling-for-increased-funding-for-refugee-screening-and"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6368241049349308, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}