releases: https://russell.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/rep-steve-russell-offers-refreshing-counter-keep-them-out
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://russell.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/rep-steve-russell-offers-refreshing-counter-keep-them-out | Rep. Steve Russell offers refreshing counter to 'keep them out' | 2015-11-24 | 2015 | 2015-11 | Republican | House | OK | Steve Russell | R000604 | russell.house.gov | legacy | U.S. Rep. Steve Russell offers no apology to those in his party who are disappointed in his take on the Syrian refugee crisis. Unlike so many Republicans, Russell doesn't want the United States to begin turning these refugees away as a result of the recent terror attacks in Paris. I've angered people on both sides on this issue. I don't care, Russell, R-Choctaw, said last week in an interview with The Oklahoman. I've been defending this republic since I was 18. There are times you have to have the moral courage to stand on our liberties. During the interview, Russell offered a refreshing contrast to the rhetoric and fear-mongering that has emanated from members of both major political parties, but especially from Republicans. Some Oklahoma state legislators have called for taking steps to ensure no Syrian refugees wind up in this state. These reactions followed the disclosure that a Syrian passport was found near one of the perpetrators of the ISIS-led attacks in Paris. The Obama administration has committed to accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next year. Republicans want President Barack Obama to pull the plug on that plan for now. On Thursday, Russell spoke forcefully on the House floor against a Republican bill requiring more screening before Syrian and Iraqi refugees can be admitted. The next day, he initially voted against the bill, but then switched and voted in favor, helping give Republicans a veto-proof majority. That move was part of some horse trading in which House leadership got the vote it wanted in exchange for Russell being among those members at the table as this issue is hashed out further. The House bill, he noted, doesn't represent the end of the road on this issue but only one step. A former Army Ranger, Russell said he has lived among Sunni Arab Muslims and has watched them die fighting ISIS. I've watched them be eliminated. They're intelligent. They're educated. They don't want this, he told us. And if we cannot be an America that promotes people having freedom and determination, we've lost our way and the terrorists have won. Russell makes the point that the current vetting process for refugees is extensive, and involves numerous agencies among them the International Office of Migration, the U.N. High Commission on Refugees, the FBI, along with the departments of state, defense and homeland security. Biographical and biometric checks are included, along with searches to determine whether terrorist ties are evident. In the past four years, Russell noted, about 1,900 of those refugees who have fled Syria have been placed in the United States (only three have come to Oklahoma since 2012, all of them in Jenks, according to Gov. Mary Fallin's office). The congressman is advocating further discussion about the best way forward, instead of knee-jerk overreaction. We need to make sure we're secure, but I've said the only thing that should have a blindfold is Lady Justice with a pair of scales, Russell said. We don't need to have the Statue of Liberty with a blindfold and a stiff-arm, or perhaps another gesture. We don't need that. And he added this: Let's have the discussions, let's do it with civility and let's look at the facts. Let's find a way to properly vet and secure our country, but let's not ever find a way where we think we should turn away those fleeing tyranny. Here's hoping his colleagues on Capitol Hill will follow that advice. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |