Where are legally required hearings in House and
Senate on Obama refugee plan for FY2017? by Ann Corcoran 9/8/16
President Barack Hussein Obama will send his
final ‘determination’ letter to Capitol Hill this month with the number of
refugees (200,000?) he wants admitted to the country in Fiscal Year 2017 which begins in 23
days! I’m
guessing the letter and the required report won’t be delivered until his big
show at the UN on September 20th.
In the House,
hammer Rep. Bob Goodlatte and Rep. Trey Gowdy. Goodlatte is chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee and Gowdy is chairman of the immigration
subcommittee. In the Senate it is Chairman Chuck Grassley and Subcommittee
chairman Jeff Sessions who are responsible for holding a hearing on Obama’s
2017 proposal.
That gives
little time for Congress to do the job legally required of it under the Refugee Act of
1980 and that is to hold
hearings in both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. However since both committees know
what is required of them, they could have the hearings on their respective
committee calendars for the week immediately following the 20th. I am not seeing anything on either of their
calendars.
I won’t stop beating
this drum! The number of refugees admitted to the US this coming year
will depend on the REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS (not on Obama!).
They can cut the
funding for the program and thus cut the number of refugees placed in your
towns! If they want to! Last year was
the first year in many, many years where the House Judiciary Committee and
Senate Judiciary Committees held any legally required hearing on the
President’s plan and that is only because so many of you were clamoring for
hearings in light of the huge Syrian numbers being proposed (you know the
number will be even bigger this year, Hillary wants 65,000!). But, both
hearings came after the fiscal year had begun. See here and here (too little too late).
Because they want to get home and campaign
this fall, they will have adjourned and there will be no hearings in October,
therefore we must demand a hearing in both committees this month! This is what I said last year on
September 13th, click here. Here is what the law says. I
doubt most of this ever happens!
STATUTE-94-Pg102 “SEC. 207. (a)
Except as
provided in subsection Q)), the number of refugees who may be admitted under
this section in fiscal year 1980, 1981, or 1982, may not exceed fifty thousand
unless the President determines, before the beginning of the fiscal year and
after appropriate consultation (as defined in subsection (e)), that admission
of a specific number of refugees in excess of such number is justified by humanitarian
concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.
Except as
provided in subsection (b), the number of refugees who may be admitted under
this section in any fiscal year after fiscal year 1982 shall be such number as
the President determines, before the beginning of the fiscal year and after
appropriate consultation, is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise
in the national interest.
Admissions
under this subsection shall be allocated among refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States in accordance
with a determination made by the President after appropriate consultation.“(d)(1) Before the start
of each fiscal year the President shall report to the
Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the Senate
regarding the foreseeable number of refugees who will be in need of resettlement during the
fiscal year and the anticipated allocation of refugee admissions during the fiscal year.
The President
shall provide for periodic discussions between designated representatives of
the President and members of such committees regarding changes in the worldwide
refugee situation, the progress of refugee admissions, and the possible need
for adjustments in the allocation of admissions among refugees. “(2) As soon as
possible after representatives of the President initiate appropriate consultation with respect
to the number of refugee admissions under subsection (a) or with respect to the admission of
refugees in response to an emergency refugee situation under subsection
(b), the (Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives
and of the Senate shall cause to have printed in the Congressional
Record the substance of such consultation. “(3)(A) After the
President initiates appropriate consultation prior to making a
determination under subsection (a), a hearing to review the proposed
determination shall be held unless public disclosure of the details of the
proposal would jeopardize the lives or safety of individuals.
“(e) For purposes of
this section, the term ‘appropriate consultation* means, with
respect to the admission of refugees and allocation of refugee
admissions, discussions in person by designated Cabinet-level representatives of the President
with members of the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and of the House of Representatives to
review the refugee situation or emergency refugee situation, to
project the extent of possible participation of the United States
therein, to discuss the reasons for believing that the proposed admission of
refugees is justified by humanitarian concerns or grave humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the
national interest, and to provide such members with the following
information:
“(1) A
description of the nature of the refugee situation.
“(2) A
description of the number and allocation of the refugees to be admitted and an
analysis of conditions within the countries from which they came.
“(3) A
description of the proposed plans for their movement
and resettlement and the estimated cost of their movement and resettlement.
and resettlement and the estimated cost of their movement and resettlement.
“(4) An
analysis of the anticipated social, economic, and
demographic impact of their admission to the United States.
demographic impact of their admission to the United States.
“(5) A
description of the extent to which other countries will
admit and assist in the resettlement of such refugees.
admit and assist in the resettlement of such refugees.
“(6) An
analysis of the impact of the participation of the United States in the
resettlement of such refugees on the foreign policy interests of the United
States.
“(7) Such
additional information as may be appropriate or
requested by such members.
requested by such members.
To the extent possible, information described
in this subsection shall be provided at least two weeks in advance of discussions in person by
designated
representatives of the President with such members.
For all of my
recent posts on the role Congress SHOULD be playing involving refugees, see my
tag ‘Where is Congress.’
Endnote! When you
write or otherwise communicate with your Washington ‘lawmakers’ tell them you
expect to see hearings required by law on the President’s ‘determination’ for
FY2017 this month!
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