Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) in position to reform
refugee program (if he had a will to do it) by Ann Corcoran 10/24/16
This is another
in my series on Congress and the budget process as it relates to the UN/US
State Department Refugee Admissions Program (RAP). See Texas last week, here. Simpson represents Idaho’s 2nd District
which
wikipedia describes below:
In addition to
Boise…. Other
major cities in the 2nd district include Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Twin Falls,
and Rexburg. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a strong
presence in the district; a member of the LDS Church has represented this
district continuously since 1951. [See our recent
post about the
increasing role of the Mormon church in resettlement of third worlders to
America—ed]
Rep. Mike
Simpson has been in Idaho politics since 1980. He could help reform the Refugee
Admissions Program if he had a will to do so. If I lived in the district I
would be researching which industries looking for cheap immigrant labor support
his campaign. You should know that on Conservative Reviews Liberty Score card,
Simpson has an ‘F’ https://www.conservativereview.com/scorecard?MyMembers=false&state=ID&sort=Score&order=Descending&page=1&pageSize=50
Regular readers
know that Boise and Twin Falls are major resettlement sites in Idaho with large
numbers of Muslim refugees arriving to work in places like the Chobani yogurt
plant (go
here for our huge archive on Idaho).
A recent
article at Magic
Valley reports on
Rep. Simpson’s views on many issues including immigration (he supports
‘comprehensive immigration reform’, aka amnesty, because he says we need
workers).
And then here
is a standard squishy response on arguably one of the hottest issues in
Idaho—refugee resettlement in Boise and Twin Falls.
What are your views on the refugee
resettlement program and on accepting refugees from the Middle East, and from
Syria in particular? Do you support making any changes to the program or the
vetting process? Should we be letting in more refugees? Fewer refugees?
I continue to support the American principle that we will not return a
foreign national to a country where his or her life or freedom would be
threatened based on their race, religion, nationality, membership in a
particular social group, or political opinion. That being said, I am still
concerned about the current vetting process, in particular for refugees from
Syria, and I will continue to support efforts to strengthen that process. The
real issue is that this Administration has not been able to effectively
communicate to the American people that they can keep us safe. To regain our
trust, the State Department and Department of Homeland Security must
communicate a clear plan for the screening of Syrian refugees that is stringent
and thorough enough to ensure those entering the United States will do no harm. His answer demonstrates the usual
dodge—it’s the Obama Administration’s fault for not communicating clearly how they will
keep us safe. And, no answer to the question of more refugees!
He doesn’t tell you
that as the 5th in seniority (he has been in Congress for 18 years!) on the
powerful
House Appropriations Committee, he
is in the catbird seat to do something about security screening of Syrians. (Simpson is not a member of the House
Freedom Caucus nor did he support Rep. Brian Babin’s efforts to cut the funding
for the RAP earlier this fall, see
here.) And, what
does he mean by “not return a foreign national.” This isn’t a question of
sending someone back, it is a question of bringing them in in the first place!
Again, it is
about the money! He could be working to cut the funding for the program until
the security screening (the vetting process) is made safe. Washington
representatives like Mike Simpson want you to think it is the Democrats in the
White House and the agencies—DOS and Homeland Security—who need to do their
jobs. But, in reality he has more power than they do, because he is one of the
key members of Congress holding the purse strings! He just doesn’t want
his voters to know that! Ironically he says this about the budget
process on
his website:
It is important for Americans to understand
how the federal appropriations process works so that they can advocate for
responsible federal spending. On that he and I agree and that is why I am hounding you
all, if you really want to try to get the RAP under control, get it reformed or
stopped altogether, you too must understand the appropriations and budget
process. So what do you do if you live in Rep. Mike Simpson’s district?
There is only one
thing you can do to slow this flow (besides electing Donald Trump) which at
this rate would bring around 20,000 Syrians to America by next fall and that is
to persuade your member of Congress and US Senators to DEFUND the program in
the lame duck Budget debate coming in November. Simpson and other members could stop or
slow the flow using their power of the purse!
See the first
in a series of posts on the lame duck budget process by clicking
here. This is not
about Obama! Your Congressional Representatives have the power to rein this in
if they wanted to (and they don’t want you to know that they have that power!).
You have 15 days
before election day to get a commitment from your Washington, DC
representatives to DEFUND! Citizens concerned about the impact of
refugees on the 2nd District of Idaho must haunt Simpson’s campaign for those
15 days! Frankly, you might be better off with a new representative, no
matter what party, but with no power, than a powerful Republican member like
Simpson not working for you, but against you.
And, don’t
forget Idaho’s US Senators and other Congressman. There are only 4 total
members of the Idaho delegation, here. All of our posts on the Congressional
budget process are tagged: where is Congress.
https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/rep-mike-simpson-r-id-in-position-to-reform-refugee-program-if-he-had-a-will-to-do-it/
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