Nov. 17, 2015
HARRISBURG – Rep. Scott Petri (R-Bucks) announced today that he will sponsor a resolution calling on Gov. Tom Wolf to reject the placement of Syrian refugees in the Commonwealth until the federal government establishes increased security procedures to sufficiently screen the refugees.
Petri’s resolution will also request that President Barack Obama direct the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to review its security procedures for vetting refugees and to send a report detailing the tighter security measures to the states under consideration to receive refugees.
Petri’s action follows the terror attacks in Paris over the weekend and a video released today, allegedly by ISIS, which threatens a Paris-style attack on Washington D.C.
“There is growing concern in this country and among our European allies that the refugee trail is providing a means for terrorists to gain entry into countries without the need for documentation and accountability,” said Petri. “In the immediate aftermath of Friday’s attack, a Syrian passport was discovered near one of the attackers. The attacker’s fingerprints, and those on the passport, match the fingerprints of a refugee who passed through Greece in October. This demonstration of the terrorists’ ability to use the refugee flow to further their attacks is deeply troubling and I believe that measures need to be taken in order to mitigate the threat that these individuals potentially pose to the Commonwealth and to our country.
“The U.S. government has agreed to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next year, without detailing the security measures that will be used to screen the refugees,” said Petri. “Our first priority is to protect the citizens of the Commonwealth by insisting on increased security procedures before allowing refugees to be placed within the Commonwealth.”
Representative Scott Petri
178th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Donna Pinkham
717.260.6452
dpinkham@pahousegop.com
RepPetri.com