Overnight Defense: House rushes vote to block Syrian refugees

by Kristina Wong - 11/17/15 6:27 PM ET

THE TOPLINE: With a majority of Americans fearing a Paris-style attack at home, House Republicans are rushing to vote this week on a bill to temporarily halting the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the U.S., report The Hill’s Scott Wong, Jordan Fabian and Alex Bolton.

“Republican lawmakers are feeling enormous pressure to act before they leave town on Thursday for the 10-day Thanksgiving recess. Some said they’ve received hundreds of phone calls from constituents calling on Congress to stop President Obama’s plan to admit 10,000 refugees from war-torn Syria.

{mosads}”The House’s quick action comes in the wake of a string of violent terrorist attacks in Paris that killed roughly 130 people. The Islamic State or ISIS has claimed responsibility. At least one of the attackers appeared to have posed as a refugee from Syria to gain entry to France, sparking a Republican backlash at resettlement efforts in the U.S.

“The House GOP plan appeared to find some bipartisan support on the other side of the Capitol. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a top Democratic leader, acknowledged that a “pause” on Syrian refugees might be “necessary,” though he wants to attend a classified Senate briefing Wednesday on the Paris attacks before rendering a final verdict.”

The debate could lead to a spending fight. From Scott, Jordan and Alex’s report:

“Earlier this week, some House Republicans had urged leaders to strip out funding for the refugee program from the omnibus spending bill that must be passed before a Dec. 11 to avert a government shutdown. That would set up a spending showdown with Obama and his Democratic allies over the refugee crisis.

“But even some of the most conservative members of the GOP conference warned that waiting several weeks to address the refugee issue might be too late. ‘We should move on this as quickly as possible,’ said Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus. ‘We can’t go home without addressing this.'”

DEMOCRATS CRITICIZE OBAMA’S PARIS RESPONSE: President Obama is also coming under criticism from some in his own party over his comments Monday about last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris, writes The Hill’s Jordan Fabian.

“Influential liberal columnists and Democratic strategists say Obama came off as condescending and scornful during his press conference in Antalya, Turkey — missing an opportunity to show strength and leadership in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“‘I don’t want him shooting from the hip and making empty threats, but I think he could have done a better job in articulating the anger that many people feel toward what happened in not only Paris but Beirut as well,’ said Democratic strategist Jim Manley, a former adviser to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).”

During his Monday press conference, Obama defended his strategy against the terror group and was sharply critical of Republicans who have called for halting the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the U.S.

“Monday’s press conference was the latest of a string of comments from Obama that have sparked concern among his fellow Democrats — including the president’s remark last week that ISIS has been geographically ‘contained,’ reports Fabian.

“‘I read the intelligence faithfully. ISIL is not contained, ISIL is expanding,’ Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Monday, using an alternate acronym for the group. …

“The White House on Tuesday rejected suggestions that Obama has not expressed enough urgency about curbing the threat posed by ISIS.

“White House communications director Jen Psaki pointed to Obama’s remarks last Friday in the midst of the terror strikes, when he condemned them as an ‘attack on all of humanity’ and pledged a swift response.”

RYAN SENDS DEFENSE BILL TO WHITE HOUSE: House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Tuesday signed the 2016 defense policy bill, which now heads to the president’s desk for his signature for the second time.

Ryan hailed the bipartisan bill, which authorizes $607 billion for the Pentagon, as “the kind of legislation that gives our armed forces the tools they need to be agile, to be effective, to be ready.”

The president had vetoed the bill the first time, over the bill’s authorization of the use of a war fund to bypass spending caps on defense spending, without Republicans also lifting the caps on non-defense spending.

The bill was sent through Congress again after the White House and Republicans reached a two-year budget deal that would lift spending caps on both defense and non-defense spending.

Ryan said the bill included two “very important” provisions in particular.

“Number one, this bill requires that the president come up with a plan to actually defeat ISIS,” he said. “Number two, this bill says that the president cannot send Guantanamo Bay detainees to America.”

The bill would impose tougher restrictions on Guantanamo Bay detainee transfers, and continue to ban any transfers of detainees to the U.S. However, the White House has indicated the president will sign the bill anyway.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), who crafted the bill along with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), said he hoped the president would do the “right thing,” and sign the bill.

“The most important part of any defense bill is what it does to our people, and this bill gives us greater capability to continue to recruit and retain the top quality of people that we need and take better care of them.

“So I hope the president does the right thing this week and signs this bill,” he said.

GOP TO WH: STOP MICROMANAGING ISIS WAR: Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee will recommend that a four-star general on the ground in Iraq direct the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“It is very important that ISIS be dealt a significant tactical defeat in the near term, and I think you need somebody on the ground to redevelop the confidence in our allies,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

“The president is absolutely wrong. His strategy is not working, and something more significant needs to take place.”

Thornberry said he plans to raise that issue as part of a task force looking at short- and long-term solutions to ISIS.

Right now, Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland is the commander of the coalition fighting ISIS. But Thornberry said MacFarland hasn’t been given the responsibility to run the military campaign he’d like to see a leader have.

“The military has to be in charge of the military campaign against ISIS,” he said.

Thornberry also said that while Syrian refugees need to be properly vetted before entering the country, an undue focus has been placed on refugees in the wake of the Paris attacks.

“To me it’s just a matter of common sense that we should not have people come to this country unless we can be reasonably assured they’re not going to try to hurt this country,” he said.

ICYMI:

— Kerry: Recent Paris attack lacked ‘rationale’ of Charlie Hebdo strike

— Intel lawmakers fret tourist program more than refugees

— Senators use Paris attacks to renew push for ISIS war bill

— GOP chairman blasts agencies for pulling out of briefing on data breaches

— Attorney general: Law ‘does not allow‘ Gitmo detainees in the US

Please send tips and comments to Kristina Wong, kwong@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Rebecca Kheel, rkheel@digital-staging.thehill.com