Forty-eight cowardly House Democrats repeated the mistakes of 9/11 by giving into the politics of fear and voting with Republicans on a bill that exploits the Paris terrorist and demonizes refugees.
By a vote of 289-137, the refugee bill passed. 47 Democrats voted for the bill, and 3 Republicans voted against.
Click here to see how your representative voted).
The dozens of House Democrats who voted for the bill did so out of fear and politics.
Politico reported before the vote, “Sources said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) pushed back saying the issue was “toxic” — even if Democrats opposed the Republican bill on policy grounds — because of the complicated messaging surrounding the national security issue. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas also questioned if the opposition from the White House was wise for rank-and-file members of the caucus.
Before the vote, House Republicans revived almost word for the word the fear based arguments about terrorism that they used to get post-9/11 legislation like the Patriot Act passed. The good news is that the vast majority of Democrats didn’t fall for it.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) pointed out that this bill did not go through the committee process. It is considered an emergency bill, but there is no emergency. Syrian refugees would not be arriving in this country for at least 18 months.
Republicans are exploiting the terrorist attack in Paris for political gain, and shamefully _____ of Democrats went along with them.
Any Democrat who voted for this bill engaged in an act of extreme political cowardice and does not deserve the support of Democratic voters when they run for reelection in 2016.
Note: This post will be updated with the names of the House Democrats who voted for the bill as soon as they are available.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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