House Approves Bill To Halt Syrian Refugees
TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper, coming to you live from Paris, France, where today the French prime minister said some of the ISIS terrorists who killed 129 innocent people here last week, quote, "took advantage of the refugee crisis to slip into France." That admission and other evidence have sparked a heated debate about refugees across the United States. France is still going to take in 30,000 refugees over the next two years. The French president said yesterday. But today in the U.S., the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to change the vetting process effectively suspending the program that allows Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the United States. Nearly 50 Democrats joining Republicans in favor of the legislation although President Obama has pledged he will veto it if it does get through the Senate and land on his resolute desk. Let's bring in CNN's Joe Johns live on Capitol Hill. Joe, this issue has become a major political debate.</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Intensely political, Jake, and that large bipartisan vote today means at least for now there are enough votes to override a presidential veto if it ever comes to that. And the White House has already launched its objections.</s>JOHNS (voice-over): With millions of refugees trying to flee the civil war in Syria, and even France pledging to take in 30,000 of them --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The yays are 289 and the nays are 137, the bill has passed.</s>JOHNS: The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that effectively blocks refugees from Syria and Iraq from coming to the United States. It sailed through with support from both parties led by the newly minted House Speaker Paul Ryan in his first weeks on the job.</s>REPRESENTATIVE PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: The first duty of our government is to keep the American people safe.</s>JOHNS: The bill requires top administration officials to certify that incoming refugees are not a safety threat, which the head of the FBI and DHS say is overly cumbersome. The White House has threatened to veto it in the event it gets passed Democrats who oppose it in the Senate.</s>SENATOR HARRY REID (D), NEVADA: Don't worry, it won't get passed.</s>JOHNS: A new poll shows broad support for blocking certain refugees to keep ISIS fighters out. The top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee complaining the White House just doesn't get it.</s>SENATOR BOB CORKER (R), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: They have a tendency because of what they do on a daily basis to almost knock down concerns that average Americans have.</s>JOHNS: And the president's point man on Homeland Security sounding exasperated that his message is not getting through that the refugee program is a slow and careful process.</s>JEH JOHNSON, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: All I can do is keep repeating what I've been saying all week. I gave a speech yesterday publicly where I reiterated the thoroughness of our vetting process.</s>JOHNS: Many Democrats oppose changes to the refugee program which would only affect about 10,000 people. And they are countering with a proposal to address a bigger vulnerability, the so-called visa waiver program that allows 20 million people a year to enter the U.S. almost unquestioned as long as they have passports from any one of 38 countries. No vetting, no waiting period. On the campaign trail today the rhetoric parallel the split in Washington with candidates on both sides adding some political zing and Hillary Clinton with a civil liberties argument.</s>HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Turning away orphans, applying a religious test, discriminating against Muslims, slamming the door on every Syrian refugee, that is just not who we are. We are better than that.</s>JOHNS: And Ben Carson, both soft spoken and inflammatory with a highly charged metaphor.</s>BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If there's a rabid dog running around your neighborhood, you probably not going to assume something good about that dog. And you're probably going to put your children out of the way. It doesn't mean that you hate all dogs.</s>JOHNS: Time is running out to pass legislation here on Capitol Hill and there is a question whether anyone will try to use a big spending bill that has to be passed by December 11th as a vehicle for this refugee issue -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: Joe Johns, thank you so much. The United States is waging a war against ISIS. It says so is Russia, a new push to combine forces next.