Washington, DC | www.adc.org | January 20, 2016 – The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) applauds 43 U.S. Senators for blocking a vote on the anti-refugee bill (H.R. 4038) that the House of Representatives passed at the end of last year.

Forty-three Senators took a bold and heroic act to block debate on the anti-refugee bill aimed at stopping the resettlement of Syrians and Iraqis into the United States. These Senators defended humanity and recognized the need of refugees by standing up against the bill. If passed, the bill would have required the nation’s three top security officials — the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the FBI, and the Director of National Intelligence — to certify to Congress that each Syrian or Iraqi refugee is not a security threat before the refugee can be admitted into the U.S. The practical effect of this unprecedented bureaucratic hurdle would have been to block all refugees from Syria and Iraq from resettlement in the United States.

Click here to view the Senators who voted “No” on H.R. 4038

ADC thanks our members who took action and urged their Senators to welcome refugees and block the House bill. Your calls and letters made a difference. It’s crucial that Congress continues to hear from the diverse voices of the Arab-American community.

Click here for contact information for Senators who voted “No”

ADC continues to urge elected officials to remember that the vast majority of Americans are the descendants of immigrants and refugees. The United States must not give in to fear or hate motivated bias by turning our back on our nation’s fundamental commitment to refugee protection and human rights.

As President Obama said in his final State of the Union address: “We need to reject any politics — any politics that targets people because of race or religion.”