Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) on Thursday called on Congress to pass his bill that would require screening of social media accounts of foreigners seeking to enter the U.S.
The bill would require the Department of Homeland security to vet all public records, including Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts, before admitting foreign travelers and visa applicants into the U.S., including refugees.
Buchanan’s call comes as the State Department has stood up a surge operation to bring at least 8,700 Syrian refugees to the U.S. over the next six months, an effort to meet the president’s goal of 10,000 by Sept. 30.
“The President’s Syrian refugee surge is dangerous, reckless and wrong,” Buchanan said in a statement. “The lives of Americans are endangered when we get rash and careless about who we allow to enter the country.”
The surge operation in Amman, Jordan, is meant to reduce refugee processing time down to as little as three months.
“The Obama administration is speeding up the process of accepting Syrian refugees when you can drive a truck through the holes in our current screening process,” Buchanan said.
“The last thing we need is to speed up an already imperfect process. We can’t leave any stones unturned as Islamic jihadists continue to spread their twisted ideology around the world through their use of social media. American lives are at risk. Congress must pass this legislation immediately and unleash 21st century resources to penetrate and destroy the online activity of [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria],” he said.
Buchanan introduced his bill, the Social Media Screening For Terrorists Act, in December. It is co-sponsored by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
He introduced his bill after the deadly terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., in which one of the attackers, Tashfeen Malik, was found to have posted support for ISIS on Facebook.