Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) is calling on President Obama to pause the acceptance of Syrian refugees into the United States after a terrorist bombing at the largest airport in Turkey.
“At a time when the terrorist threat to American families and our allies is growing, the Administration should pause Syrian refugee flows into the United States until it can prevent any and all terrorist infiltration, and stop releasing hardened terrorist detainees from Guantanamo Bay,” Kirk said in a statement Wednesday.
No organization has taken credit for the bombings — which killed at least 40 and wounded hundreds more — but President Obama indicated the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was responsible.
Kirk added that Tuesday’s attack “reminds us that terrorists remain committed to attacking innocent civilians all over the world.”
Democrats blocked a House-passed bill to pause the acceptance of Syrian and Iraqi refugees earlier this year. Though every GOP senator supports moving forward with the legislation, the issue has largely stalled in Congress.
Republicans point to a string of recent attacks — including in Brussels and San Bernardino, Calif. — as evidence that Obama’s strategy to counter the terrorist group is failing. Senators are expected to get a closed-door briefing on ISIS later Wednesday.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), who, like Kirk, is up for reelection, added, “It’s long past time for the administration to take the fight fully to ISIS.”
The New Hampshire Republican said Obama should work with Turkey to tighten the Turkish-Syrian border “in order to reduce the flow of ISIS foreign fighters from Syria that threatens not only Europe but potentially the United States.”