SENATE RESOLUTION 268--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS; Congressional Record Vol. 161, No. 138

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SENATE RESOLUTION 268--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE

SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr.

Markey, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Stabenow, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Udall, and Mr.

Murphy) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on Foreign Relations:

\[S. Res. 268\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-resolution/268)

Whereas the Syrian conflict has driven more than 7,500,000

Syrians to relocate within Syria, more than 4,000,000 Syrian

to flee as refugees to neighboring countries, and hundreds of

thousands of Syrians to seek asylum in Europe;

Whereas Syria's neighbors are on the front line of the

crisis, and Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon in particular are

currently hosting millions of refugees, resulting in

tremendous social and economic impacts;

Whereas Europe is facing its worst refugee crisis since

World War II;

Whereas members of the international community have a moral

responsibility to provide assistance to Syrian refugees, as

well as a national security interest in addressing both the

insecurity that is driving Syrians from their homes and the

spillover effects from that conflict;

Whereas all members of the international community,

including regional powers, should contribute substantially to

the humanitarian effort so as to avoid shortfalls like those

experienced by the World Food Programme, which has been

forced to reduce its assistance to refugees.

Whereas the European Union has agreed to resettle 120,000

of the refugees who have reached frontline European nations--

an important first step in implementing a comprehensive

European refugee policy;

Whereas the Governments of Germany and Sweden, among

others, have shown great generosity towards Syrian refugees;

Whereas the United States Government remains the largest

contributor to the humanitarian effort in Syria;

Whereas the United States Government will accept at least

10,000 Syrian refugees next year, marking a significant

increase from the approximately 1,500 admitted since the

conflict began; and

Whereas the United States Government should continue to

rigorously employ its existing robust and thorough screening

process for refugees to effectively mitigate any potential

security threats: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate--

(1) recognizes the scale and complexity of the Syrian

refugee crisis and the need for the international community

to work together to provide resources and capacity to aid

refugees;

(2) recognizes the generosity and humanitarian commitment

of Syria's neighbors who have worked to absorb the vast

majority of refugees, as well as the European nations who

have made commitments to share in the refugee resettlement

effort;

(3) welcomes the President's decision to admit at least

10,000 Syrian refugees in 2016, and to increase the overall

number of refugees received by the United States to 85,000 in

2016 and 100,000 in 2017, as an important continuation of

United States humanitarian efforts; and

(4) recognizes that the refugee crisis is a symptom of the

broader conflict in Syria, the persecution of persons based

on identity groups, including Christians, Yezidis, Turkmen,

and Kurds, and instability in the Middle East and North

Africa, and that efforts to resolve those challenges are a

necessary component of any plan to address the refugee

crisis.

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