As the House overwhelmingly approved legislation Thursday that would make it much harder for Syrian refugees to come to the United States, Senate Democrats rolled out their own get-tough approach to terrorism.
Rep. Jim Himes , D-Conn., who on Wednesday compared the Republican House bill to the U.S. refusal to accept Jews fleeing Hitler, voted in favor of it.
The American SAFE Act, as the bill is known, would require new FBI background checks and individual sign-offs from three high-ranking U.S. officials before any refugee could come to the U.S. from Iraq or Syria.
The Democrats criticized the Republican emphasis on denying entry to Syrian refugees, saying the 2,000 admitted so far have been subjected to rigorous screening and the vast majority are not young men of military age.
