McClintock Supports Presidential Authority To Ban Travel From Certain Countries
View VideoCongress just passed the “No Ban Act” by a vote of 218-208, and Congressman Tom McClintock was in opposition.
If approved in the Senate, and signed by President Joe Biden, it would limit a president’s unilateral authority to ban refugees and immigrants from arriving in the US from countries deemed a national security threat. The bill is a direct response to President Donald Trump signing an Executive Order in 2017 that opponents called a “Muslim Ban.” The countries impacted were Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The House bill would also prohibit the US from taking religion into consideration when making immigration decisions.
McClintock, a Republican who represents the Mother Lode, spoke out yesterday on the US House Floor.
“President Trump invoked this authority against countries that were hotbeds of international terrorism and that were not cooperating with the United States in providing basic information about travelers coming from these countries. The left called it a ‘Muslim Ban.’ What nonsense. His orders affected only a tiny fraction of Muslin majority countries and a sizeable number of non-Muslim countries. The Supreme Court acknowledged this obvious truth when it upheld the President’s actions.”
McClintock argues that other presidents have taken similar actions in the past.
The House bill was co-authored by Virginia Democrat Don Beyer. He states, “Congress’s work is not finished just because Trump was defeated. It is very important to make clear to the American people and to the world that this betrayal of our national values, which hurt so many people, is not what we stand for and will not being repeated.”
It is unclear if the legislation will have support in the Senate. You can see McClintock’s entire speech by clicking “play video.”
