House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul Friday praised President Donald Trump's executive actions to enhance the vetting process to bar radical Islamic terrorists from entering the United States.
"We want to stop that from happening in the future," the Texas Republican told Wolf Blitzer on CNN, referring to recent terrorist-related shootings in San Bernardino, Orlando and Chattanooga. "I applaud the president for what he has done."
McCaul, 55, who was first elected to the House in 2004, confirmed news reports that Trump's orders would impose an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees and would halt the nation's overall refugee program for 120 days.
The orders also would suspend visas for people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for at least 30 days, he said.
McCaul told Blitzer that he proposed the measures to Trump last June during the campaign with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who managed the city during the 9/11 attacks, and Michael Mukasey, the former attorney general and retired federal judge.
He said the memo offered ideas on how "we can vet from these high-threat areas to prevent terrorists from coming into the United States."
Christian refugees coming in from these areas, however, would be spared by the orders because "they are not the ones who are going to pose a terrorist threat to the United States," McCaul said.
"If you're going to provide a vetting process, it seems to me that they would be top of the list versus potential radical Islamists.
"The whole point here is we need to do a better job vetting, both on the visa application process — but also in the refugee program as to who we're letting into the United States responsibly and who we're not."
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