WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats maneuvered Wednesday to put Republicans on the spot with an election-year vote on legislation barring a religious test for immigrants.
Democrats hope the vote would force Republicans to take sides for or against presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has called for barring Muslims from coming to the U.S. The vote would come less than three weeks before the Iowa caucuses.
Democrats pressed for the vote as their price for allowing Republicans to move ahead with legislation cracking down on Syrian refugees coming to this country. The GOP-backed American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act cleared the House in November with 289 votes — a veto-proof margin that included 47 Democrats, despite President Barack Obama’s opposition.
“This bill the Republican leader is bringing to the floor scapegoats refugees who are fleeing war and torture instead of creating real solutions to keep Americans safe,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urged Democrats not to block the Senate from considering the House bill.
“I understand that the political pressure to oppose this balanced bill may be intense, but it’s also intensely shortsighted,” McConnell said.
An agreement between McConnell and Reid probably will hinge on whether they can settle on a plan allowing each side to offer at least four amendments.
The House bill that would require new FBI background checks and individual sign-offs from three high-ranking federal officials before any refugee from Syria or Iraq could come to the United States.
Reid said Democrats would agree to consideration of the bill if they were allowed to offer “four or five amendments.” Those include increasing anti-terrorism money for local police forces and airport security and banning the sale of guns and explosives to people on federal terrorism watch lists, he said.
Democrats also would offer an amendment to denounce Trump’s “reprehensible proposal to impose a religious test on admission into the United States,” Reid said.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the bill is a security test, not a religious one. “This reflects our values,” Ryan said. “This reflects our responsibilities.”
The presidential campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced Tuesday he was canceling two events in New Hampshire and rescheduling two others in order to return to Washington to vote. While Republicans said the bill contains no religious tests for the refugees, Cruz and White House rival Jeb Bush have suggested giving preferences to Christians.
Separately, Cruz introduced a bill allowing governors to reject any refugees they deem to be a security risk.
Another GOP presidential hopeful, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, planned to be in Washington for the vote.
The House bill, rammed through in the aftermath of the Paris attacks last November, is rooted in concerns the current process of screening refugees is inadequate and could allow a terrorist to be admitted into the United States.
Obama has scolded politicians for raising worries over taking in refugees fleeing the Islamic State’s harsh rule in Syria and Iraq, where it controls territory. “Apparently, they’re scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America,” Obama said when the House voted last year. The White House has said Obama will veto the legislation if it reaches his desk.
Voters’ concerns about terrorism have surged at the same time their confidence in the government’s ability to defeat IS and other extremist groups has plummeted, according to a national survey conducted in December by the Pew Research Center.
McConnell needs at least six Democrats to join all 54 Republicans to approve a motion clearing the bill for final passage in the 100-member chamber.
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