Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) told reporters Wednesday morning that the Senate will know more in the afternoon, after a classified briefing, about how it wants to proceed in the wake of the Nov. 13 Islamic State (ISIL) attacks in Paris.
Corker said beyond concerns over refugee admissions, the Senate might want to take a look at the visa waiver program, noting “some of the people who conducted this heinous activity in Paris were French citizens.”
“Do we have systems in place to ensure that people like that cannot travel to the United States?” he later asked. “I don’t have the answer to that right now.”
Corker, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke to the press after a closed door briefing of his panel by administration officials.
Congress is being briefed on the attacks in a classified setting on Wednesday afternoon by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and FBI Director James Comey. Corker said he hoped the pair were “briefed up” on questions surrounding the regular order of international travel.
US officials told the Associated Press on Wednesday afternoon that “many, though not all, of the attackers identified so far were on the US no-fly list.”
The wire service also noted that questions have emerged about a possible ninth attacker. French officials previously believed that there had been eight—seven suicide bombers and a man still on the run named Salah Abdeslam.
Corker also noted that Senators should have a better idea Wednesday evening of whether they support a proposal on Syrian and Iraqi refugee admissions drafted by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Ohio).
“Tonight there’ll be some edification whether something like what the House is proposing can actually work,” he said, adding he believed Ryan was trying to “hit the sweet spot” between anxieties about security and a desire to keep the door open to people fleeing a brutal civil war.
A separate Wednesday afternoon AP report, however, noted a major dispute between Republicans and Democrats over background checks.
“House Republicans are outlining legislation aimed at increasing screenings for Syrian and Iraqi refugees before they enter the United States, including a requirement for FBI background checks,” the AP said. “But Democrats say the changes would amount to shutting down the nation’s refugee program.”
Despite all the concerns about Syrian and Iraqi refugees from the right, none of the Nov. 13 attackers have, as of publication, been positively identified as non-European citizens.
Of note, Corker also on Wednesday morning made comments critical of recent efforts to reform the National Security Agency—namely the USA Freedom Act passed last summer.
He described the effort as one of regular “fervors that happen.”
“Everyone thought the NSA was doing things that they were not doing, by the way,” Corker claimed.
Watch Sen. Corker’s comments here, via CSPAN.
