WASHINGTON – Following the terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) today joined Marty Moss-Coane on WHYY Radio (Philadelphia) to discuss how the United States should address the Syrian refugee crisis. Senator Coons also discussed the need for the Senate to take up and debate a new Authorization for the Use pf Military Force (AUMF) for the fight against ISIS.
Excerpts from the interview below:
“We need to be appropriately vetting refugees who we welcome into our country from whatever background and whatever country they may come, and I do think there is a balance to be struck here between ensuring that we carry our part of the burden of welcoming refugees from around the world and making sure that we are ensuring that the safety and security of the American people, which is our first obligation, is met.”
“I recently sat and met with leaders of the Delaware Muslim community, and they have, I think, legitimate concerns about backlash against the Muslim community in the United States, which is an overwhelmingly skilled and sophisticated, loyal, and engaged community of Americans who’ve come here as a part of the diaspora from other parts of the world.”
“The idea that we have a Muslim-American community that has legitimate concerns about how they are viewed and their safety, I think that is something we have to be mindful of and we have to help engage and educate a broader American audience so they can distinguish between an extremist, radical cult that claims to be Muslim in ISIS and the law-abiding, loyal American communities that include many mosques and many folks who are eager to serve and support the United States."