Catch-all debate
 
At times, Senate floor debate strayed from the immediate question at hand. Republicans argued the refugee crisis might have been less severe if President Barack Obama had acted sooner and more aggressively to counter IS.
 
On the Democratic side, Senator Tim Kaine took the opportunity to renew his call that Congress formally authorize military action against Islamic State.
 
“Refugees are not our enemy. ISIL is our enemy. And yet for some strange reason, in the 18 months of war against ISIL, Congress has been unwilling to debate our real enemy,” Kaine said, referring to the Islamic State group by another acronym.
 
“Let’s do what Americans have always done, be willing to extend a hand to those who are victimized by atrocity in other lands, rather than extend the back of our hand and label them as enemies,” Kaine added.
 
Last year, the Obama administration said the United States would accept 10,000 Syrian refugees - a tiny fraction of the numbers arriving in Germany and elsewhere.

Muslim immigrants
 
It had been widely assumed that the refugee vetting bill would fall short of the three-fifths backing required to begin Senate debate. However, in a surprise move, minority Democrats signaled they would be willing to vote to allow debate to proceed if majority Republicans allowed several Democratic amendments to be brought to the floor.
 
Key among them was a politically-explosive measure that would have forced Republicans to take sides on a contentious proposal by the party’s presidential frontrunner, businessman Donald Trump, to bar Muslim immigrants.
 
Minority Leader Reid urged a vote “to denounce Donald Trump’s reprehensible proposal to impose a religious test on admission to the United States.”
 
“As a front-runner for the Republican nomination, Donald Trump and his proposals are leading the public debate in our country. Republicans who support these illogical plans should be prepared for the next illogical step: voting on his vision of America,” Reid added.
 
Republicans rejected the proposed amendment as a counterproductive distraction.
 
“This whole idea of having a bunch of show votes to bring the presidential campaign here on the floor of the Senate doesn’t strike me as very constructive,” Cornyn said.

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