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Last Updated on November 17, 2015.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 17, 2015

Coalition Urges Congress to Reject Attacks on Refugee Resettlement in Wake of Paris Attacks
Urges “Time Out From the Politics of Fear”

The Win Without War coalition today urged Members of Congress to reject proposals to establish a ‘time out’ on US refugee resettlement in light of the terrorist attack in Paris and instead urged a ‘time out’ for the politics of fear that are driving these calls.

“While not surprising, it is outrageous that the politics of fear is fully underway in Governors’ mansions and in the halls of Congress,” said former US Congressman Tom Andrews of the Win Without War coalition.

“We should be uniting as a nation around principles and values that reflect the best of who we are as Americans.  Instead, some politicians are fueling fear to undermine refugee resettlement programs that are a matter of life and death for thousands of innocent victims.

“Politicians who are fueling fear to attack refugee resettlement know full well that refugees are the most thoroughly vetted group of people who come to the US. We should be applying the Golden Rule to our actions by joining in efforts to rescue those who have been victimized by ruthless terrorists, not driving them away. 

“We urge political leaders of conscience to reject the politics of fear and support a robust US refugee resettlement program to help address the worst refugee crisis since World War II.  We applaud the leadership of Members of Congress like Jim McGovern (D-MA) who are speaking out to defend refugee resettlement and core American values, even as they are under attack by the Governors of their states.

“One of the darkest points in US history was during World War II, when the politics of fear led to the refusal to allow the St. Louis, a ship filled with Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler, to land on our shores.  As a result, hundreds of refugees were forced back to Germany where they perished in Nazi concentration camps.   We cannot afford to allow this dark history to repeat itself.

“We urge our members and allies to reach Congress now to stop the politics of fear and save untold numbers of innocent lives.”

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Win Without War is a coalition of national organizations with diverse constituencies originally founded in opposition to the Iraq War. The coalition remains active in opposition to the continued U.S. war in Afghanistan, the dangerous rush to war with Iran, and the underlying national security strategy on which these conflicts are based. We seek a fundamentally new approach to meet the national security challenges of the United States that is consistent with our nation’s highest values.

For more information, visit www.winwithoutwar.org.

November 17, 2015