House Approves Tougher Refugee Screening, Defying Veto Threat

The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to slap stringent — and difficult to implement — new screening procedures on refugees from Syria seeking resettlement, seizing on the fear stemming from the Paris attacks and threatening to cloud President Obama’s Middle East policy.

The bill, which passed 289 to 137, with nearly 50 Democrats supporting it, would require that the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and the director of national intelligence confirm that each applicant from Syria and Iraq poses no threat, a demand the White House called “untenable.” The measure received significant support from Democrats, even after administration officials implored them to abandon the measure on Thursday morning.

The Senate is expected to take up the measure after the Thanksgiving recess, but its fate in that chamber is unclear.

“Our duty is to protect the American people,” said Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the majority leader. The House measure, he said, “increases the standards to keep those who want to do us harm out.”

The popularity of the measure in Congress comes as lawmakers in both parties refuse Mr. Obama’s request for an explicit authorization of force against the Islamic State, underscoring the complicated and polarized politics in the era of terror.

The White House, in promising to veto the bill, repeatedly said it would undermine American leadership in a region where Republicans have said it is lacking, and would undercut Washington’s ability to command a coalition against the security threats in Syria.

Speaking after a meeting on Thursday with Justin Trudeau, Canada’s new prime minister, Mr. Obama insisted that refugees were subjected to “the most rigorous vetting process that we have for anybody who is admitted.” He said the process of screening a potential refugee takes up to two years and includes background checks by the national counterterrorism center, the F.B.I. and the Defense Department.

“That somehow they pose a more significant threat than all the tourists who pour into the United States every single day just doesn’t jibe with reality,” he said.

Many Democrats tried to support Mr. Obama and his program on the House floor. “We must keep in mind that our nation was founded by immigrants and has historically welcomed refugees when there is suffering around the globe,” said Representative John Conyers of Michigan, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

“Rather than shutting our doors to these desperate men, women and children who are risking their lives to escape death and torture in their homelands, we should work to utilize our immense resources and good intentions of our citizens to welcome them,” he added.

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