A Florida congressman an teamed up with U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to offer a bill ensuring the federal government screens the social media of everyone who applies for a visa to visit the United States.
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., announced on Thursday that he would sponsor McCain’s bill ensuring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) examines the social media of all foreigners looking to enter the U.S. on a visa.
“As terrorist threats continue to evolve, so too must our policies to safeguard our country,” Buchanan said.. “We need every tool to protect Americans – and a key component is vetting all avenues of communication. My bill will ensure that our government reviews all social media accounts before allowing foreign visa applicants into the United States.”
Earlier in the week, pointing to reports noting the terrorists behind the San Bernardino attacks posted messages in support of Islamic jihad on Facebook, Buchanan urged the White House to show more leadership in monitoring social media.
Buchanan returned to that theme on Thursday.
“This country cannot afford to turn another blind eye,” Buchanan said. “It is time we put the safety of Americans ahead of the privacy of foreigners and political correctness.”
McCain also pointed to the San Bernardino terrorist attacks when he brought out his bill in the Senate on Tuesday.
“Following the tragedy in San Bernardino, we have learned that the Obama administration has declined to review information available on social media platforms to screen for threats from foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States,” McCain said. “This purposeful refusal to examine publicly available information defies belief, especially as we grapple with complex technical questions to address the problem of criminals and terrorists ‘going dark,’ or utilizing readily available encryption to escape court-ordered government search. It is unacceptable that Congress has to legislate on this, and that it wasn’t already the Department of Homeland Security’s practice to take such commonsense steps when screening individuals entering this country.”
McCain took a shot at President Barack Obama’s handling of terrorism. The Arizona Republican lost to Obama in the 2008 presidential election.
“This is just the latest, unfortunate example of this administration’s refusal to proactively address very real threats to our national security,” McCain said. “It is critical that we have the strongest policies and procedures in place for background checks that reflect the evolving security threats facing our nation.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
