Republican lawmakers to seek halt to Obama's Syrian refugee program

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday the Congress was working on a new legislation to halt U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to accept refugees from Syria.

"Our nation has always been welcoming, but we cannot let terrorists take advantage of our compassion," Ryan told reporters here. "This is a moment where it's better to be safe than sorry."

Ryan said he preferred to take prompt legislative action for stricter oversight of Obama's refugee program, instead of waiting till December to use a government funding bill to take action.

A vote on the new measure was likely to be held this week, he added.

"The prudent, the responsible thing, is to take a pause in this particular aspect of this refugee program in order to verify terrorists are not trying to infiltrate the refugee population," said Ryan.

The well-coordinated assaults in Paris on Friday, which killed at least 129 and wounded more than 350, had immediately sparked strong opposition among mainly Republican politicians to Obama's plan to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees displaced by assaults of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

So far, a total of 27 U.S. governors, 26 of whom were Republicans, publicly opposed resettling Syrian refugees in their states.

Several Republican presidential candidates and Senate Republicans have also publicly opposed accepting Syrian refugees, pointing to indications that one of the militants in Friday's attacks might have entered France with a Syrian passport.

In response, Obama took a clear swipe at former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Senator Ted Cruz, both of whom were scrambling for the GOP presidential nomination, for their remarks that the United States should only take in Christian refugees rather than Muslims.

"When I heard political leaders suggest that there would be a religious test for which a person who's fleeing a war-torn country is admitted ... that's shameful," Obama said at a press conference during the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey on Monday.

Refugees would be allowed into the United States only after "rigorous" vetting, he said.

However, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch conceded on Tuesday there would be challenges in refugee screening posed by Syria's chaotic situation.

Loretta's remarks echoed Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey's concerns that "gaps" in U.S. intelligence would make it hard to thoroughly screen refugees.

"There is risk associated of bringing anybody in from the outside, but specially from a conflict zone," said Comey at a congressional hearing earlier this year. "The country (Syria) is in disarray." Enditem