Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and 46 other Democrats joined 242 Republicans in the U.S. House on Thursday in passing a bill to restrict the admission of Iraqi and Syrian refugees to America by requiring extra security procedures.

The American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act of 2015 would require the secretary of Homeland Security, the head of the FBI and the director of national intelligence to sign off on every individual refugee from Iraq and Syria, affirming he or she is not a threat. It passed on a vote of 289-137.

Appearing on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” Thursday, Gabbard said of the legislation, “if you’ve got a situation where you have an orphan, or a child, or a single mom who is bringing her kids … they would probably be vetted very easily.”

Republican leaders in the House said it is the first of many bills aimed at addressing security concerns in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. They say they want a “pause” in admitting Syrian and Iraqi refugees, as current applications would be halted while a new vetting process was established.

It’s unclear whether the Senate will take up the legislation, but if the bill does pass through Congress, President Obama has pledged to veto it.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard ...
U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard discuss the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act of 2015 on MSNBC on Thursday. 

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