Rep. Pamela Anderson, D-Fargo, said she didn't want to see state resources spent on a \"mean-spirited study.\" Rep. Mary Schneider, D-Fargo, read an email asking her to vote against the legislation because it tries to hide racism and religious discrimination behind a \"guise of rationalism and data.\" <\/p>\n
Rep. Christopher Olson, R-West Fargo, the bill's primary sponsor, said the Democrats' comments impugned his motives and he hoped for an apology. <\/p>\n
\"Bills like this always seem to get emotional,\" said House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo. \"But I think it's always important on the floor of this House that we remember to keep our comments to not be impugning someone else's integrity.\" <\/p>\n
Schneider said after the floor session that she \"would never attack the personal motivations of a member of the House,\" but she argued the bill's language is \"inappropriate.\" <\/p>\n
\"I didn't say he was mean-spirited; I said the study was mean-spirited,\" Anderson said after the floor vote. <\/p>\n
As introduced, House Bill 1427 would have allowed for a suspension of refugee resettlement if a community lacked sufficient \"absorptive capacity,\" which included the ability of various community and government services to meet residents' needs. Proponents, which included a Fargo city commissioner and the chairman of the Cass County Commission, said they were merely seeking more input on the program. <\/p>\n
The House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee heard lengthy opposition testimony earlier this month from new Americans who told stories of finding opportunity in United States. <\/p>\n
The study was amended into a study of various aspects of refugee resettlement, which Schneider worries would only seek negative features of the program and scrutinize one group of people. <\/p>\n
But Olson said the refugee resettlement program has largely become an unfunded mandate from the federal government on state and local services. <\/p>\n
\"If this was anything else, we'd ask what the cost was,\" Carlson said. \"It could show a very positive effect instead of a negative effect.\" <\/p>\n
The study bill passed the House 86-5. <\/p>\n
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Refugee resettlement study bill passes ND House, Democrat calls it ... - Jamestown Sun<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rep. Pamela Anderson, D-Fargo, said she didn't want to see state resources spent on a \"mean-spirited study.\" Rep. Mary Schneider, D-Fargo, read an email asking her to vote against the legislation because it tries to hide racism and religious discrimination behind a \"guise of rationalism and data.\" Rep Continue reading