U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that the United States was "committed to" taking in more of the Syrian refugees fleeing war in their country.
Kerry spoke to reporters after meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including one that addressed the migrant crisis in Europe. He did not elaborate on how many would be accepted or when.
Since the start of the civil war in Syria, the United States has taken in about 1,500 refugees, with 300 more expected to clear by October, the State Department has said.
European nations have taken in waves of migrants fleeing violence, notably Germany, which allowed some 20,000 people in over the weekend and is preparing for 800,000 this year.
"We are committed to increasing the number of refugees that we take and we are looking hard at the number that we specifically can manage," Kerry told reporters.
Some U.S. lawmakers are pressing the administration to do more to address the crisis.
After attending the meeting with Kerry, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy pushed for lawmakers to pass an amendment to restore $416 million in refugee aid that had been cut from the fiscal year 2016 Senate foreign aid bill.
Republican Senator John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, made an emotional Senate speech calling for the United States to do more.
"Our government is doing what it has sadly done too often in the past. We are ceding our strength and averting our eyes," he said.
Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters late on Tuesday that he was discussing with other lawmakers legislation to increase U.S. assistance for the crisis, but declined to provide more details.
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.