Forwarded email claims President Obama has funded a $20 million resettlement of Hamas refugees to the United States via H.R. 1388 (aka H.B. 1388), a bill supposedly passed 'behind our backs' by Congress.
Description: Forwarded email
Circulating since: April 2009
Status: False
Email example contributed by Carol M., April 25, 2009:
Whether you are an Obama fan, or not, EVERYONE IN THE U. S. needs to know....
Something happened... H.R. 1388 was passed yesterday, behind our backs. You may want to read about it. It wasn't mentioned on the news... just went by on the ticker tape at the bottom of the CNN screen.
Obama funds $20M in tax payer dollars to immigrate Hamas Refugees to the USA. This is the news that didn't make the headlines...
By executive order, President Barack Obama has ordered the expenditure of $20.3 million in "migration assistance" to the Palestinian refugees and "conflict victims" in Gaza.
The "presidential determination", which allows hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with ties to Hamas to resettle in the United States, was signed on January 27 and appeared in the Federal Register on February 4.
Few on Capitol Hill, or in the media, took note that the order provides a free ticket replete with housing and food allowances to individuals who have displayed their overwhelming support to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the parliamentary election of January 2006.
Let's review...itemized list of some of Barack Obama's most recent actions since his inauguration:
His first call to any head of state, as president, was to Mahmoud Abbas, leader of Fatah party in the Palestinian territory.
His first one-on-one television interview with any news organization was with Al Arabia television.
His first executive order was to fund/facilitate abortion(s) not just here within the U. S., but within the world, using U. S. tax payer funds.
He ordered Guantanamo Bay closed and all military trials of detainees halted.
He ordered overseas CIA interrogation centers closed.
He withdrew all charges against the masterminds behind the USS Cole and the "terror attack" on 9/11.
Now we learn that he is allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refuges to move to, and live in, the US at American taxpayer expense.
These important, and insightful, issues are being "lost" in the blinding bail-outs and "stimulation" packages.
Doubtful? To verify this for yourself:
www.thefederalregister.com/d.p/2009-02-04-E9-2488
PLEASE PASS THIS ON... AMERICA NEEDS TO KNOW
WE are losing this country at a rapid pace.
Analysis: This message promotes the false impression that Congressional bill H.R. 1388 (sometimes referred to as ("H.B. 1388"), which passed the House and Senate in March 2009 and was signed into law by President Obama on April 21, 2009, allocated $20 million in taxpayer funds to resettle Hamas refugees in the United States. It did not.
Entitled "The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act," H.R. 1388 reauthorized and revised existing federal public service programs, including AmeriCorps, essentially increasing their funding and scope (and, contrary to another set of false rumors, it did not make public service mandatory). Far from being passed "behind our backs," the bill was much publicized during House and Senate debates and enacted with bipartisan support.
That said, it is true that President Obama signed a memorandum to the State Department (not an executive order, but comparable to one) in January 2009 authorizing $20.3 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees in Gaza. However, as anyone who received the above email could have easily ascertained for themselves, the memo did not order, request, or even suggest that said refugees be resettled in the United States.
The "itemized list" of other actions taken in the early days of the Obama administration is roughly accurate, albeit cherry-picked, decontextualized, and spun in a manner consistent with the overall political bias of the message.
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Sources and further reading:
H.R. 1388: The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
Library of Congress
Presidential Determination No. 2009-15: Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration Needs Related To Gaza
Federal Register, 4 February 2009
Was H.R. 1388 Passed 'Behind Our Backs'?
FactCheck.org, 5 May 2009
Did Obama Pay for Hamas-Affiliated Terrorists to Emigrate to the U.S.?
FactCheck.org, 19 February 2009
President Obama Calls Mahmoud Abbas as Middle East Hits Top of Agenda
Times Online, 21 January 2009
Obama Voices Hope for Mideast Peace in Talk with Al-Arabiya TV
Washington Post, 27 January 2009
Obama Reverses Abortion-Funds Policy
Associated Press, 23 January 2009
Last updated: 06/02/09
