Phil Klay is Marine and Iraq War veteran who's also an award-winning author, receiving praise and accolades for his collection of short fictional stories of the combat mission in his book Redeployment.
On Thursday, Klay became disillusioned with the House vote to implement tougher screening standards for Syrian refugees trying to resettle in the U.S., and took to social media to voice his opinion.
In a series of Tweets, he described why he was "tremendously upset" by the GOP-led effort in the House.
1. Tremendously upset by attempt to effectively close our borders to Syrian refugees by imposing impossible-to-implement screening standards
2. When I swore my oath of office as a Marine officer, I swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
3. The Marine hymn claims that Marines are the “first to fight for right and freedom and to keep our honor clean.”
4. You’re not supposed to risk your life just for the physical safety of American citizens
5. You’re supposed to risk your life for American ideals as well.
6. This shouldn't be a left-right issue. Ronald Reagan, who believed that America was the exceptional nation,
7. the “Shining City on a Hill,” asked himself during his farewell address from the Oval Office how that Shining City fared, answering:
8. "After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm
9. “And she's still a beacon; still a magnet for all who must have freedom,
10. “for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness toward home."
11. Millions of pilgrims are hurtling through the darkness, but it’s Germany that has recently been the beacon standing strong and true,
12. welcoming them home, not America.
13. If we want to be the kind of nation that others will follow,
14. the kind of nation capable of forging strong links in the Muslim world against extremism,
15. then we have to behave like that kind of nation. I get that people are scared.
16. But it's only during frightening times when you get to find out if your country really deserves to call itself the 'home of the brave.'
Collectively, the tweets have been retweeted and liked thousands of times, and have elicited strong, mostly supportive responses.
@PhilKlay Thank you for sharing this in such a powerful and eloquent way.
@PhilKlay Thank you for your service and for this inspiring and very much appreciated string of messages.
@PhilKlay thank you for you strong and thoughtful words, and for your service to US.
It currently takes between 18 and 24 months for a refugee to clear the U.S. screening process.
BuzzFeed has reached out to Klay for comment.