A constituent wearing a “Promise Keepers” shirt questioned Rep. Raul Labrador today about allowing Muslim refugees into the United States, saying he read the Koran after the 9/11 attacks, and then quoting extensively from it, including, “Slay the idolaters wherever you find them.” Labrador had this response: “I’m not going to judge every Christian on what the Old Testament says.” He noted that it has similar passages.

“As a congressman, my job is to keep you safe, right?” Labrador told a crowd of about 50 in Eagle. He said he wasn’t convinced, based on testimony to Congress from the director of the FBI, that the United States can adequately vet Syrian refugees, as it did earlier Iraqi refugees, for lack of existing records in Syria. “We cannot do it,” Labrador said. That, he said, is why he’s called for a halt on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States. “Not because I am against Muslims, because I am against keeping you less safe.” He added, “I have nothing against the Muslim religion. … If you’re coming to America … you’re coming here to become a part of the United States.”