McGovern Amendment Sets Up Vote to Ban Using Disaster Funding to Build the President's Border Wall

Statement

Rules Committee Chairman James P. McGovern (D-MA) today submitted an amendment to H.R. 268, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, to prevent funding in the bill from being used to build President Trump's border wall. The amendment, which states that none of the funds in the bill for the Army Corps of Engineers or Department of Homeland Security may be used to plan, develop, or construct the border wall, comes as President Trump considers using disaster funding to build the wall. A vote on this amendment could come as soon as tomorrow. Chairman McGovern released the following statement:

"This President has now thrown the longest political temper tantrum in U.S. history. We are on week three, day twenty-five of this shutdown, all for a wall we know won't work. The prototype was demolished using a common saw. So he wants to spend tens of billions of taxpayer dollars on a wall that could be destroyed by something we could buy at the hardware store. It doesn't make sense.

His wall won't work. Period. We're in the 21st century, and this is a medieval solution. To make matters worse, the president has threatened to take money needed for disaster relief to build his ineffective wall. Families don't want to build some wall, they need to rebuild their homes. To take money away from them is cruel.

That's why I've submitted this amendment, with Reps. Velazquez, Hastings, Torres, Jayapal, Pocan, and Escobar to make clear that disaster money should fund real disasters, and that no funds in this bill may be used for the president's wall. This money should go where it is intended -- to families and communities rebuilding and preparing for future disasters."

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