Miller-meeks Introduces Legislation to Cut Wasteful Spending and Secure Our Border

Statement

Today, June 27th, 2022, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02), a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, introduced H.R. 8230, the Border's Unused Idle and Lying Dormant Inventory Transfer (BUILD IT) Act. The BUILD IT Act would require the federal government to transfer any material associated with the construction of the southern border barrier to any state, upon request, for the materials' original purpose.

This legislation is the House companion to S. 4294, introduced by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA).

"The Biden Administration has shown us that they are not interested in or capable of securing the U.S.-Mexico border and keeping Americans safe. Every day we are seeing record-high numbers of illegal crossings and our law enforcement officers are overwhelmed," said Miller-Meeks. "I have visited the border multiple times since coming to Congress and have spoken with law enforcement about the need for increased border security, including building the wall. We need to cut back wasteful federal spending and secure our border; the BUILD IT Act will do just that."

"There is a historic crisis at our Southern border under the Biden administration and while the president's refusal to take proper action has been a disaster, his decision to cancel border barrier projects that were already underway is literally costing taxpayers billions," said Ernst. "My legislation, that's now being introduced in the House by my friend Congresswoman Miller-Meeks, is a simple solution: it puts these already paid for materials to use and helps end this egregious taxpayer-funded waste!"

To read the full text of the legislation, click HERE.

Original cosponsors (8): Reps. Bill Johnson (OH-06), Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02), Dan Crenshaw (TX-02), Troy Nehls (TX-22), Peter Meijer (MI-03), Fred Upton (MI-06), Madison Cawthorn (NC-11), and Cliff Bentz (OR-02).

Background:

A week into office, President Biden halted the construction of the southern border wall by executive order. Both Arizona and Texas have initiated state action to continue construction on their sections of the border wall.

The state of Texas has received 1,700 panels from the federal government's General Service Administration which declared the material surplus property, valued at $6 million during the discounted donation phase. Estimates of the value of the existing materials range, but roughly one-quarter of a billion dollars is sitting on our southern border.

This bill would require the transfer of all existing materials relating to the construction of the southern border wall to any border state that makes the request.

This bill would bypass the current system to disburse border fence material as surplus property, which is as follows:

Defense Department agencies have the first pick of the materials, followed by Defense Department special programs, including eligible law enforcement agencies, state firefighters, etc.
Then the General Services Administration takes control of leftover materials and all federal agencies can request the property.
After that is the "donation stage," where the surplus property is donated to nonfederal entities, which include eligible state and local government agencies and nonprofit organizations.

Enactment would save money by eliminating the need to guard the unused materials, prevent waste by putting material already paid for by taxpayers to use, and help address the burgeoning border crisis and the problems associated with illegal immigration.

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