House Republicans say at least 60 Democratic lawmakers have indicated in the past few weeks that they support some type of barrier, wall, or fence at the U.S.-Mexico border, even as Democratic leaders say they won’t agree to President Trump’s border wall.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., attempted to whip members of the opposite party into fulfilling President Trump’s request for border security projects with a long list of quotes around one-fifth of the 280 total Democrats in Congress made around the time of the government shutdown.
“Over the past weeks dozens of Democrats — including their own House Majority Leader — claimed that a physical barrier should be part of the solution to address the border crisis and should be negotiated on once the government reopened,” Scalise said in a statement. “With President Trump reopening the government in good faith, will the 60+ Democrats quoted below follow through on their promises and demand physical barriers be included as part of a border security solution? Or will they allow Speaker Pelosi to give in to the open borders faction of her party?”
Scalise’s office pulled lines from committee chairmen and rank-and-file members he said back up Republicans’ view that a barrier improves security.
“The wall is not in itself a bad idea,” House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., said Jan. 6.
House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said, “I don’t think Democrats are opposed to any physical barriers, it’s just the president constantly evolves his description of the wall.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said “physical barriers are part of the solution.”
“If we have a partial wall, if we have fencing, if we have technology used to keep our borders safe, all of that is fine … ” said Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota went further than most Democrats by saying he would give Trump all of the $5.7 billion he wants to build a wall.
“Give Trump the money … I’d give him the whole thing … and put strings on it so you make sure he puts the wall where it needs to be. Why are we fighting over this? We’re going to build that wall anyway, at some time,” Peterson said.
Recently departed Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois was adamantly opposed to enhancing border barriers, but said last week he was willing to make a deal in turn for it if it greatly helped Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients.
“If that’s their ransom call, I say pay it,” Gutierrez said ABC.
[Rep. Andy Biggs: The simple, constitutional way for Trump to build a border wall right now]
