House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday backed Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly’s plan to finish building the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border within two years, and said Congress will authorize the funds for the project.
Ryan said on Fox News that the Department of Homeland Security will get the financing to go ahead with the completion of the wall as passed in the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which authorized the building of 700 miles of barriers along the border, much of which was never built.
“It’s up to him, because it’s really the executive branch that has to execute this policy,” Ryan said. “We’ve already authorized this, meaning the law was passed almost 10 years ago, and then we will give the financing to Secretary Kelly to go build the wall and the border security plan.”
“It’s really up to them how fast they can execute this policy,” Ryan continued. “I think that’s great. He’s the kind of great that can get this sort of thing done. He will have the funding to do it and he already has the authorization.”
Kelly announced his initial timeframe in an interview Wednesday, in which he would help Trump achieve one of his top priorities for the administration.
“The wall will be built where it’s needed first, and then it will be filled in. That’s the way I look at it,” Kelly said. “I really hope to have it done within the next two years.”
