Termination of National Emergency Declared By the President on February 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the resolution.

I was in west Texas this past weekend and saw nothing to justify the President's designation of a national emergency. There aren't gangs of violent criminals and terrorists overtaking our southern border.

If there were a crisis, it is hard to imagine a worse or less effective response than a border wall, which will take months, if not years, to build.

What I did see there are efforts to harden ports of entry. In fact, just days before I arrived in El Paso, sharp barbed wire was installed in the middle of a busy port of entry. This barbed wire did not give off the impression that this busy port of entry was welcoming commerce or visitors to the United States. When questioned, officials could not say who had signed off on this project or how it fits into border security.

It is time for the administration to stop fear-mongering and accept reality. The only crisis on the border is a humanitarian crisis, one created by this administration, and a border wall will do nothing to alleviate the suffering.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this resolution to stop the President from stripping Congress of its constitutional power of the purse.

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