The President's False Premise, DOD's Lack Of Mission, And Impact On Readiness Of The Deployment To The Southern Border

Statement

House Armed Services Committee Vice Chair, Congressman Anthony Brown (MD-04), released the following statement ahead of HASC's full committee hearing on the Department of Defense's support role on the southern border.

"In December, I raised concerns that the President was looking to divert funding from our military construction budget, which is typically reserved for projects to support servicemembers and their families at home and abroad, in order to build his ineffective, absurd wall. In the months since my December 14 letter, the President has sustained his saber rattling, threatening repeatedly to abuse his authority and declare a national emergency. This unprecedented scheme is of grave concern, given the billions of dollars that could be funneled from projects like more hangars for an increasing fleet size, to child care facilities on military bases for personnel and their families."

"Deploying over 5,000 active duty troops to the border, increasing the Department of Defense's presence there to around 7,000 military personnel, was an irresponsible, cynical ploy by the President that has eroded our readiness. The lack of a mission on the border, outside of routine maintenance and stringing of concertina wire, revealed this deployment to be transparently political."

"I look forward to today's hearing, and hope to gain a better understanding of how the administration's use of the military on the southern border has impacted our support of the warfighter, and our missions across the globe."

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