REP. TED BUDD INTRODUCES BUILD THE WALL NOW ACT
Press Release
Today, Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) introduced the Build the Wall Now Act.
The bill removes all legal impediments to build the border wall and unlocks additional $2.1 billion that was appropriated in fiscal years 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 that has not been spent.
Rep. Budd said in a statement:
"The best way to end the Biden Border Crisis is to finish the border wall now. The Biden administration is trying to run out the regulatory clock on wall construction while undermining our border patrol officers by repealing Title 42. Every time I visit the southern border, law enforcement agents tell me how Biden's open border policy is endangering our national security and the safety of the entire interior of our country. I'm proud to introduce comprehensive legislation that would force the Biden administration to end this crisis and finish the wall now."
Read the full text of the bill HERE
Background:
On President Biden's first day in office, he signed Presidential Proclamation 10142 that paused all funding for the border wall.
After pressure from 71 members of the House and Senate, the Government Accountability Office ruled that this was not a permanent impoundment, but rather a "programmatic delay."
The Biden administration claimed that this delay will be used to conduct additional environmental and Endangered Species Act reviews that had been waived by the Trump administration.
The appropriations for border wall funding are only available for five years.
Therefore, if these reviews take more than five years, the border wall funds previously appropriated will expire.
Section 102(c)(1) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to "waive all legal requirements such Secretary, in such Secretary's sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads" at the border.
The Trump Administration used this authority to waive 50 different provisions of law to speed up border construction.
The Build the Wall Now Act:
Removes every legal barrier to border wall construction and requires construction to restart within 24 hours.
The bill makes previously appropriated funds for the border wall available until they are spent so the funding will not expire.
Section 4 of the bill also reinstates the waiver for all 50 laws that the Trump administration previously waived under IIRIRA § 102.
This will unlock over $2.1 billion that was appropriated in fiscal years 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 and has not been spent.
While the bill removes the funding expiration date, it limits those funds to being used only for the effective barrier designs that the Trump Administration was implementing.
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