No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.Hunter's insinuations that the fence has been funded are WRONG and that is no spin. Here are excerpts from a recent article in response to Hunter's claim that the border fence funding is available...
DHS Spokeswoman Laura Keehner's comment:It is also a fact that Congress withheld $950M of the $1.2B previously appropriated for the fence:While the Secure Fence Act has authorized more miles, “there is a difference between authorization and appropriations,” she said.
Hunter spokesman Joe Kaspar's response:
“Hunter believes laws are meant to be followed” and “the money is there.”
The fence law dictates that in Texas a fence would stretch east out of El Paso; from Del Rio to Eagle Pass and Laredo to Brownsville, leaving a huge gap between Del Rio and Laredo. It also sets out locations in California and calls for fencing off the Arizona border from Mexico. Though the total fencing was believed to be about 700 miles, congressional researchers say it is closer to about 850 miles.So there you have it, with no spin. If he doesn't know the difference between authorization and appropriation then he doesn't understand the Constitution as well as you think he does.A separate law funding Homeland Security Department spending provided $1.2 billion for the fencing. But that law also withholds $950 million of the sum until the House and Senate appropriations committees approve the department's plan for spending the money, giving those committees say over the design, location and length of the fence.
This discussion between appropriation and authorization went on last month. So, I asked my rep what the real story was.
He told me that Hunter is correct. The fence was authorized and the money was appropriated and sitting in Homeland Security’s budget for that purpose-building the fence.
However, there were people in Washington who did not want the fence built who were trying to take back the appropriated funds to keep the fence from being built.
It looks like all you did was link to a Fox News story about what the democrats and RINOS are doing- finding ways to take back the already appropriated funds.
I am failing to see your evidence that Duncan Hunter is wrong on this. Your link confirms what Hunter and my rep have both said.