Posted on 02/04/2019 4:17:17 PM PST by girlangler
NEWS FROM THE UNITED STATES SENATE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 4, 2019
Udall, Heinrich, Senate Democrats Introduce Bill to Prevent President From Using Emergency Declaration to Raid Funds for Border Wall
RAIDER Act of 2019 stops President Trump from bypassing Congress and raiding as much as $35 billion from military construction and disaster response funds for land acquisition or construction of his wall
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), along with U.S. Senators Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) introduced the Restrictions Against Illegitimate Declarations for Emergency Re-appropriations (RAIDER) Act of 2019. The legislation prevents the president from utilizing the National Emergencies Act of 1976 to raid critical military construction and disaster response funds to construct his wall along the southern border.
The full text of the bill is available HERE. A summary of the legislation is available HERE.
Before, during, and after the Trump shutdown, President Trump has repeatedly threatened to declare a national emergency to bypass Congress and finance construction of his border wall, and recent press reports indicate a declaration is being drafted in the White House. Under the National Emergencies Act, the funds most at risk of being misdirected to build the president’s wall are U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) civil works funds and Military Construction (Milcon) funding. President Trump is threatening to take funds from critical disaster recovery, flood protection, and military base construction projects in states across the country.
This legislation would bar the transfer of any funding from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or Military Construction accounts for construction, land acquisition or other activities related to President Trump’s border wall following any potential emergency declaration, unless Congress granted specific authority to do so. While the administration has not released precise figures, some estimates indicate there could be as much as $35 billion in congressionally appropriated but yet unobligated funding for DOD military construction projects and Army Corps disaster funds at risk from an emergency declaration move.
“After the Trump shutdown, it’s clear that President Trump will stop at nothing to try to build a wasteful, ineffective, and offensive wall that New Mexicans and the American people reject,” said Udall. “While declaring a national emergency to raid funds to build the wall would almost certainly be challenged in court, Congress should not wait for the courts to act. We must stand up and assert our role as a co-equal branch of government, and we must prevent the president from going around Congress to raid critical funds – funds we have appropriated for disaster recovery, flood protection, and military base construction projects – for a politically-motivated, unjustified national emergency declaration that isn’t based in reality.”
“We cannot allow President Trump to raid taxpayer dollars to pay for a wall that New Mexicans don’t want or need,” said Heinrich. “With this legislation, we can prevent funds designated for critical military construction and disaster response from being raided for a wasteful border wall under the false pretense of a national emergency.”
“The president simply cannot go around Congress to fund his ridiculous vanity project. I’m proud to introduce this bill today to stand up to the president as he considers abusing his power by stealing money from critical projects in California to finance the construction of a wall that Congress won’t fund and people on the border don’t even want,” said Harris. “This bill will stand up for Congress’ power of the purse and maintain important Army Corps of Engineers projects that will protect our communities from natural disasters.”
“President Trump shouldn’t be raiding essential funding from Americans recovering from natural disasters, or from our critical military infrastructure to pay for his vanity project,” said Cortez Masto. “Senate Democrats have already voted for bipartisan legislation that prioritizes effective border security. This, and any future President, shouldn’t be using politics to manufacture a crisis and take funds from critical programs that serve Americans.”
“The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power of the purse,” said Feinstein. “Congress dedicated funds for important water infrastructure and military construction projects and to prepare for the next major natural disaster. That’s how those funds should be spent. They certainly shouldn’t be diverted by President Trump for his wasteful, unworkable border wall.”
“As the President continues to spout lies about our challenges at the southern border as an excuse to build a wasteful wall and considering declaring a non-existent national emergency, Congress must protect vital projects in our nation’s defense,” said Menendez. “And there’s no way I’m going to let Trump to raid funds for New Jersey military installations, flood protection and major military construction projects – including the Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst and Picatinny Arsenal – to pay for it.
A recent Monmouth University poll found that 64 percent of Americans oppose the president using an emergency declaration to build the wall, including 66 percent of independents, while only 34 percent support it. A recent CBS News poll found that “66 percent of Americans overall say President Trump should not declare a national emergency if Congress does not fund a border wall.”
The full text of the bill is available HERE. A summary of the legislation is available HERE.
Personally I think we should be conducting war games down on the border.
Note what Donkey Cart is not doing -- repealing EA76:
"Aiming to rein in this proliferation, Congress passed the National Emergencies Act in 1976. Under this law, the president still has complete discretion to issue an emergency declaration — but he must specify in the declaration which powers he intends to use, issue public updates if he decides to invoke additional powers, and report to Congress on the government’s emergency-related expenditures every six months. The state of emergency expires after a year unless the president renews it, and the Senate and the House must meet every six months while the emergency is in effect “to consider a vote” on termination.""By any objective measure, the law has failed. Thirty states of emergency are in effect today—several times more than when the act was passed. Most have been renewed for years on end. And during the 40 years the law has been in place, Congress has not met even once, let alone every six months, to vote on whether to end them."-- Elizabeth Goitein, The Atlantic
So nice of Betty to give our President a roadmap to declare a National Emergency...
That was the “Class of January 28” photo.
Similar photos were taken of the “Class of January 29,” the “Class of January 30,” the “Class of January 31,” etc etc etc.
Stop the madness! Stopping this crap is DECADES overdue.
Thanks
I just signed out of my subscription, brought up another browser and checked the ABQ Journal. I found you can see the story after answering a silly question. Mine was “Do you own or rent your home.”
It's as if #Karamela has hired Bobo's former speechwriter, who in turn has secretly sub-contracted the work to Moochelle's former speechwriter.
Bkmk
The Udalls have been pests in congress for decades.
Either the Executive has the power or not. If the Executive does, Congress can’t pass a bill denying the power. LOL
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And do the idiots think Trump would sign it into law? They’re stupid.
Kabuki theater
Right.
That’s the real point.
Go to the White House website and look up the text of emergency declarations. They cite many laws passed by Congress and signed by the president. Those laws can be modified or undone by the same process, or by veto-proof super majorities in Congress. Let ‘em try!
I wonder how much money these “senators” receive from human traffickers and the drug cartels?
The specific emergency powers that Trump would use came from congressional legislation. Congress can repeal that law - but they need President Trump to sign the repeal.
I wonder how disrespectful the rat party will be to Trump tomorrow night State of the Union Address? These lunatics would pass a bill banning breathing if it made Trump leave office. There’s no reasoning with these fools. Just gotta vote.
The commie ‘RATS are really counting on these Mexican Raiders to bring in voters for 2020.
Fake polls are all over the place. They are a joke.
No wall will eventually end our country as we know it in the long run and in the short term will make President Trump a one term President.
Grandstanding without the Prez.
Support.
It is all the same, kneeling against the flag, fake news and the hate within the Dem. Party. There is no respect left in the country! Most of the people running for President so far, are full of hate. The media is full of hate. The NFL is full of hate. Most of us just want to see a little respect for our country.
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