September 19, 2019

Castro Statement After Second Re-Introduction of Emergency Declaration Resolution

WASHINGTON--Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, and author of the resolution to terminate the President’s emergency declaration in February, today re-introduced the same resolution to once again protect the Constitution against the onslaught of attacks from this Administration to build its border wall, and most recently, pull funds from national security priorities in order to do so:

“In February, I introduced the resolution to reject the President’s sham emergency declaration at our border. Both chambers of Congress—a Democratic House and a Republican Senate—resoundingly rejected that bogus declaration by passing my resolution. After the President defied Congress and issued a veto, SCOTUS’ decision in July has allowed the Administration to set a perilous precedent that is reconstructing the constitutional balance of power and Congress’ exclusive power of the purse in real-time – both of which our country was founded upon.

“Today, I’m re-introducing my resolution to terminate the real danger to our national security – this President and his entire Administration – who will stop at nothing to fulfill a xenophobic, anti-American campaign promise. A wall does nothing to address the real humanitarian crisis at our border. Instead, this President is intent on stealing millions of dollars meant for important projects that range from training sites for our service members, to the schools for their children. This money is being stolen from over two dozen states and territories – ensuring that American tax payers, not Mexico, are actually paying for the wall. This is a raid of national security priorities to build a wall that does nothing to make us any safer.

“The will of Congress and the American people is not reflected in this relentless, racist bullying, nor does it reflect the dignity of who we are and who we want to be. I will match this mania with might, and keep fighting to protect our democracy from this ongoing assault.”

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