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Udall Speaks Out Against Plans for 46 Miles of New Mexico Border Wall, Presses Defense Department for Answers Following Attempted Transfer Of $1 Billion in Military Personnel Funding to Pay for President Trump’s Wall

By Tom Udall Press Office
U.S. Senator Tom Udall,along with every Democratic member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, pressed the Department of Defense (DOD) for information on how DOD’s transfer of $1 billion in military personnel funding to the Drug Interdiction and Counter-narcotics Activities account in order to build part of President Trump’s wall along the southern border – even though it was not approved by Congress – will impact military readiness initiatives this year.
According to new information from DOD, the Trump Administration plans to raid $1 billion in military personnel funding and spend it on 57 miles of border wall, including 46 miles worth both east and west of Columbus, New Mexico, along with two separate projects in Arizona. The transfer would use a counterdrug account to fund wall construction without authorization and contrary to Congressional direction. This plan comes despite the fact that the majority of illicit smuggling comes via established ports of entry, and the migrant groups coming to our border consist largely groups of asylum seeking refugees from Central America and other locations presenting themselves to authorities.
Udall had the following statement regarding the plans to raid military personnel money to fund President Trump’s wall in New Mexico:
“President Trump caused a 35-day shutdown seeking over $5 billion for his border wall, and after a very difficult debate, Congress gave him a very specific amount of funding – much less than what he requested, and none of which was intended for New Mexico. Now he is violating congressional directives to raid military personnel money that targets New Mexico’s border with 46 miles of new wall. The Department of Defense should be standing up for our military personnel and readiness needs, not allowing themselves to become a piggy bank for a pPresident’s pet project.
“This funding raid flies in the face of Congress and I will pursue all legislative options to stop it. If the president stopped playing politics, both parties could find common ground to handle the humanitarian crisis of asylum seekers and protect our borders the right way—with well-trained people, new technology, and improvements at ports of entry where the vast majority of smuggling takes place, not an ineffective, wasteful and offensive border wall that will harm wildlife in this unique environment.”
In their letter yesterday evening to acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan about this funding raid, the senators on the relevant appropriations subcommittees raised serious concerns that the diversion of funds to the president’s border wall will result in DOD allowing critical readiness initiatives to go unaddressed.
“We strongly object to both the substance of the funding transfer, and to the Department implementing the transfer without seeking the approval of the congressional defense committees and in violation of provisions in the defense appropriation itself,” the senators wrote.  “As a result, we have serious concerns that the Department has allowed political interference and pet projects to come ahead of many near-term, critical readiness issues facing our military.”
“The $1 billion reprogramming that the Department is implementing without congressional approval constitutes a dollar-for-dollar theft from other readiness needs of our Armed Forces,” the senators continued.
The senators also noted a growing list of substantial funding shortfalls, including the Air Force and Marine Corps having working drafts of more than $1.5 billion in proposals to speed cleanup and reconstruction of Tyndall Air Force Base and Camp Lejeune, which were devastated by hurricanes.
In addition to Udall, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jack Reed (D-RI..), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), John Tester (D-Mont.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif).
Last week, the Defense Department sent Congress a list of more than $10 billion worth of military construction projects around the country and the world that are at risk of being cut in order to pay for President Trump’s border wall through his unconstitutional national emergency declaration, including several New Mexico projects.
In February, Udall introduced the RAIDER Act of 2019 to prevent the president from using any funds already appropriated by Congress to construct his wall along the southern border without specific statutory authorization from Congress.

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