Senate denies funds for new border fence

Posted on July 14, 2006

Less than two months after voting overwhelmingly to build 370 miles of new fencing along the border with Mexico, the Senate yesterday voted against providing funds to build it.

“We do a lot of talking. We do a lot of legislating,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Alabama Republican whose amendment to fund the fence was killed on a 71-29 vote. “The things we do often sound very good, but we never quite get there.”

Mr. Sessions offered his amendment to authorize $1.8 billion to pay for the fencing that the Senate voted 83-16 to build along high-traffic areas of the border with Mexico. In the same vote on May 17, the Senate also directed 500 miles of vehicle barriers to be built along the border.

But the May vote simply authorized the fencing and vehicle barriers, which on Capitol Hill is a different matter from approving the federal expenditures needed to build it.

“If we never appropriate the money needed to construct these miles of fencing and vehicle barriers, those miles of fencing and vehicle barriers will never actually be constructed,” Mr. Sessions told his colleagues yesterday before the vote.

Virtually all Democrats were joined by the chamber’s lone independent and 28 Republicans in opposing Mr. Session’s amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Act. Only two Democrats — Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Thomas R. Carper of Delaware — supported funding the fence.

All told, 34 senators — including most of the Republican leadership — voted in May to build the fence but yesterday opposed funding it.

The overall bill, which appropriates more than $32 billion to the Homeland Security Department, including $2.2 billion for border security and control, passed on a 100-0 vote last night.

Sen. Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican who historically has fought to increase border security and enforcement of federal immigration laws, was among those who opposed Mr. Session’s amendment.

“We should build these walls; there’s no question about it,” he said. “But the real issue here is the offset that’s being used, and the offset creates a Hobson’s choice for almost everyone here.”

Mr. Session’s amendment would have required across-the-board cuts to the rest of the Homeland Security appropriations bill, Mr. Gregg said, which would mean cutting 750 new border-patrol agents and 1,200 new detention beds for illegal aliens that he included in the bill.

James at A Shining City Atop A Hill is quite upset. He points out one paragraph of the article in particular.

Kris Kobach, who was a counsel to the attorney general under John Ashcroft, told a House subcommittee last week that one of the most unusual aspects of the Senate bill is a provision — slipped into the more-than-800-page bill moments before the final vote — that would require the United States to consult with the Mexican government before constructing the fencing.

James rightly points out how distrubing this is.

Ah, so now we are asking a foreign power for its approval before we take steps to defend this country??

Enough is enough. The Republicans are treating their conservative base like fools. I encourage true conservatives, ones who actual value protecting this country from invaders, to stay home this coming Congressional election.

I agree this is something to be upset about, however I don’t think staying at home is going to solve anything. I agree with California Conservative on this one.

Only two Democrats voted to fund the border fencing. Anyone who thinks that staying home this November will send people a message is kidding themselves. You think we’d get serious border enforcement with Democrats running the Senate? Get serious. Do you think they wouldn’t pass a toothless, no prevention bill sometime in the next two years? If you think they wouldn’t get something wimpy passed, then you’re delusional.

By the way, it’s time to start thinking of primary challenger so we can get rid of idiots like Chuck Hagel, Arlen Specter and George Voinovich. It’s time they got ‘retired’. Additionally, find GOP candidates capable of defeating Jay Rockefeller and some of these ultralibs in 2008.

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Comments

4 Responses to “Senate denies funds for new border fence”

kerwin_brown on July 14th, 2006 11:30 am

The vast majority of Democrats are traitors but if you allow one to win then you hopefully the Republican party will wise up and offer a non globalist next time. They will not if you the Republican wins. I would be tempted to vote Democrat and wait til next time to vote in the Republican I wanted.
RedSonja2000 on July 14th, 2006 5:50 pm

Unfortunately (for you) you have two kinds of Replublicans no this issue. You have the racist creeps who hate Mexicans (and anybody else not Anglo-Saxon) and you have the rich creeps who hate paying a living wage. Right now the rich creeps are in power so there will be no wall, no guest worker program, no immigration quotas, no additional border security, nothing that will slow the tide of virtual slave labor.
Jay on July 14th, 2006 7:24 pm

Rich creeps huh? So that is why so many Democrats voted against it.
RedSonja2000 on July 17th, 2006 10:00 am

The Democrats are in power? Who knew!