Senator Cruz introduces legislation mandating use of border wall materials
May 12, 2023 | Washington, D.C.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has joined Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) to introduce the FINISH IT Act. This legislation would require the federal government to use previously purchased and unused border wall panels to extend the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border or to transfer them to state governments to be used for wall construction.
According to Senator Cruz’s office, this bill is being introduced in response to an investigation that revealed the Department of Defense is spending $47 million per year, or $130,000 per day, to store the panels in the Southwest United States. The FINISH IT Act would require the federal government to deploy the materials or transfer them to state governments who will use them for wall construction.
“President Biden’s policies have created the worst border crisis that the United States has ever faced,” said Senator Cruz. “This administration is utterly lawless, and that lawlessness is not just endangering the safety and security of Americans, but also draining America’s Treasury. We are paying extra to not build a wall on our southern border. We need to build a wall to secure our southern border, and I’m proud to work with Ranking Member Wicker and my colleagues to force the Defense Department to do its job and finish our border wall.”
Full text of the bill is available here.
While the bill is unlikely to pass in the Democrat-controlled Senate, it is important for Republican Senators to force Democrats to go on record against common-sense legislation that would protect American citizens.