March 28, 2018

Marine Veteran Rep. Gallego Slams Trump Plan to Pay for Border Wall with Military Funds, Will Reintroduce Amendment to Stop Him

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-07) released the following statement in response to President Trump's proposal to pay for his border wall with military funds.

Last June, Rep. Gallego introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have blocked the Trump administration from diverting funds from the defense budget to pay for construction of a new border wall. Though the amendment was approved by the House Armed Services Committee, the GOP stripped the language from the bill before it received a vote on the House floor.

Rep. Gallego intends to reintroduce this amendment during this year's NDAA process.

Rep. Gallego issued the following statement:

"As a Marine Corps veteran who fought in Iraq, I saw firsthand the devastation and loss of life that results when our troops are not given the proper equipment to protect themselves and fight our enemies. I've also met military families who rely on government-funded services to provide for their families as they scrape to get by.

"We can't allow Donald Trump to steal already-limited resources from our troops to fund a pointless border wall that will serve little other purpose than to satisfy his own fragile ego. This money is meant to help our men and women in uniform – not to fulfill ill-advised campaign promises.

"Last year, I introduced an amendment that would have prevented Trump from irresponsibly siphoning our defense funds to pay for a useless wall that will do nothing to keep our nation safe. I plan to reintroduce that amendment this spring when the House Armed Services Committee marks up this year's defense spending bill.

"I hope that Speaker Ryan will have the backbone to allow an up-or-down vote on the House floor, and that my GOP colleagues will have the courage and integrity to put our military families first and say no to Donald Trump."