Rep. Gallego’s Response to President Trump’s Unconstitutional Action to Declare a Fake National Emergency
WASHINGTON – Rep. Ruben Gallego released the following statement in response to President Trump's action to declare a national emergency to build a border wall.
"I took an oath to defend the Constitution when I joined the military. I took an oath to defend the Constitution when I became a Member of Congress. As a veteran, an elected representative, and an American citizen, I will continue to honor my oaths and fight unconstitutional power grabs by President Trump to build a useless wall," said Rep. Gallego. "Trump's decision to declare a fake national emergency and illegally use taxpayer dollars intended to support our servicemembers is an attack on our nation's most sacred traditions and institutions. The real national emergency is Donald Trump's presidency."
Representative Gallego has not only actively opposed a wall on our southern border, but has led the fight over the past two years to prevent President Trump from recklessly redirecting military funds to build it. He has written op-eds, given floor speeches, hosted press conferences, and introduced two amendments – one of which passed the House Armed Services Committee unanimously – to prevent this president from using funds meant for our troops to build a wasteful and unnecessary border wall.
See below for a timeline of Rep. Gallego's leadership on this issue:
June 2017: Rep. Gallego introduces an amendment to the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prohibit Trump from using DOD funds to build the wall. The amendment passed the Armed Services Committee with unanimous consent.
July 2017: Rep. Gallego speaks on the House floor condemning Republicans for using a legislative gimmick to allow Trump to take money from our troops to pay for his ridiculous border wall.
July 2017: Rep. Gallego hosts a press conference demanding Republicans abandon their plan to sneak border wall funding into the 2018 NDAA.
September 2017: Rep. Gallego authors op-ed in Arizona Republic highlighting the myth that a border wall will help improve border security.
March 2018: Rep. Gallego speaks out against Trump's proposal to pay for a border wall using military funds.
May 2018: Rep. Gallego reintroduces his amendment to prevent Trump from using NDAA military funds to pay for a wall on the southern border, but it is defeated by Republicans on the Armed Services Committee.