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House Democrats Increase Border Offer to $5.7 Billion, if Government Opens
Representative Steny D. Hoyer (D/Maryland).
I think if government was reopened, Democrats would agree to repairing whatever barriers needed repair, and possibly add more similar barriers at agreed upon locations.
I don't see them ever agreeing to fork over $5.7 billion for Trumps concrete campaign promise.
Of course, Trump would also have to bend on some issues. Polls consistently show that America is blaming Trump for the shutdown, and Americans do not want to spend billions for his vanity wall.
Representative Steny D. Hoyer (D/Maryland).
1/23/19
WASHINGTON — House Democratic leaders said on Wednesday that they were prepared to offer President Trump a substantial sum of money for border security — perhaps even the $5.7 billion he has requested — but not for a wall and not until he agreed to reopen the government. “We are going to be talking about substantial sums of money to secure our border,” Representative Steny D. Hoyer of Maryland, the Democratic leader, told reporters. Representative James E. Clyburn, the No 3. Democrat, told reporters separately that Democrats could back a $5.7 billion funding measure that included drones and refitted ports of entry — but no wall. That is the amount Mr. Trump has demanded for the wall he wants to build on the southwestern border. “Using the figure the president put on the table, if his $5.7 billion is about border security, then we see ourselves fulfilling that request, only doing it with what I like to call using a smart wall,” he said. The Democratic-controlled House is poised on Wednesday to pass legislation including an additional $1.5 billion for border security, which would help fund 75 new immigration judges and their staffs, and improvements in infrastructure at ports of entry.
But separately, top Democrats are preparing a letter to Mr. Trump that will outline a broader, and more expensive, vision for border security. That letter is expected to be ready in the coming days. And while Mr. Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat, did not say on Wednesday how much money Democrats were willing to spend, Mr. Clyburn proffered the highest Democratic number yet, “so long as it’s done smartly, not just done to fulfill a campaign promise that never should have been made in the first place — unless you’re going to keep the full campaign promise, which is have Mexico pay for it.”
I think if government was reopened, Democrats would agree to repairing whatever barriers needed repair, and possibly add more similar barriers at agreed upon locations.
I don't see them ever agreeing to fork over $5.7 billion for Trumps concrete campaign promise.
Of course, Trump would also have to bend on some issues. Polls consistently show that America is blaming Trump for the shutdown, and Americans do not want to spend billions for his vanity wall.