Walden votes no on Democrats’ funding bill over border issues
Saying he was being “consistent with his voting record on border security measures,” Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., voted Tuesday against a Democratic short-term funding bill that he said lacked adequate resources to secure America’s borders and address illegal immigration.
“Strengthening border security is critical to America’s national security,” Walden said in a statement afterward. “We should be taking concrete steps to thwart illegal immigration and secure our borders. Unfortunately, House Democrats instead chose to bring up legislation that ignores the national security threat at our southern border.”
On Jan. 3, Walden also voted against a funding measure for the Department of Homeland Security that did not include additional resources to strengthen border security, including money to construct a physical barrier along the southern border.
Walden has separately voted to reopen several government agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, Farm Service Agency, and others that he said “employ thousands of people and conduct important work in Oregon’s Second Congressional District.”
This time, Walden said, “This partisan bill introduced by Democrats today fails to reopen the federal government, as it will not be taken up in the Senate nor be signed into law by President Trump. This is not a serious legislative solution to the country’s border security challenges and the current government shutdown, and it delays needed action on both issues.”
“I have repeatedly supported efforts to secure our borders with physical barriers, walls and technology, and will continue to do so,” Walden said. “We need to come together around serious proposals to boost border security and reopen the federal government, rather than continue the political tactics exhibited by Democrats today.”
