(Headline USA) Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., introduced a bill this week that would force the Biden administration to restart construction of the southern border wall.
The Build the Wall Now Act — which is the first piece of legislation Budd has introduced since taking office in January — would remove the “legal impediments” preventing border wall construction and unlock $2.1 billion in unspent funding for the project. It would prevent Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas from canceling contracts related to the project and would require Mayorkas to uphold the current contracts.
Should it pass, the Biden administration would be required to restart construction within 24 hours.
“President Biden has created the worst border crisis in American history. Instead of taking steps to solve this crisis, the Biden administration has tried to run out the regulatory clock on border wall construction,” Budd said in a statement. “My Build the Wall Now Act ends this administration’s excuses and forces them to restart wall construction immediately. It’s time for a comprehensive solution to end the Biden Border Crisis, and this bill does just that.”
The bill would also require the Department of Homeland Security to develop new initiatives to increase border agent safety.
Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and James Risch, R-Idaho, are co-signers.
On the House side, Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced a similar bill, accusing the Biden administration of “letting construction materials that have already been paid for sit and rot rather than finish building President Trump’s border wall and we are all paying the price.”
“For the same reason that Joe Biden had a fence put up around his State of the Union address, we need to finish building the wall on our southern border to keep American families and communities safe,” Banks added.
