Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) and Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) have proposed the “Build the Wall Now Act” to immediately restart border wall construction and close existing gaps in the barrier.
Immediately after taking office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that halted all border wall construction, among other things.
The legislation would require border wall construction to begin within 24 hours of its signing into law and prohibit Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from canceling any and all contracts related to border wall construction.
“President Biden has created the worst border crisis in American history,” Budd said in a statement. “Instead of taking steps to solve this crisis, the Biden administration has tried to run out the regulatory clock on border wall construction.”
In particular, Budd and Banks said the legislation would unlock more than $2.1 billion in unspent funds that were previously appropriated to construct wall along the border and opens other previously appropriated funding to be made available until it is all spent.
Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), James Risch (R-ID), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) are co-sponsoring the Senate version of the bill.
“This administration is 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,” Banks said in a statement:
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. [Emphasis added]
Reps. Brian Babin (R-TX), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Bill Posey (R-FL), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Wesley Hunt (R-TX), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Mary Miller (R-IL), George Santos (R-NY), and Vern Buchanan (R-FL) are co-sponsoring the House version of the bill.
Likewise, the National Border Patrol Council, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumbersUSA, and Heritage Action for America are backing the legislation.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.