Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee reasserted her commitment to a wall along the U.S./Mexican border Friday.
Blackburn did so immediately after U.S. President Donald Trump reached a compromise agreement with Democrats to re-open closed portions of the federal government in a dispute that centered primarily on border wall funding.
My statement on the President’s decision to re-open the government: pic.twitter.com/2kxqmFyGRD
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) January 25, 2019
“President Trump has reached a compromise with Democratic and Republican leaders to reopen the federal government with a short term continuing resolution. While this action solves the immediate problem of funding the back pay of 800,000 federal workers, it does not address the urgent need to end the humanitarian crisis on our southern border. It does not end the illegal flow of drugs, gangs and human traffickers. Congress’ work on this issue is far from over,” Blackburn said in a press release.
“I will continue to support our border patrol and their three essential needs: a border barrier, additional technology and more officers and agents on the border. I also support ending the DACA program, chain migration and the visa lottery system.”
As The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, Trump reached a deal with congressional leaders to reopen the government for three weeks. This, while negotiations over border security funding continue.
“Speaking in the Rose Garden, Mr. Trump said he would sign a bill to open the government until Feb. 15 and start negotiations between the House and Senate over a full-year bill funding the Homeland Security Department, which oversees the border,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
The stopgap spending bill provides no immediate funding for a border wall. Trump said he would continue to push for funding for such a barrier in the next three weeks, according to the newspaper.
The shutdown began Dec. 22.
“The president had considered declaring a national emergency to try to divert funds from elsewhere in the government to fund a wall, which he described Friday as a ‘powerful alternative’ that he didn’t want to use,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Marsha Blackburn” by Marsha Blackburn.
Background Photo “Border Wall” © Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons /
[…] reasserted her commitment to a border wall in late January after President Trump reached a compromise […]
Marsha has been a big disappointment in her support for amnesty for illegal aliens. The caravans of foreigners coming with children, and of children trying to get in alone, are direct results of DACA. We always get more of what we reward and allow to game our system.
Senator Blackburn was all for giving amnesty to illegals in exchange for a few billion toward a wall and border security. That is nothing less than joining the other side that always demands amnesty for illegals in exchange for promises (lies) to stop the flood of illegal immigration. Senator Blackburn is only slightly better than Alexander on this topic. The only compromise that the open border crowd – Democrat and Republican – is no compromise.
President Trump needs to do whatever he needs to do to protect our border, no help will come from the useless socialist Democrats.
It seems that every time when some issue of national importance arises, and Conservatives/Republicans need to ‘stand together’ in unison, Lamar Alexander is one of the few of our Party’s leaders who ALMOST ALWAYS wants ‘to go running across the aisle’ to strike some kind of compromise with the Dems.
After the deal was struck today to end the partial government shutdown, Alexander took to the Senate floor to try to explain his vote yesterday when he voted against the President and with the Dems (Alexander did not expressly reference today in his floor speech his vote yesterday, but it seemed ‘pretty clear’ to me that he was trying to explain and justify it). See Senate vote no. 10 (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Schumer Amendment. No. 6). Commentators tonight on FOX opined that the six defecting Republican Senators—Alexander was one of the six (also, Collins, Murkowski, Gardner, Romney and Isakson—except for Isakson, ‘the usual suspects’)—may have been one reason why Trump made his decision today to end the partial shutdown (i.e., the President thought that he was losing support among his own conference). Well gee thanks, Lamar, thanks a lot! You really know how to ‘help out’ when your support is needed! AND YOU ARE TOO SAVY A POLITICIAN—YOU HAD TO KNOW THAT THE VOTERS OF TENNESSEE DID NOT SUPPORT YOUR ACTION IN THIS RESPECT! WHO DO REPRESENT IN THE SENATE, THE PEOPLE OF TENNESSEE OR JUST YOURSELF? DO YOU REPRESENT THE PEOPLE OF TENNESSEE TO THE SENATE, OR DO YOU REALLY JUST REPRESENT THE SENATE TO TENNESSEANS?
Today in his Senate floor speech, Alexander tried ‘to wrap himself in the mantle’ of statesmanship and reason and compromise—but I say that there is a time and a place for everything, and in the current circumstances this was not it. I call it a SELLOUT and BACKSTABBING. Alexander is a RINO, and everyone knows it. He always has been. And who is a RINO—a RINO is a faithless Republican who is about two-thirds Democrat?! Tennessee has just rid itself of one RINO Senator, and now it is time to make darn sure that we do not replace our remaining RINO Senator with another one next election. I trust that you agree!
Not trying to be pedantic here, but a U.S. Senator does not represent the people, he represents the state. The U.S. Representative for your district is who represents you, not the Senators.
That’s why there are two Senators for every state, regardless of population and anywhere from 1 to 53 representatives for each state, depending on their population.
State legislatures used to appoint Senators – repeal the 17th Amendment and we can get back to business.