Washington Rep. Adam Smith: Trump ‘has not been honest’ on border wall
Jan 8, 2019, 4:29 PM
(AP)
(AP)
With President Donald Trump addressing the nation on his proposed southern border wall Tuesday evening, Washington State Congressperson Adam Smith made the Democrats’ own position on border security clear.
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Many, including Smith, have pointed out that President Trump could potentially declare a state of emergency as a workaround to build his wall without Congressional approval. Even so, that wouldn’t occur without a significant challenge.
“If the president wants to get up and say ‘this is an emergency, I’m spending money on a wall,’ he could do it, and then there would be a lawsuit,” Smith told KTTH’s Michael Medved.
The last time a state of emergency was declared was for war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan — essentially, it allows the president to “tap into a variety of funds for a variety of different reasons,” but only within the parameters of the Department of Defense.
Because of that, using those funds to build a wall along the southern border of the United States could prove problematic.
“Drawing a parallel to building a wall on the southern border, there is no emergency. Previously, we had a war — that was clearly an emergency,” said Smith, now the chair of the House Arms Services Committee. “Here, I think he would have a hard time getting past that legal argument.”
As for the partial government shutdown currently underway, a compromise has yet to surface for either side.
“I don’t know how (the shutdown) is going to end,” noted Smith. “The way it should end is with the president having a discussion about border security. The White House has not been honest.”
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President Trump recently requested $5.6 billion for wide-ranging “enhanced border security” measures that Smith claims haven’t been explicitly laid out.
An estimate from the Department of Homeland Security said that a border wall would cost roughly $21.6 billion.
“(Trump) has to tell us what ‘enhanced border security’ means. He wants $5.6 billion. For what? He says for the wall, but we all know the wall is going to cost $20 to 30 billion. He just sort of wants $5.6 billion for nothing specific,” Smith said.
Through all this, Smith still doesn’t rule out the need for reform in different ways, citing a handful of measures that he would support. But when it comes to a wall, he simply doesn’t see the need.
“Most border security experts say we need more sensors [and] more drones — we need to employ technology,” Smith said. “Building a wall doesn’t make sense.”
“If there’s an opportunity to do comprehensive immigration reform as part of this, I’d think that’d be great,” he added.
