Senate Committee Passes Emergency Border Bill with Omissions and Unnecessary Provisions
Some good, but a lot of bad
By Andrew R. Arthur on June 21, 2019
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday advanced to the floor of the Senate a "Bipartisan Border Supplemental Package" which "provides a total of $4.59 billion to address the border crisis." That package is in response to President Trump's May 1, 2019, request for supplemental funding for the border. Some of the funding provided in that package is absolutely crucial. Some of it, however, is just plain bad, unnecessary restrictions on immigration funding are included, and much crucial funding is omitted.
As the Washington Post reported at the time the president made that request, White House acting budget director Russ Vought told congressional leaders: "The situation becomes more dire each day. ... The migration flow and the resulting humanitarian crisis is rapidly overwhelming the ability of the Federal Government to respond."
More than four weeks later, acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan quantified the scope of the problem:
https://cis.org/Arthur/Senate-Committee-Passes-Emergency-Border-Bill-Omissions-and-Unnecessary-Provisions
