GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina lawmakers are responding to President Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency at the border. The move will allow more federal money for the wall at the U.S. Mexico border.
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he does not believe declaring a national emergency is the right decision for securing money for a border wall.
Tillis released the following statement:
“It doesn’t matter who the President is or what party they belong to: I strongly believe in the separation of powers and curbing the kind of executive overreach that Congress has allowed to fester for the better part of the last century, including during the Obama Administration.
Over the last several years, I’ve repeatedly supported President Trump’s plans to secure our borders. I share the President’s frustration that Congressional Democrats have blocked the reasonable and good faith efforts he has made to invest in more personnel, technology, and infrastructure in order to protect the American people. Democratic leaders have made clear their opposition to a serious investment in border security is motivated by their desire to score political points at the President’s expense.
While there are unobjectionable ways for the President to transfer federal funds to be used for border security, including more than $600 million from the Treasury Forfeiture Fund, I don’t believe a national emergency declaration is the solution. It wouldn’t provide enough funding to adequately secure our borders, it would likely get tied up in litigation, and most concerning is that it would create a new precedent that a left-wing President would undoubtedly utilize to implement their radical policy agenda while bypassing the authority of Congress. As Speaker Pelosi explicitly noted, liberal Democrats would certainly embrace scenarios like:
- A President Bernie Sanders declaring a national emergency to implement the radical Green New Deal, including shutting down power plants, causing energy prices to skyrocket.
- A President Elizabeth Warren declaring a national emergency to shut down banks and take over the nation’s financial institutions.
- A President Cory Booker declaring a national emergency to effectively end Second Amendment Rights.
Congress has allowed executive overreach to continue unabated from one administration to the next because both sides are fine with it as long as they agree with the policy goal. While I agree with President Trump’s policy goal, I don’t believe in situational principles, and it’s clear what kind of rabbit hole our country can go down when we have a Democratic President who wants more government intrusion into our economy and our lives.”
Representative Mark Walker also released a statement:
“The humanitarian crisis and unrestrained drug and human trafficking at our border is a national emergency. One I will see again firsthand next week. It’s an emergency that the American people and the United States Constitution call on Congress to fix.”
Representative Alma Adams released a statement:
Today, Rep. Alma Adams slammed President Trump’s unlawful national emergency declaration, which could steal $293,655,000 worth of urgently needed North Carolina Department of Defense military construction funds, critical to the security of our nation and the well-being of our men and women in uniform and their families.
“The President is declaring an emergency over a crisis that doesn’t exist and harming our troops and their families in the process,’” said Rep. Adams. “After failing to convince Mexico, the American people, or Congress to pay for his ineffective, multi-billion dollar concrete wall, the President is trying to go behind Congress’s back, in direct contradiction to the bipartisan compromise on border security. This is a power grab by a desperate, disappointed President who is raiding critical military construction funding meant for much-needed base improvements, repair and maintenance, planned housing, medical and logistics projects, just because he is not getting what he wants.
North Carolina is home to Fort Bragg, one of the largest military bases in the country. The President’s emergency declaration undermines the training, readiness, and quality of life of our military and their families by potentially targeting bases like Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune, and other military construction initiatives.”
“North Carolinians deserve leaders who will respect the Constitution and fight to defend our national security,” continued Rep. Adams. “I am proud to join House Democrats in fulfilling our constitutional duty to protect our system of checks and balances, and taking strong action against the President’s violation of Congress’s constitutional authority. If Republicans still support the Constitution, they must join us in rebuking President Trump’s gross abuse of power.”