Washington, D.C. - The ranking members of six House committees today sent a letter to their Republican counterparts and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan urging them to allow H.R. 3548 - the Republican bill authorizing the costly, destructive expansion of the border wall - to be considered for amendment in each of their respective committees before the bill goes to the full House for consideration. Moving the bill through each committee with jurisdiction, the authors note, would be the only way to pass the bill “through regular order."
The letter, available at http://bit.ly/2xBvzVQ, is signed by Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) of the Committee on Natural Resources; Adam Smith (D-Wash.) of the Committee on Armed Services; Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; Richard Neal (D-Mass.) of the Committee on Ways and Means; Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The authors write in part:
As Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson aptly stated, H.R. 3548 is “a misguided, unnecessary, fiscally-irresponsible measure to formally authorize President Trump’s Wall at all costs." Accordingly, we respectfully request that each Committee mark up this legislation and be given an opportunity to thoroughly examine and discuss provisions within our purview.
The non-partisan Office of the House Parliamentarian has ruled that the border wall legislation includes provisions relevant to each of the committees’ jurisdictions.
