Lucille Roybal-Allard: “This is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill…”

“This is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended. In last year's election, no campaign rhetoric was more infamous than the President's promise to ``build a great, great wall on our Southern border'' and ``make Mexico pay for it.'' The reality is the funding would come from U.S. taxpayers, not from Mexico, as the President promised. This motion to recommit strikes the $1.6 billion appropriation for construction of nearly 74 miles of border wall. Beyond the initial 74 miles, we have no idea of how many miles of border wall the President plans to build or how much it will cost because we have not received the required report on the long-term plan and justification for border security investments. Even with the plan, we will need time to evaluate whether investments in the border wall are more cost effective than alternatives and more urgent than clearly established unmet needs. With $1.6 billion, we could buy two of the four heavy Coast Guard icebreakers we need to protect U.S. interests in the Arctic. This purchase would help minimize the danger highlighted in a National Academies of Science report, which concluded the Coast Guard requires four new heavy icebreakers to protect U.S interests in the Arctic, where Russia has an ever-increasing presence. The Coast Guard is ready to solicit proposals for new icebreakers in fiscal year 2018.…”