Henry Cuellar: “I want to thank Chairwoman Lowey for all the wonderful work that she has done on this appropriation bill, a very…”

“I want to thank Chairwoman Lowey for all the wonderful work that she has done on this appropriation bill, a very balanced bill that she has done, and I want to thank Kay Granger and also Mr. Calvert for the work that they have done, even though we do have a disagreement. Let me talk about the wall. With all due respect, I always get a kick out of people who don't live close to the border, they might live about 1,000 miles away from the border, but they are the first ones who would tell us what we need to have at our border, in our own backyard. Earlier this month, President AMLO from Mexico was at a press conference with President Trump. President Trump had said we need a wall, and we are going to have Mexico pay. I did not hear the President say: Where is that check to pay for the wall? So what is happening is, the master dealmaker is now asking the U.S. taxpayers to pay for this wall after he promised that Mexico would pay for this wall. Again, the taxpayers are paying for this. We are taking money away from the defense. We are taking money away from military construction. And we are taking money away from other places to pay for that 14th century solution called a wall. I will tell you where we are on the wall. After 3 years, we only have 3 miles--and I emphasize 3 miles--of new wall. Everything else is replacement. Everything else is double wall--only 3 miles of new fencing that we have had.…”