NOTE: Excerpt from Congressman Buddy Carter's web based weekly newsletter.
On Friday, President Trump announced a plan to reopen the
government for three weeks until February 15 and continue border security
discussions.
First, I want to thank all the hardworking federal employees in the First
District for your dedication and professionalism during the shutdown.
To say I am disappointed with my Democratic colleagues is an understatement.
Throughout the entire shutdown, Democrats have maintained a “my way or the
highway” attitude and have refused to come to the table and negotiate.
President Trump extended solutions that included proposals that have received
bipartisan support in the past and Speaker Pelosi simply said no. That is not
how our government works. We need both sides to come together for the good of
the American people.
Now, Democrats have said that they will negotiate on wall funding once the
government is open again. Over the next three weeks, President Trump has
given them yet another chance to work in a bipartisan fashion and come to the
table for the security of all Americans. They need to keep their word, end
the political games and negotiate in good faith.
As negotiations continue about border security, any plan must include a
physical wall structure. This is something both Republicans and Democrats
have agreed on in the past as members of both parties have previously voted
for wall funding.
I’ve been to the border and I’ve seen the need for a wall firsthand. For
example, I visited San Diego, right across the border from Tijuana. The
two cities are so close in proximity that, except for the two security fences
and check in stations separating them, you can hardly tell where one city
ends and the other begins. In this area, a wall structure is definitely the
primary answer for border security.
Walls have been proven to work. In San Diego, where there has been a border
wall since 1992, illegal traffic has dropped 92 percent over the last 23
years. In El Paso, Texas, where there has been a border wall since 1993,
illegal traffic dropped 95 percent over 22 years. In Yuma, Arizona,
where there has been a border wall since 2005, illegal traffic dropped 95
percent over 9 years.
There is a crisis at the border that our failed immigration system has made
worse. There are dangerous gang members, human traffickers and drug
smugglers coming into our country. We must use an “all of the above”
approach to secure the border and that includes a border wall.
Republican Buddy Carter is the U.S. representative for Georgia's 1st congressional district. Previously, he was a member of the Georgia state senate.