I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that the Pentagon has revised its border wall estimate upwards after the Army Corps of Engineers was able to purchase property at the border for less than they expected.

Originally, the Pentagon estimated that they would be able to finish 450 miles of new border fencing. After negotiating with contractors and vendors, that was revised up to 470 miles. Yesterday, the Pentagon announced that land purchases have cost less than expected, so the Army Corps of Engineers estimates they will be able to put up just shy of 500 miles of border wall next year.

Much of this is new wall construction. Other sections will be "replacement fencing." I included the photo above so you can see just what "replacement fencing" entails. This was just taken at an actual border wall construction site. The Trump administration is tearing down vehicle barriers and replacing them with 18-to-30 feet tall pedestrian walls.

Those vehicle barriers is what used to pass for "fencing" under the Bush and Obama administrations. But even a kindergartener could climb over that...

So that is the good news. 500 miles of border wall are set to go up over the next twelve months.

The bad news is that spineless Republicans are vowing to help the Democrats cancel these construction projects next week!



Just yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Defense Department Appropriations Act. Democrats tried to push through an amendment to block Pentagon funding for the border wall project.

We know that the committee is full of Republicans who want to stop the border wall construction. Senators Roy Blunt (MO), Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Lamar Alexander (TN), Jerry Moran (KS), and Marco Rubio (FL) all voted to cancel the border wall national emergency this past Spring.

But when the anti-border wall amendment came up for a vote yesterday, the Republicans voted it down. Susan Collins announced that she supported shutting down the national emergency, but could not put the Pentagon's funding at risk. She said it wasn't the time or place to debate the border wall.

Collins told Democrats that if they wanted to cancel the border wall construction, they would have to find another bill to attach their amendment to. And if they did, she would vote for it

The Democrats responded by introducing a new amendment to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act (which will come up for a vote early next week).

Just like their Defense amendment, this new provision is just one-sentence-long and would cancel all border wall construction over the next year if it passes.

"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal funds may be used for the construction of physical barriers along the southern land border of the United States during fiscal year 2020."

As the amendment says, it would stop all Federal funds from being used on border wall construction. And already, Republicans are agreeing to vote for this amendment instead...

Stop the GOP's Border Wall surrender! Send your instant FaxBlast right now and FORCE Congress to kill all anti-border wall amendments... or else!

We are closer than ever to finally securing the US-Mexico border. The Supreme Court just ruled that Donald Trump's new asylum regulations can go into effect. Fraudulent illegal alien asylum seekers can now be denied and turned around (instead of released into American society). Catch-and-release is over.

For months, Border Patrol agents have been reduced to working as glorified babysitters. Now, the agency is finally able to reassign its agents to actually patrol the border again. With the asylum loopholes closed, they expect to see a massive surge in illegal aliens rushing the border.

We need the wall!

Republicans cannot be trusted on this. Mitt Romney has already promised to vote against the border wall funding the next time it comes up for a vote. Two dozen other Establishment Republicans are also negotiating with Democrats to cancel the funding.

This is a fight for the future of the country, and you cannot give up!



Sincerely,

Joe Otto

Conservative Daily