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December 14, 2018 – American security is bigger than petty politics. In a televised Oval Office meeting with President Trump this week, both Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer admitted that the country needs stronger border security. So why are they fighting him on one-tenth of one-percent of government spending for border security?

Terrorists, drug smugglers, human traffickers, and criminal gang members don’t target their victims based on political party. The 10 terrorists per day prevented by the Department of Homeland Security from entering our country are a threat to all Americans. The two million pounds of narcotics seized by Customs and Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security this year alone wouldn’t have ended up on just Republican or Democratic streets.

The security of our country is something both sides used to be able to agree on. In 2006, then-Senators Obama, Hillary Clinton, and even Chuck Schumer voted for miles of border protection. In 2013 every Senate Democrat voted for ‘no fewer than 700 miles’ of border fencing. But in blind opposition to a President they’ve sworn to resist, the left is now refusing to properly secure our borders. They simply don’t believe in it anymore. If they did, they wouldn’t have advocated for eliminating the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this year.

President Obama had no problem working to give Iran – a state sponsor of terrorism – $150 billion in sanctions relief. Ridiculously, his administration sent the Iranian regime a $1.7 billion cash payment. And just to get other countries to come to a meeting about climate change, the previous administration committed to send $3 billion overseas. I haven’t heard a single person on the left outraged that American taxpayers pay $18.5 billion every year in Medicaid benefits to illegal immigrants. I haven’t heard any opposition to the fact that illegal immigrants cost our economy roughly $100 billion per year. But $5 billion to secure our border is all of a sudden a ridiculous ask?

If there is a government shutdown, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi will undoubtedly try and place the blame on President Trump. They will, of course, fail to mention that Chuck Schumer had no problem shutting down the government in January, prioritizing an unconstitutional immigration program over funding health insurance for the neediest American children. They’ll fail to mention that we have already funded 75% of the government through the end of the next fiscal year. The troops are funded, post offices will be open, and retirees will continue to receive their social security payments. That’s not to say there will be no consequences for a portion of our government shutting down. The vast majority of the men and women who work to keep our country safe at the border will be forced to work without pay during the holidays. The same goes for more than 40,000 federal law enforcement and correction officers who put their lives on the line to keep us safe.

The American people want border security. Hard working Americans are tired of seeing our laws disrespected and their tax dollars pay for people who don’t play by the same rules. It’s time for Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to put American security over petty politics and properly fund border security.