06/11/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/11/2021 16:51
Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will reprioritize the Border Barrier Funds to address and remediate urgent life, safety, and environmental issues resulting from the previous administration's border wall construction.
'As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Vice Chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, I have worked hard to ensure the previous administration's diverted military funding is returned, border wall construction is terminated, and local border communities receive those resources for legitimate priorities,' said Congressman Cuellar. 'I want to thank the Biden Administration for its commitment to prioritizing, and giving back, limited resources that Congress had appropriated to specific causes and programs that create real impact on the border. I will continue fighting to ensure that the residents of South Texas are protected from any further harm and that these funds are used for modern, effective measures in securing our southern border.'
More specifically, the redirected funds will be used to:
The prior administration planned to spend over $15 billion on wall construction and diverted over $10 billion of those funds from military projects and other sources. The Department of Defense is terminating all border wall projects using the diverted funds, and returning the remaining, unobligated funds to their original sources.