[ad_1]
On February 15, the last date before a new partial government shutdown was triggered, they promised to get to work with a new urgency to resolve their differences.
"Where does this lead us?" said Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the first Republican in the Senate in the negotiations, after the long-awaited briefing. "We hope this will lead to serious substantive discussions and a solution – we will know it in the next few days – we know time is running out."
Also on Wednesday, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said that she thought that if the White House remained out of the negotiations, an agreement could be reached on Friday, which would give the House and the Senate time to pass a bill on each floor.
"Left to their own devices, I think they can come to a The California Democrat said that she would support a bipartisan agreement reached by the committee.
The chief of the Majority of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, had expressed similar sentiments on Tuesday, which means that the leaders of each chamber are ready to put an agreement on the ground for a vote, whether or not Trump has declared supporting him.
The briefing on the border was led by anonymous career managers, not by people appointed by the Trump administration, to the agency, with the aim of rejecting the political and emotional debate. that negotiators could more soberly assess needs at the border and reach agreement.
Shelby had promised to announce who informed the committee but then refused to do so.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, no. 2 Democrat in the room, called the briefs "conscientious officials" and said that they agreed with the Democrats on the fact that new technologies – such as sensors and drones – were a priority higher than the new barriers, what Trump and many Republicans want.
"Career professionals place a high priority on technology, and let me add that, for the sake of fairness, they do not exclude obstacles. "But it's not their top priority," said Durbin told reporters that he was leaving the briefing, which was held in a secure room in the Visitor's Center. Capitol.
Durbin also said that he felt that officials were reluctant to "break with the president" because of his desire for a wall and $ 5.7 billion.
But North Dakota Republican Senator John Hoeven said he was convinced that career officials felt that an obstacle was essential.
"Yes, you need technology, yes, you need staff, but you also have to have a border fence," said Hoeven.
Shelby said the officials said that it took a combination of approaches to be successful.
"Barrier-free technologies are wasting our time, barriers without our technologies are wasting our time," said officials Shelby.
Durbin also stated that the officials had "acknowledged" that 90% of the illicit drugs passed through entry points, and not through the vast expanse of the border where there was no evidence. 39; obstacles. Democrats have used this figure to demand more resources at these entry points instead of building a wall.
"The cartels and others may think that because they are uncontrolled areas, they are much more vulnerable, and that troubles me, coming from the state I represent," she said.
Shelby also told officials Terrorists "from all over the world" were crossing the US-Mexico border.
"They said that some came from the Middle East, some came from Turkey and crossed the soft barriers," he said.
He did not know how much but he said that it was not "thousands, but the terrorists do not act by the thousands." They operate in small groups, sometimes alone ".
He did not provide further details of what was said about the terrorists but said that it was another argument for additional barriers to the border.
Source link
