NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Senator Lamar Alexander released a statement following President Trump's Oval Office address on border security on Monday night.
The Senator showed support for the President in his statement saying, “When the president of the United States has a legitimate objective—which in this case is increased funding for border security, including a physical barrier—members of Congress should bend over backwards to accommodate it, especially when they've voted for that same policy in the past."
Senator Alexander then went on to outline the three solutions he has previously proposed that could end the government shutdown.
These suggested plans included:
- giving the President a smaller amount of money ($1.6 billion that the President asked for in this year's budget request) and providing an additional $1 billion to improve border security at ports of entry.
- passing the bill that was voted on last February that would provide a solution for children brought to the U.S. illegally and $25 billion in appropriated funding for border security over 10 years.
- beginning the new Congress by creating a legal immigration system that will secure our borders and define legal status for those already here.
The Senator referred to these options as solutions that "go small,""go bigger," and "go really big" respectively.
You can read an op-ed Senator Alexander wrote last week for the Washington Post where he offered his specific solutions for resolving the current shutdown.
