WASHINGTON â U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn has a new idea for protecting the still-unfinished border wall championed by former President Donald Trump: Turn any part of the wall into a national monument.
Cawthorn, a first-term Republican who represents far-western North Carolina, even wants to honor Trump with the bill. Heâs a calling it âDonument.â Cawthorn introduced the legislation last week.
âThe Donument Act establishes the southern border wall as the âSouthern Border Wall National Monument,â and gives the monument permanent protection from alteration,â Cawthorn said in a statement promoting the bill.
The national monument would consist of 289,920 acres of land in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The secretary of interior would be in charge of administration of the monument.
I am proud to announce that I dropped the “Donument” Act on the House floor last week.
This bill would protect the southern border wall built by President Trump by creating a “Southern Border Wall National Monument.”
“This is the first step towards finishing the wall,” he said.
In a news release, he noted that the memorial designation would “give[] the monument permanent protection from alteration,” though it was unclear whether such a designation would also prevent the wall from being completed should Mr. Trump or some other wall-friendly Republican win the White House in 2024.
The chances of the bill passing in the Democratic-led House are minimal.
Submitted by BlueNC on
Wed, 04/14/2021 - 08:33
NC REPUBLICANS PUSH TO INCREASE ELIGIBILITY AND PAYMENTS FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS: The state House voted 69-49 on Tuesday to approve legislation that would increase the $4,200 annual amount provided to students who receive school vouchers, or Opportunity Scholarships. Senate Bill 671 would increase the income eligibility to 175% of the amount required for a family to be eligible for a free- or reduced-price lunch. That works out to a family income up to $56,400 for a two-person household and up to $85,794 for a family of four. The legislation also would raise the voucher amount to a maximum of $6,500 a year, according to bill sponsors. The bill ties the voucher amount to the average amount spent by the state per student each year. Republicans are expected to try work out a compromise between the two bills to see if it will get enough Democratic support to override a potential veto from Cooper.
For four years President Trump worked to secure the southern border of the United States by constructing a wall in places where there was little to no fencing, Cawthorn said in a news release. The efforts by the Trump Administration to safeguard our southern border, through the construction of a border wall, reduced drug and human trafficking, and throttled the flow of illegal immigration. President Trump was able to build 455 miles of wall by the time he left office, and had funds allocated for further construction. A secure southern border was no longer simply a dream, it was a tangible reality. Sadly this reality is fast disappearing.