Citing the possible loss of military construction dollars to Ohio, Democrats Marcy Kaptur of Toledo and Tim Ryan of Niles Friday signed on to a resolution to invalidate President Donald Trump’s order declaring a national emergency as part of his effort to build a barrier along parts of the Mexican border.
By co-sponsoring the measure, Ryan and Kaptur join 220 other House lawmakers in saying they will vote to scrap Trump’s executive order. Because a majority of House lawmakers have signed on, it means the House will pass the measure Tuesday and be sent to the Senate.
The White House has suggested it will divert $3.6 billion in money approved by Congress for military construction projects to build the barrier. Although there is no certainty which defense projects would lose money, Congress has approved millions of dollars to build the National Air and Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton.
Congress also has approved $15 million to replace aircraft hangars at the 180th Fighter Wing at Toledo Air National Guard Base as well as $8.8 million for base security at Youngstown Air Reserve Station and $7.4 million for a new machine gun range at Ravenna.
Kaptur said before Trump “rushes to fulfill an ill-advised campaign promise few think will even work, the president should answer the question of just how it is we went from Mexico paying for his monument to depriving our military of its operational priorities to fund it.”
Ryan called it “outrageous” that Trump is taking away money from defense for the barrier.
Only one Republican – Justin Amash of Michigan — has co-sponsored the resolution, whose backers include Democrat Joyce Beatty of Columbus.
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