US Rep. Andy Biggs on border security: ‘Build the wall because walls work’
Dec 24, 2018, 11:15 AM | Updated: 3:43 pm
(Twitter photo)
(Twitter photo)
PHOENIX — The partial government shutdown reached its third day on Monday, but an Arizona legislator was part of a meeting with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence over the weekend in an effort to break the standstill over Trump’s demand for $5 billion for a southern border wall.
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs was one of several legislators who met with Trump and Pence to help push forward negotiations on wall funding as the holiday season inched closer.
Biggs told Arizona’s Morning News on Monday that Trump left the meeting committed to building the wall, a position Biggs, a Republican, favors.
“What we came away really focused on is how important it is to build this border wall and the president is committed to that,” Biggs said. “I think he came locked in, he came out locked in and the reality is this is a national security issue, it’s a humanitarian issue.
“This is a real issue and you can’t give lip service to it. You actually have to build the wall because walls work.”
The shutdown could last days or weeks depending on the willingness Republicans and Democrats have to come to a solution.
Biggs said Trump didn’t give any indication of how long it would last, but noted that shutdowns have cycles.
Trump on Monday tweeted that the longer the two sides go without a deal will end up costing the U.S. more money than the border wall itself.
I am all alone (poor me) in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal on desperately needed Border Security. At some point the Democrats not wanting to make a deal will cost our Country more money than the Border Wall we are all talking about. Crazy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018
With the weekend then Monday and Tuesday being federal holidays, Wednesday would be the first day federal workers would monetarily be affected by the shutdown.
“(Trump) is negotiating but he also understands this wall is not only important to keep a campaign promise, but also to protect the security of this nation,” Biggs said.
