[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 837 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 837

  To prohibit construction of a continuous wall or fence between the 
           United States and Mexico, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 2, 2017

Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico (for herself, Mr. Correa, Mr. 
 Evans, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Gallego, Ms. Meng, Mr. Ruiz, Ms. Barragan, 
   Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Soto, Mr. 
 Takano, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Grijalva, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Vargas, 
 Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Espaillat, Mrs. Torres, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. 
Gonzalez of Texas, Mr. Swalwell of California, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Kihuen, 
   Ms. Hanabusa, Mr. Vela, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Foster, Mr. 
Cummings, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, 
   Mr. Raskin, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. O'Rourke, Mr. 
Veasey, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Norton, 
   Ms. Pingree, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Moore, Ms. 
 McCollum, Ms. Lee, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Welch, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Tonko, 
Mr. Serrano, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. Judy Chu of California, 
 Mr. Quigley, Mr. Engel, and Ms. Titus) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 
  to the Committees on Homeland Security, and Foreign Affairs, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit construction of a continuous wall or fence between the 
           United States and Mexico, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Build Bridges Not Walls Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The existing United States-Mexico border infrastructure 
        already includes physical barriers, drones, cameras, motion 
        detectors, thermal imaging sensors, ground sensors, and other 
        surveillance tools.
            (2) The United States already maintains approximately 650 
        miles of border fence in areas that most effectively stop the 
        unauthorized entry of people, vehicles, drugs, arms, and 
        illicit items.
            (3) The number of U.S. Border Patrol agents nearly doubled 
        from 10,717 in 1993 to 21,370 in 2016.
            (4) Most experts believe that the Trump Administration's 
        border wall will cost between $15 billion to $25 billion, not 
        including additional maintenance costs.
            (5) Harsh terrain and conditions along remote parts of the 
        United States-Mexico border make the construction of a wall or 
        fence impractical, ineffective, and costly.
            (6) Former CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske stated that 
        building a continuous wall is not ``feasible'' or the 
        ``smartest way to use taxpayer money''.
            (7) A continuous border wall would likely harm wildlife, 
        destroy sensitive habitat for endangered species, damage the 
        environment and the natural flow of floodwaters, and lead to 
        costly litigation with landowners, the Native American 
        community, and stakeholders.
            (8) Border security is a complex issue that depends on 
        effectively using resources to maintain operational control of 
        the border while also facilitating the movement of people, 
        goods, and services.
            (9) The American people want Congress to use taxpayer 
        dollars wisely and focus on middle-class priorities, including 
        economic development, education, and health care.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CONSTRUCTION OF A UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER 
              WALL.

    The Executive order entitled ``Border Security and Immigration 
Enforcement Improvements'' signed by the President on January 25, 2017, 
or any other substantially similar Executive order, memorandum, or 
other action by the President to use taxpayer dollars or fees to 
construct a continuous wall or fence between the United States and 
Mexico, shall have no force or effect.
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