[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 968 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 968
To prohibit the use of Federal funds to build a wall along the southern
border, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 5, 2019
Ms. Moore (for herself, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms.
Wilson of Florida, Ms. Speier, and Ms. Wasserman Schultz) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security, and in addition to the Committee on 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 the use of Federal funds to build a wall along the southern
border, 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 ``No Taxpayer Funding for the Wall
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The construction of a wall along the southern border is
estimated to cost tens of billions of taxpayer dollars.
(2) On June 16, 2015, in New York, NY, while announcing his
candidacy for President of the United States, Mr. Donald Trump
stated ``I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls
better than me, believe me, and I'll build them very
inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern
border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my
words.''.
(3) On July 31, 2015 in Turnberry, Scotland, during an
interview on CNN, Mr. Donald Trump stated ``I will build the
wall and Mexico's going to pay for it and they will be happy to
pay for it. Because Mexico is making so much money from the
United States that that's going to be peanuts and all these
other characters say, `Oh, they won't pay, they won't pay.'
They don't know the first thing about how to negotiate. Trust
me, Mexico will pay for it.''.
(4) On February 25, 2016, in Houston, TX, during a
Republican Presidential Debate, Mr. Donald Trump stated, ``We
have a trade deficit with Mexico of $58 billion dollars a year,
and that doesn't include all the drugs that are pouring across
and destroying our country. We're going to make them pay for
that wall.''.
(5) On August 23, 2015, during an interview on Justice with
Judge Jeanine, Mr. Donald Trump stated, ``We're going to build
a wall. It's going to be a great wall. Mexico is going to pay
for it.''.
(6) On August 31, 2016, in Phoenix, AZ, during a rally, Mr.
Donald Trump stated, ``We will build a great wall along the
southern border and Mexico will pay for the wall. One hundred
percent. They don't know it yet, but they're going to pay for
the wall.''.
(7) On January 10, 2017, General John Kelly, President-
elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security,
stated during his Senate confirmation hearing, ``A physical
barrier in and of itself--certainly as a military person that
understands defense and defenses--a physical barrier in and of
itself will not do the job, it has to be really a layered
defense.''.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF CERTAIN FEDERAL FUNDS.
(a) In General.--
(1) Federal prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, no Federal department or agency, including
the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of
Defense, may obligate or expend any Federal funds (including
any funds previously appropriated for such purpose or any fee
revenue generated by the Department of Homeland Security or any
other Federal department or agency) to carry out section 102 of
the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) or any other related provision of
law, or to otherwise build a border fence, related physical
barriers or infrastructure, or wall along the southern border
of the United States, including to carry out any activities
related to such construction.
(2) State prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, a State that has received or receives any Federal
funding in the form of a grant from the Department of Homeland
Security or any other Federal department or agency may not use
such funding to carry out section 102 of the Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8
U.S.C. 1103 note) or any other related provision of law, or to
otherwise build a border fence, related physical barriers or
infrastructure, or wall along the southern border of the United
States, including to carry out any activities related to such
construction.
(3) Foreign payment required.--The President is authorized
to enter into a binding, written, and enforceable treaty,
approved by the Senate, with a foreign country to pay for the
costs associated with carrying out section 102 of the Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8
U.S.C. 1103 note) or any other related provision of law, or to
otherwise build a border fence, related physical barriers or
infrastructure, or wall along the southern border of the United
States, including to carry out any activities related to such
construction.
(b) Audit and Penalty.--
(1) Audit.--Not later than 180 days after the end of each
fiscal year, the Comptroller General of the United States shall
conduct an audit of each Federal department and agency under
subsection (a)(1) and each State that has received or is
receiving any Federal funding under subsection (a)(2) to assess
compliance with the prohibition under such subsections for each
such preceding fiscal year.
(2) Penalty.--If the Comptroller General of the United
States is unable to confirm the compliance with the
prohibitions under subsection (a) by a Federal department or
agency or by a State, as the case may be, pursuant to an audit
conducted under paragraph (1), notwithstanding any other
provision of law--
(A) in the case of Federal department or agency,
the Office of Management and Budget may not obligate or
expend more than 25 percent of funds authorized to be
appropriated for such Office for the fiscal year during
which such audit is conducted, until such time as the
Comptroller General is able to confirm such compliance;
and
(B) in the case of a State, the heads of
appropriate Federal departments and agencies shall take
such steps as may be necessary to reduce the amount of
Federal funds that are made available to such State and
to require such State to repay such amounts previously
made available, as appropriate, until such time as the
Comptroller General is able to confirm such compliance.
(c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
funding prohibition under this section should not interfere with the
responsibility of the Secretary of Homeland Security to take actions as
may be required to secure the southern border of the United States.
SEC. 4. OVERSIGHT.
The Inspector General of the Federal department or agency
responsible for carrying out the treaty referred to in section 3(a)(3)
shall oversee the use of funds received and expended pursuant to such
treaty to carry out section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) or any other
related provision of law or to otherwise build a border fence, related
physical barriers or infrastructure, or wall along the southern border
of the United States, including to carry out any activities related to
such construction. Such oversight shall include oversight regarding the
use of high risk contractor practices, including limited or sole source
contracting, any cost overruns, significant delays in contract
execution, and departmental contract management and oversight of such
funds.
SEC. 5. BUDGETARY IMPACT.
(a) In General.--The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget shall include a statement of budgetary impact, including costs,
benefits, and revenues, as a result of and related to any executive
order or presidential memorandum issued relating to border security
during the period of fiscal year 2019 through fiscal year 2023.
(b) Contents.--Any statement under subsection (a) shall include--
(1) a narrative summary of the budgetary impact of such
order or memorandum on the Federal Government;
(2) the impact on mandatory and discretionary obligations
and outlays as the result of such order or memorandum, listed
by Federal department and agency, for each year in the 5-
fiscal-year period beginning in fiscal year 2019; and
(3) the impact on revenues of the Federal Government as the
result of such order or memorandum over the 5-fiscal-year
period beginning in fiscal year 2019.
SEC. 6. WEBSITE.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall establish
a publicly available website to track and display funds received from
non-Federal sources, including foreign governments, to carry out
section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) or any other related
provision of law or to otherwise build a border fence, related physical
barriers or infrastructure, or wall along the southern border,
including to carry out any activities related to such construction.
Such website shall be updated at least monthly to accurately reflect
data on funds received by source and by date and on the obligation and
expenditure of such funds.
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