[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 33 (Friday, February 22, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





  INTRODUCTION OF A JOINT RESOLUTION RELATING TO A NATIONAL EMERGENCY 
             DECLARED BY THE PRESIDENT ON FEBRUARY 15, 2019

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                          HON. JOAQUIN CASTRO

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 22, 2019

  Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, to be clear, my introduction of 
this resolution of disapproval should in no way be interpreted as an 
indication that the President's declaration of an emergency, or his 
invocation of specific statutory powers pursuant to that declaration, 
is even lawful in the first place.
  The Constitution provides Congress with the power of the purse and 
expressly prohibits the President from spending funds that Congress has 
not appropriated. Here, Congress has not authorized or appropriated 
funding to build a wall on the southern border. Indeed, Congress has 
repeatedly chosen not to do so in response to the President's multiple 
requests for such funding since becoming President.
  While my resolution disapproves and terminates the President's 
emergency declaration, the record should be clear that I do not believe 
the President's declaration, or his invocation of specific statutory 
powers pursuant to that declaration, was lawful to begin with.

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