Pelosi: ‘There’s Not Going to Be Any Wall Money’- By Susan Jones (CNS News) / Jan 31 2019
(CNSNews.com) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told a news conference on Thursday there will be no money for the wall that President Trump insists upon.
Pelosi was asked if she will commit to allowing a floor vote on whatever border security measure the Appropriations conference committee produces:
“Well, if they come out with a bipartisan consensus, of course,” Pelosi responded.
“Even if that means border wall money, though?” the reporter followed up.
“We’re not having a negotiation now — over this right now. There’re having a negotiation over it in there. There’s not going be any wall money in the legislation. However, if they have some suggestions about some localities where technology, some infrastructure, as I’ve said, about the ports of entry, they might need some ports of entry, some roads — that’s part of the negotiation.”
Pelosi’s wall-money refusal comes just hours after Trump tweeted, “The Wall is getting done one way or the other!”
Let there be ‘Normandy fencing’
Later in the news conference, Pelosi was asked if she agrees with some other Democrats that “enhanced fencing” should be considered as House conferees work to produce a border security measure.
Pelosi noted that many places on the Southwest border have cliffs, a river, and 600 “miles of something.”
Speaker Pelosi demonstrates what a Normandy fence looks like. (Photo: Screen capture)
“Three hundred of them are Normandy fences,” she said. “They go like this, do you know what a Normandy fence is?” she asked, crossing her hands to show what they look like.
“Three hundred miles of this so that the cars cannot go by. If the president wants to call that a wall,” she shrugged, “he can call it a wall. He’s referencing what we already have.”
Pelosi said Normandy fencing would work as replacement fencing, and she suggested that conferees should have that discussion.
She said “it’s all about two things — cost-benefit analysis — what’s the best way and what you get for your dollar to protect the border.” She also mentioned opportunity cost — if the money could be better spent on technology.
“And by the way, when some of these fences were born — were born! — were built, the technology was not what it is today. So you have to look at technology in a new form.”
She said border security can be looked at in the same way people consider whether to have a smart phone versus a landline.
https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/pelosi-theres-not-going-be-any-wall-money
