Chairman Thompson on President Trump’s Border and Shutdown Speech

(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, released the following statement on President Trump’s Saturday afternoon speech today:

“The President’s speech today was just the latest publicity stunt out of many to come from the White House. He did not move the needle one inch. The President must realize Congress is a coequal branch of government and Democrats will not allow him to dictate the terms of any negotiation while he continues to use people’s lives as bargaining chips.”

“President Trump tries to blame everyone and everything for his shutdown and the situation on the border, but he has no one to blame but himself. To be clear, there is bipartisan agreement that there is no security crisis at the border.  It’s time he end this childish temper tantrum and reopen the government.”

“For almost a month now, 800,000 workers have had their paychecks on hold and almost all of the frontline workers at the Department of Homeland Security are working without pay. Let’s reopen the government and pay our workers so we can negotiate in good faith.”

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