Perdue: Border Wall Has ‘Got to be Funded’

Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) insisted a down payment on President Donald Trump’s border wall must be funded and said it is “outrageous” the GOP-led Congress is threatening a government shutdown over budget squabbles this week, during an interview Monday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.”

Perdue expressed his frustration with the “career politicians” who are balking at the president’s vision for moving America forward and stalling at every possible juncture. The Georgia senator said it is imperative that lawmakers of both parties set aside their differences ahead of a spending deadline Friday.

“The problem is, there’ve got to be real consequences in Congress, and that’s where Congress drops the ball and doesn’t want to deal with it.”

“So we’re all moving in the right direction. The problem is whether the career politicians, if you will, really get behind this president,” Perdue said. “I just think there are some people sitting around and waiting for him to fail. And that’s just unconscionable in my mind.”

Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), have stated explicitly that the Democrats do not support allotting any amount of funding to begin the border wall. Their balking should not be allowed to shut the government down and delay vital progress, Perdue insisted.

“There’ something terribly dysfunctional. Both sides are guilty, by the way. And I’m just trying to say that we’ve got to fix that,” Perdue said.

“The problem is, there’ve got to be real consequences in Congress, and that’s where Congress drops the ball and doesn’t want to deal with it,” Perdue added. “But we can find a politically neutral platform to fund the government and perpetually avoid these drama moments as we see them coming up on April 28. It’s totally irresponsible.”

Saying that “of course [the wall has] got to be funded,” Perdue said he is equally outraged at Republican members of Congress for their smug attitude toward the president and his agenda.

“I’m outraged when I hear … that there’s a sense of disbelief really among some portions of the Republican caucus about the reality of what this president is trying to do,” Perdue said. “What he’s doing is several things: he’s re-engaging internationally. He says he wants to protect the American borders, which is something we’ve got to do. It’s an issue of national security.”

“So in my mind, the least we can do is support him in that vein,” Perdue added. “Again, it’s a matter of priorities, and we’ve got to decide what we’re not going to be able to afford in order to build the whole wall. But we’ve got to do that, in my opinion.”

The Georgia Republican noted that in the past 42 years since Congress passed the 1974 Budget Act, Congress has only managed to fund the government through regular procedures four times. In addition, the senator noted that they had already missed the September 30 deadline last year, when the government should have been funded.

“In the last 42 years, we’ve had to pass 12 appropriation bills to fund the government. We’ve averaged two and a half, Laura. That’s how dysfunctional Congress has been in this budget loss,” Perdue said, noting that $10 trillion more will most likely be added to the country’s debt over the next decade.

“All the money that we’re talking about, whether it be for the wall, for infrastructure, for  rebuilding our military, by definition is all borrowed money. That’s the reality,” Perdue lamented.

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Noting that he is “so proud of this president so far,” even though Trump has faced a spate of negative polls and reporting approaching his upcoming, 100th day in office, Perdue praised Trump for being “absolutely different” and for doing his best to move “at a business pace, not a government pace.”

“And I hope it continues,” Perdue said. “Whether the media catches up or not, I’m less concerned. But what I think we have to do is continue to develop priorities around what really is threatening the very Republic that we all love.”

Saying that “the Washington bubble still doesn’t get it,” Perdue noted that Trump has a difficult task ahead of him in moving the country forward amid formidable obstacles.

“I believe the world has never been more dangerous than it is right now, and we need a president to re-engage and establish what the national interest of America is,” Perdue said. “And that’s what Trump is trying to do right now.”