Senator Hassan Statement on Reports that President Trump Will Take Funding from Drug Interdiction Efforts, Military Construction Projects to Build Wall

WASHINGTON – Senator Maggie Hassan issued the following statement today on President Trump’s reported plans to take $2.5 billion from the Pentagon’s drug interdiction program and $3.6 billion from the Pentagon’s military construction budget as part of his national emergency declaration to build a wall at the southern border:

“It is unconscionable and completely backward that the President would even consider taking federal dollars from drug interdiction efforts to pay for his border wall, a step that would set back New Hampshire and the nation’s efforts to combat the devastating opioid crisis. I am also deeply concerned about the impact on our troops’ ability to do their jobs if the President takes money intended for existing military construction projects, including those at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, to fulfill an ill-conceived campaign slogan. Stripping resources from these critically important priorities in this way is reckless and irresponsible – not to mention constitutionally dubious – and I strongly urge the President to reconsider and put the safety of our country before partisan politics.”

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