(ROCKWALL, TX — January 16, 2019) The Rockwall Republican Men’s Club welcomed Congressman John Ratcliffe as a guest speaker during its breakfast meeting on Jan. 12.
Ratcliffe spoke on the recent shutdown of the federal government over President Donald Trump’s proposal to fund the building of a wall along the southern U.S. border.
“This shutdown is not about money – I promise you, it’s not about money,” Ratcliffe said. “Five billion dollars probably sounds like a lot of money to most of us. But if you put it in the context of the federal budget, it’s not. When you talk about an annual federal budget that spends $4 trillion a year, $5 billion is a little bit more than one-tenth of one percent of the total federal budget.
“… The border hasn’t been safe in a long time. This is a humanitarian crisis that has been going on for a long time and it has gotten worse. The preamble to our Constitution tells us the federal government’s primary role: ‘provide for the common defense.’ And part of that is securing the sovereignty and integrity of our territorial borders. It’s the one thing the federal government’s supposed to be spending money on, and we’re not.”
Ratcliffe said he’s hopeful that he and his fellow members of Congress will find a solution to end the shutdown and address the urgency of the nation’s border security.
“It’s my honest opinion that if we do not act now to secure our borders, I feel that we may never have this opportunity again. In political terms we often talk about being smart about picking political battles. Is this a hill worth dying on or for? I believe this is a hill worth dying on and for.”
The Republican Men’s Club works to promote and secure the best interests of the National Republican Party, the Republican Party of Texas and the Republican Party of Rockwall County. The Men’s Club meets on the second Saturday of every month.
Story and photo by Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News.
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Rockwall Republican Men’s Club Welcomes Rep. John Ratcliffe at Breakfast Meeting added by Austin on
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