Senate Democrats Should End Resistance To Policies They Previously Supported
Statement on President Trump’s remarks today:
Today, President Trump again spoke directly to the American people about the national security crisis at our southern border. This President has listened to both sides and is still willing to compromise, and all members of Congress should take the proposal seriously.
However, some Senate Democrats rejected the proposal before even hearing the details. This rejection underscores how desperate they are to keep making an immigration a political issue instead of working toward a real bipartisan solution that could reopen the government.
VP Pence: Democrats Refuse To Compromise
Democrats refuse to compromise on border wall funding to end the shutdown
By Vice President Mike Pence
USA Today
America has a national security and humanitarian crisis at our southern border, and President Donald Trump has promised to end it. We’ve already taken important steps, but rather than work with us to make further progress, Democrats in Congress have refused to compromise on the wall, leading to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
The American people deserve better. Only the willfully blind — or politically blinded — could fail to see the scope and scale of this crisis.
The facts speak for themselves. Over the past three months, an average of 2,000 illegal and inadmissible migrants have arrived at our southern border every day. Today, the majority of illegal immigrants encountered by Customs and Border Protection are families and children. Last month, CBP apprehended nearly 40 percent more unaccompanied children and groups claiming to be families than in May 2014, which President Barack Obama described as a “humanitarian crisis.”
Then, as now, the flood of illegal traffic brings with it a deluge of drugs, criminals and violence. Over the past two years, CBP has arrested thousands of criminals at the southern border. In 2018, across the entire southwest border, CBP also seized over 827,000 pounds of drugs, including more than 100,000 pounds of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl, primarily at points of entry.
These criminals and these drugs shatter American homes and steal American lives. Our hearts grieve for the families of the 300 Americans who die every single week from overdoses involving heroin, nearly 90 percent of which enters the country from across our southern border.
And it’s not just Americans who suffer. According to Doctors Without Borders, 70 percent of illegal immigrants report being victims of violence along the journey at the hands of human traffickers, drug smugglers and vicious gangs. About a third of women are sexually assaulted on their way to America.
The courageous men and women of law enforcement are fighting tirelessly to protect our nation from these threats and rescue migrants in danger. They also face serious hazards themselves. Assaults on CBP officers increased by 46 percent in 2017, and attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are at their highest level in seven years.
The American people caught a tragic glimpse of this danger the day after Christmas, when a police officer in California — a legal immigrant — was murdered by an illegal immigrant.
President Trump and I recognize that border security is national security. That’s why this president has made it a priority to end this crisis, secure our border, build a wall, and protect the American people.
Since even before this partial government shutdown began, our administration has attempted to work with Democrats in good faith. Last week, we proposed a compromise that contains both Republican and Democratic priorities, including the president’s request for $5.7 billion to fund a steel barrier on the southern border and more than $7 billion to address a wide variety of security and humanitarian needs, many of which have been long supported by both parties in Congress.
But the American people deserve to know: Democrats refuse to negotiate on building the wall.
Even as we face a crisis on our southern border, and as 800,000 federal workers go without paychecks, Democrats in Congress have been unwilling to seriously discuss even partial wall funding. President Trump and our administration will not be deterred by the Democrats’ obstruction. The American people want to see action, and we intend to deliver.
It’s time for Democrats in Congress to do their job, negotiate in good faith, and reach an agreement that ends the humanitarian and security crisis at our border and reopens the government. The American people deserve nothing less.
We Must Change The Way We Fund The Federal Government
Year Of The Turnaround
2018 Was The Year Of The Turnaround
By Sen. David Perdue (R-GA)
America is experiencing the greatest economic turnaround in U.S. history. Two weeks after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, I was in a small meeting in the Oval Office to establish the agenda for 2017 and 2018. He said that job one was to grow the economy, and he laid out a plan to focus on regulations, energy, taxes and Dodd-Frank. President Trump’s agenda is working.
When I ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, I talked about how $6 trillion was not at work in our economy. By rolling back regulations, undoing the most onerous parts of Dodd-Frank and changing the tax code to end the archaic repatriation tax, we’ve begun freeing up that $6 trillion to work in our economy. Look at the results.
More than 4 million new jobs have been created. Middle-class income is the highest it’s ever been. Total unemployment is at a 50-year low. African-American unemployment is the lowest ever recorded. More than 1,500 bureaucrats have been fired at the VA for poor performance. Consumer confidence is at a 20-year high. Small business optimism is at a 35-year high.
President Trump promised to be there for farmers in Georgia and around the country. In December, we got a good Farm Bill across the finish line.
The U.S. Senate has taken action to fill judicial vacancies. Eighty-five federal judges have been confirmed. Nearly one out of every six circuit court judges was nominated by President Trump.
President Trump has been successful in getting European nations to commit to paying more for NATO. We’ve begun rebuilding our military. We are closer to a level playing field for American workers and businesses because of new trade deals with South Korea and Canada and Mexico. We have brought China to the trade table and are working toward zero tariffs with the European Union. We have rebuilt relationships with important allies.
After years of disinvestment, President Trump had to rebuild our military and get our readiness going again. Georgia is playing a major role in this effort. Robins Air Force Base has been named the home of the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System. The Army’s Cyber Command and Cyber School of Excellence continue to build their capability in Augusta. Production of the Columbia Class submarines that are coming soon to Kings Bay has been boosted.
Georgia is also seeing the results of the economic turnaround. Household income in Georgia grew by 4.3 percent in 2017. The population of Georgians living below the poverty line is the lowest it’s been since 2006. Unemployment claims in Georgia fell by 17 percent in 2017 and are the lowest they’ve been in 44 years.
These are the results of policies that boost private sector job creation and grow the economy, not government. Thanks to 16 years of leadership under Govs. Sonny Perdue and Nathan Deal, Georgia has been named the best state in the country in which to do business for six straight years. Just as I worked with Gov. Deal, I am already working with Gov.-elect Brian Kemp to ensure Georgia remains the best state in the country in which to do business.
There’s much more work to do. Health care, immigration and infrastructure are at the top of the president’s agenda for this year.
Unfortunately, Democrats have shown they will do whatever it takes to obstruct this president’s agenda, including shutting down the government. Political self-interest cannot continue to come before the national interest. We must break through the gridlock in order to deal with the big issues, including the $21 trillion debt crisis. This year’s economic growth is the first step toward tackling this debt. Now it’s time for action to change Washington’s broken budget process, cut redundant agencies, save Social Security and Medicare, and get after spiraling health care costs. Each of these is critical to dealing with the debt over the long-term.
The results of 2018 are not just Republican talking points. They are American accomplishments, some of which were done with bipartisan support. In 2019, we have to keep up the momentum. At the federal level, the key question in 2019 will be whether House Democrats will work with the president to legislate, or will they yield to political self-interest and only investigate?
Historic Results
MAGA list: 205 ‘historic results’ help Trump make case for 2020 re-election
By Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner
December 31, 2018
At two years into his first term, President Trump and his top White House team are turning to the 2020 re-election campaign with a new focus on the 2016 promises they have kept and the impact they have had around the country and on the world stage.
“Together, we are building a safe, strong, and proud America,” said Trump in his new list of “historic results,” provided exclusively to Washington Secrets.
***
The Trump Results List
IGNITING A HISTORIC ECONOMIC BOOM: President Trump’s pro-growth policies are unleashing economic growth and providing opportunities to workers across the country.
- Due to President Trump’s pro-growth policies, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth exceeded 3 percent over the last four quarters.
- Real GDP grew at annual rates of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018 and 4.2 percent in the second quarter.
- More than 4.6 million jobs have been created since President Trump’s election and the unemployment rate remains at 3.7 percent, the lowest rate in nearly 50 years.
Read more in The Washington Examiner.
Perdue Discusses Second #SchumerShutdown on Fox News
Congratulations to Governor-elect Brian Kemp
Georgians sent a clear message that they are committed to keeping our state on track. Despite liberal Democrats from outside Georgia spending tens of millions of dollars in our state, it still didn’t work.
The people of Georgia flatly rejected socialism. They rejected a single-payer health care system. They rejected open borders and sanctuary cities. They made it clear that the Democrats’ path to the presidency in 2020 will not run through Georgia.
Brian Kemp is a strong leader and businessman who will continue to build on our state’s success. Congratulations to Brian on becoming Georgia’s next Governor, and I will work with him to keep Georgia the best state in the country in which to do business.
Statement on Republican Senate Victories
Over the last few months, I’ve traveled the country to campaign for Republican U.S. Senate nominees because too much was at stake to sit on the sidelines. We had an opportunity to grow our Republican majority, and last night we did just that.
Why is it so important?
We are seeing the greatest economic turnaround in American history. President Donald J. Trump’s agenda is working and the American people agree. That’s why we have improved our strong majority in the United States Senate.
We have turned the direction of our country, but there is still more work to do. With the help of these impressive new Senators, we can continue to grow the economy, strengthen our global security situation, and deal with our outrageous $21 trillion debt. We also need a serious immigration solution, an infrastructure system that works, trade policies that give us a level playing field, and an education system that prepares workers for the jobs being created by this economic turnaround.
I believe we can do this in the United States Senate and President Trump is committed to delivering results for the American people.