The first Democrat to
publicly break with Nancy Pelosi on funding the wall could be exactly what
we need to break the logjam in Washington and reopen the government.
In an embarrassing setback
for the Democratic leadership, Democratic Rep. Katie Hill admitted the fight
was over political semantics and indicated she would be willing to fund the
wall.
Your move, Nancy. From The Daily Caller:
Democratic Rep. Katie Hill said that many Democrats understand that “border barriers” are a necessary part
of border security, but “semantics” have played a role in the current impasse
faced by both sides on the issue.
“I think that’s the challenge, right?” Hill responded when asked about a specific
dollar amount she would support towards a border barrier. “We have to air
this out in an open process.”
Hill
called for “experts on on both sides,” including mayors,
sheriffs, and the border patrol, to weigh in on “what they feel is needed.
“We know that there’s already fencing and other physical barriers across the border
in many different places, but there are gaps and we need to find ways of
filling those gaps, repairing the fencing,” she said.
“For many of us there’s not really doubt that some kind of physical
barrier is necessary.”
Regarding
why Republicans and Democrats can’t reach an agreement, Hill thinks it’s
“semantics.”
I think the challenge is that we’ve gotten hung up on these semantics, really on
both sides and gosh, I can’t tell you how much I’ve come to hate the word
‘wall.’ And I think many of us have because it’s unnecessary.
In the campaign, President Trump was fixated on this wall and I think we on the
Democratic side of the aisle, have such a gut reaction to it because it’s
associated with hateful rhetoric, but in reality we need to step back, all of
us, step back and say OK, concrete wall two thousands of miles long, never
gonna happen. Bad idea. The president has walked that back. Most Republicans
have walked it back, but Democrats are for border security, too, and part of
that is physical barriers.
Later, Hill reiterated that even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refusing to give any money
to “the wall” is “a semantics issue.” She called for President Trump to “stop
using federal workers’ lives as a political pawn.”
“Democrats want a lot, too, on this immigration, debate,” said the California
congresswoman. “We have things we want to negotiate on, so let’s open it and
then let’s go to the table.”
