WASHINGTON DC – Thursday evening, US House Republicans passed a measure allotting $5.7 billion to partially fund building a protective wall between Mexico and the United States. All Illinois Republicans supported the effort, except for two Republican members from Illinois – Congressmen Peter Roskam (IL-06) and Randy Hultgren (IL-14). Neither Roskam nor Hultgren won re-election in the November blue tsunami that hit the Land of Lincoln.
Republican delegation members John Shimkus, Adam Kinzinger and Rodney Davis voted with the GOP majority on the measure, with no public comments.
Reps. Mike Bost and Darin LaHood issued the following comments:
“Tonight, I voted in favor of keeping the government open and securing our border," Congressman Darin LaHood (IL -17) said in a statement following the vote. "I was proud to support an additional $5.7 billion for our southern border. I am also glad that President Trump has stuck to his pledge to fund border security.
"I now urge my Senate counterparts to pass this funding so that we can keep our government open and make our country safer. It is unfortunate that throughout this process my Democratic colleagues have chosen to put politics ahead of border security and have refused to come to the table to work with us on such a vital issue. Border security is and should be a bipartisan issue.”
Congressman Mike Bost (IL-12) also supported the effort, which – if not accepted by the US Senate Friday – could result in a segment of the federal government shutting down at midnight.
“The highest responsibility of Congress is to ensure the safety and security of our nation and the American people,” Bost said in a released statement. “It’s an embarrassment that Nancy Pelosi and other Washington Democrats would play politics and risk shutting down the federal government over common sense security measures that they are already on record supporting. Not only does this bill avert a shutdown of the federal government, it also makes our nation safer by providing critical funding to strengthen security on our borders. Let me be crystal clear: we must secure our borders, and no threat of a Pelosi shutdown changes that fact.”
Eight Republicans voted with the Democrats in the 217-185 vote: Reps. Justin Amash (Michigan), Ken Buck (Colorado), Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), Will Hurd (R-Texas), Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), and David Valadao (R-Calif.).
