While spending cuts have been cemented as a central theme in today’s Congress, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) are looking for extra funding to beef up the nation’s security along its southern border.
The Arizona duo introduced a piece of legislation calling for $4 billion in additional spending over the next five years, which is essentially a reintroduction of legislation the senators brought to the table a year ago.
“Most in Washington have yet to appreciate that a whole lot more still needs to be done,” Kyl said in a statement. “The Obama administration claims that the border is ‘more secure than ever.’”
The bill calls for more than $1 billion to deploy 6,000 additional National Guard troops to the country’s southern border by 2016, build more double-layer fences in Southwest states and for continuous unmanned drones to execute fly-overs in remote areas along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In a joint statement released by the Arizona Republicans, the bill is said to be paid for from surpluses in other federal programs’ budgets but the senators do not specify from which programs the funding would be pulled.
“I recently returned from a visit to our southern border and we are seeing progress along our land borders, but progress is not success,” McCain said. “We must remain vigilant and continue to make every effort to secure our border.”