US Senator Tim Kaine has asked the Department of Defense to reveal which projects will lose funding as a result of President Donald Trump's decision to declare a national emergency and redirect Pentagon funds toward building a border wall, a letter published by the lawmaker's office showed on Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2019) US Senator Tim Kaine has asked the Department of Defense to reveal which projects will lose funding as a result of President Donald Trump's decision to declare a national emergency and redirect Pentagon funds toward building a border wall, a letter published by the lawmaker's office showed on Friday."I am concerned that a project that the President stated would be paid for by Mexico will now be borne by military servicemembers and their families, as they will be forced to remain in 'poor' or 'failing' conditions," Kaine wrote in a letter to Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan.
Trump declared the national emergency earlier on Friday so that his administration can access some $8 billion in funds to build a border wall, including around $6.1 billion of the Pentagon's budget.
Kaine asked Shanahan to provide a list of all projects that would be affected by Trump's decision. He also asked the Pentagon chief to provide an assessment of how the decision could harm services members if certain projects are terminated.
The senator expressed concern in particular about Trump's plans to take around $3.5 billion from the Pentagon's construction budget. He noted that Pentagon officers testified in Congress last year that around 23 percent of their department's facilities were in poor condition and another 9 percent were in failing condition.
"Just this week, the Senate Armed Services Committee held hearings on abysmal conditions that military families face on bases across the country including lead contamination, black mold exposure and rodent infestations," Kaine wrote.
Trump's national emergency will fund the construction of about 234 miles of a steel barrier along the southern border, a senior US administration official told reporters earlier on Friday.
