Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) offered an amendment to the fiscal year 2019 Homeland Security Appropriations bill during full a committee markup to end funding for a border wall. The bill failed during a vote of the House Appropriations Committee, which is composed of a majority of Republicans.
The south Texas congressman's amendment would have completely removed the $5 billion in funding for Pres. Trump's border wall, and required it be spent for other items, including increased personnel, technology, and equipment, according to a news release from his office.
Ironically, perhaps, his bill would have also required Mexico to pay for any construction of the border wall, a call echoing Pres. Trump during the 2016 campaign, and often since.
Cuellar has been a vocal critic of Pres. Trump's proposal to build a wall or fence along the border. His district (map here) skirts the US/Mexico border, and includes Rio Grande City in the south, Cuellar's hometown, Laredo, as well as Encinal. It twists its way northward to the eastern outskirts of San Antonio.
The six-term congressman serves as member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. He will face no Republican challenger this November, but Libertarian Arthur Thomas IV will appear on the General Election ballot.
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