Congressman Chuck Fleischmann spoke to the editors of the Times Free Press during a visit on February 1, 2019.U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann will travel Sunday to a number of southern border towns along with his colleagues on a Congressional conference committee he hopes can soon resolve a budget impasse over border security.
The Tennessee Republican, the ranking member of the Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security, said Friday he is willing to compromise with Democrats and thinks Congressional appropriators “could resolve our differences in an hour” if both sides are willing to cooperate to improve border security and fund other major government operations.
But bridging the differences that produced the longest shutdown of major federal agencies in U.S. history last month may require both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Trump to back a compromise plan for funding more than one fourth of the U.S. government after a temporary financing plan expires on Feb. 15.
Fleischmann, a Trump supporter and backer of more funding to extend the wall on the border with Mexico, said he expects Trump to address the border security funding needs in his State of the Union address to Congress Tuesday night while attempting to strike a conciliatory tone going forth.
Fleischmann said there was “a very good start” building “very good relations” when the panel working on a new funding plan first met this week to begin drafting a compromise to keep the federal government funded. But President Trump and the Republicans in Congress want at least some money to expand the wall or border barrier along the southern border, while Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this week Democrats will not support more money for a wall.