NASHVILLE – All six U.S. senators from Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama voted in favor of the bipartisan border bill passed overwhelmingly Thursday by the Senate to avert a second partial federal government shutdown.
Senators approved the legislation in an 83-16 vote. It was next headed for the House. President Donald Trump was expected to sign the bill, which passed moments after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, announced he anticipated Trump would also sign an emergency declaration to secure more funding for the southern border to secure more funding.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, who voted for the measure as did fellow Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, called the legislation “a significant down payment on border security and a response to a major national problem.”
Alexander said President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address “did a good job of establishing the need for increased border security” and noted Congress responded with $22 billion for border security, including “55 new miles of physical barrier or wall on the southern border, an increase of 5,000 detention beds, and funding for technology and more border agents.”
Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., who along with fellow Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Iaskason, voted for the measure, said the Senate “took action to address the national security crisis at our southern border” and cited various provisions in the spending bill.