With the potential of a widespread coronavirus in the United States, more attention needs to be paid to the "porous border" with Mexico, Rep. Jody Hice told Newsmax TV's "Spicer & Co." Tuesday.
"One thing that is absent from the conversation right now is our porous borders," the Georgia Republican told Newsmax TV's Sean Spicer. "Just last month alone, we had another 36,000 people across our borders. Now we're entering into springtime and those numbers are certainly going to increase. The question then becomes from not only a typical national security perspective, but as it relates directly to coronavirus, what are we doing to defend our southern border?"
He added that he has written a letter on the matter to try to spark the conversation and address the situation.
Meanwhile, Hice said his state of Georgia has had its first two cases of coronavirus.
Both are confined to the same household and are experiencing mild symptoms, he said, but their illness has prompted concern and for the state to go into action.
Hice added that he also has questions about the increasing amounts of money being considered for the national coronavirus fight.
"I thought it was a very generous request for the president, who had to begin with $2.5 billion," said Hice. "my initial thought was where are we going to spend $2.5 billion."
But now the price tag is climbing to "somewhere in the ballpark of $8 billion, and serious questions must be asked about where that money is going and where the figures are coming from, said Hice. "Why can't we, just as the need arises, address the need," said Hice. "I'm sick and tired of taking taxpayer monies and throwing it away, where we don't even know where it's going."
He emphasized that he wants to deal responsibly with coronavirus, but he thinks that $2.5 billion "can probably do that."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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