Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., told Newsmax Monday that Congress is going to flex the “power of the purse” to demand substantive changes in border security.
“Ukraine is a war that most Americans see on a TV, and it's atrocious,” Zinke said during an appearance on Newsmax’s “National Report.” “But the border? We see it every day. We see it in New York; we see it in Billings, Montana. We see it everywhere.”
“In the United States, we see drug trafficking, sex trafficking, fentanyl, and it is because of the lack of this administration taking any seriousness on the border,” he continued. “We may have 50 million illegal immigrants. You saw the numbers today, they're coming out. There's no border. So, our job in Congress is to say, Enough's enough!’ We're going to use the power of the purse to bend policy so we can protect this country and the border.”
Zinke added that there’s at least “several hundred people on the terrorist watchlist coming across in unknown numbers that we haven’t apprehended.”
The Montana congressman also commented on the Biden administration’s decision to circumvent Congress and authorize the sale of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million to Israel.
“If they were really serious about supporting Israel, they ought to actually go down to the drawer and pick up one of the bills the House has already passed, particularly $14.3 billion of support of Israel, which includes those rounds,” Zinke said.
“Am I surprised this administration violates and goes around the law? No,” he said. “This is not the first time. We talked about student loans. It's not authorized, it's not appropriated, but yet they're spending the money as if they have an open checkbook.”
On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the emergency ammunition sale, saying the needs of Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip justify the rare decision to go around Congress.
“Israel is in combat right now with Hamas,” he said during television interviews. “And we want to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Hamas."
Blinken said that the tank ammunition and related aid makes up only a small amount of military the sales to Israel; the rest is still subject to congressional review.
"It’s very important that Congress‘s voice be heard in this,” he said.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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