WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today voted for H. J. Res. 46, a resolution of disapproval for the national emergency declared by the President on February 15, 2019. This week Wicker cosponsored legislation to provide for affirmative Congressional consent for future emergency declarations. He also supported negotiations that would have advanced the President’s border plans while preventing future overreach. Senators and the White House negotiated until late last night, but an agreement could not be reached.

Senator Wicker issued the following statement:

“I had very cordial conversations with the President yesterday and this morning. I shared with him that I strongly support his plan to build walls on our southern border, but that an emergency declaration was the wrong approach. The President already has almost $6 billion available that can be used to build border walls. For over 20 years in the House and Senate, I have voted for funds to build more than 600 miles of border structure, and I look forward to working with President Trump on additional border security measures.”

“I am concerned about the precedent an emergency declaration sets, which might empower a future liberal President to declare emergencies to enact gun control or to address ‘climate emergencies,’ or even to tear down the wall we are building today.”

“I regret that we were not able to find a solution that would have averted a challenge to the balance of power as defined by the Constitution. The system of checks and balances established by the Founders has preserved our democracy. It is essential that we protect this balance even when it is frustrating or inconvenient."