U.S. Rep. Jason Smith sees no quick end to partial government shutdown

A Southeast Missouri congressman sees no quick end to the partial shutdown of the federal government unless Senate Democrats agree to fund a border wall.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, Missouri, said Friday he is concerned over �the politics of Democrats wanting open borders versus an open government.�

Smith, the GOP congressman for the sprawling 8th Congressional District, said, �Our government should be open and should be working.�

He blamed the shutdown on Senate Democrats who have refused to back a spending bill, passed by the House, which would have provided $5.7 billion to fund wall construction on the United States� southern border with Mexico.

�This is all politics right now by the Democrats,� Smith said.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi backs the position of Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York. Schumer has repeatedly stated Democrats in Congress won�t fund a border wall.

Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told The Associated Press that Democrats will not fund Trump�s �immoral, ineffective and expensive wall.�

If the shutdown continues into 2019, she has vowed the new Democratic majority will pass legislation to fund the government that does not include border-wall funding, The Associated Press has reported.

But Smith said even if such a House spending bill would pass the GOP-led Senate, President Donald Trump almost certainly would veto the measure.

The congressman said it would take a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to override the veto. Smith said Democrats don�t have the votes to override a Trump veto.

The shutdown started a week ago when funding lapsed for nine Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies. About 420,000 workers were deemed essential and are working unpaid while another 380,000 have been furloughed, The Associated Press said.

Senate Republicans and Democrats previously approved a bipartisan deal to keep the government open into February. That measure provided $1.3 billion for border security projects, but no money for a wall.

But at Trump�s urging, the GOP-led House approved a spending bill including funding for wall construction, leading to the impasse in the Senate.

Smith, a staunch supporter of Trump, said, �I support funding the wall, and I support the president�s policy there.�

The congressman said his constituents back the wall and the president.

�I knew people supported the wall. I didn�t know people supported it that much,� said Smith, who recently held forums in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and elsewhere to gauge public opinion on the shutdown.

Smith said the nation needs to construct more miles of border fencing.

�The Department of Homeland Security estimates they apprehend 10 terrorists a day at our ports of entry. So how many terrorists do you think are coming across the border where there is not a port of entry? This is all about security,� the Republican lawmaker said.

Securing the border also would help reduce the influx of illegal drugs, he said, citing comments made by the Poplar Bluff police chief.

Smith said Senate Democrats have backed funding for a border wall in the past, but refuse to do so now because Trump wants it.

The president would accept less than $5 billion in wall funding, but Democrats have been unwilling to meet in the middle, he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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