Press Releases

Washington D.C. – U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, released the following statement after being notified of the specific projects that the Trump Administration will take money from to build an ineffective border wall that Congress has previously rejected on a bipartisan basis:

“The Trump administration’s decision to steal funding for vital U.S. military projects, including a critical project in Florida, is an abusive end run around Congress that threatens our national security and will harm the morale and quality of life of our troops.

Florida’s Tyndall Air Force Base is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Michael, especially after having to wait for months for Republicans to approve a disaster supplemental to support reconstruction. Now the Trump administration is stealing $17 million in appropriated funding for a fire and crash rescue station at Tyndall AFB. I visited Tyndall, and I saw the damage that still exists there. This theft of funding for an essential life-safety project adds insult to injury for our state and the servicemembers living and working there. The President is also sacrificing dozens of essential projects around the U.S., in Europe and around the globe, which will weaken our ability to combat Russian aggression and protect our national security interests.

In order to build a monument to waste and xenophobia with his ineffective, wasteful wall, Donald Trump is also willing to sacrifice military base schools in Kentucky, North Carolina and Puerto Rico; a fire station in South Carolina; a hazardous materials warehouse in Virginia; a child development center in Maryland; and dozens of target ranges, training and power plant projects that are critical for military readiness and the well-being of our servicemembers and their families.

I will not support Trump’s brazen robbery from our servicemembers and their families, and the House of Representatives will not backfill any projects Donald Trump steals from our military. My colleagues and I will continue to fight this dangerous decision and work to ensure critical military construction funding is used for its intended purposes: to support our military, enhance readiness, and protect our national security.”