Iowa Democrat Abby Finkenauer Calls for Secure Borders; Voted to Defund Border Wall

Rep. Abby Finkenauer, D-Iowa, speaks before welcoming Democratic presidential candidate fo
Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D-IA) told Iowa’s Times-Republican on Saturday she wants to have secure borders; however, she voted twice to defund President Donald Trump’s construction of the United States’ southern border wall.

Finkenauer told the Times-Republican for a candidate forum she believes in reforming the legal immigration systems and “secure borders.”

She said:

Parties should come together for immigration reform. We must have secure borders, and have a legal immigration system that functions and can be navigated. Through reforms, we can have a functioning system while keeping Americans safe.

However, despite her claim that she wants to have secure borders, Finkenauer voted twice in 2019 to end Trump’s national emergency on the border, which gave the president funding to build a wall along the southern border.

Finkenauer first voted in February 2019 alongside House Democrats and some Republicans for a resolution of disapproval that would end Trump’s national emergency.

The Iowa Democrat then voted in March 2019 to override the president’s veto of the resolution that would end his national emergency and make it harder to secure America’s southern border.

Finkenauer claimed in February 2019 she voted against for the resolution to end the national emergency because she thought it violated the Constitution; however, the Supreme Court later upheld the presdident’s national emergency declaration.

Finkenauer wrote:

We need to keep our borders secure & our government running. That’s why Congress came together & passed a bipartisan spending bill. Declaring a national emergency, defying our constitution, taking billions of unauthorized taxpayer dollars ignores important checks & balances.

I urge my Senate colleagues to put country and Iowa over party and call out this Administration’s reckless games. This chaos and dysfunction are now risking funds that #IA01 is counting on for the CR flood wall. I’ll fight every day to not let that happen.

Finkenauer represents one of the 31 congressional districts Trump won during the 2016 presidential election, but House Democrats managed to flip during the 2018 midterm elections. 

Finkenauer defeated incumbent Rep. Rod Blum (R-IA) during the 2018 midterm election by 5.1 percentage points. 

Iowa conservative and state Rep. Ashley Hinson (R) hopes to unseat Finkenauer during the 2020 congressional elections. Hinson continues to call for increasing border security funding.

Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann slammed Reps. Finkenauer and Cindy Axne (D-IA) in March 2019 for voting to end the national emergency on the border wall. He said:

Congresswomen Axne and Finkenauer need to stop playing political games with our national security. The emergency at our border is undeniable, and political games played by these congresswomen and their colleagues only make the crisis worse.

“Axne and Finkenauer need to work with President Trump, listen to the concerns of Iowans and finally address our broken system. Enough is enough,” Kaufmann added.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3

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