WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Monday, February 5, GOP senators met behind closed-doors to discuss a bipartisan bill that targets border security measures and asylum restrictions, saying that they agreed to needing more time to discuss changes to the bill in the form of amendments.
Senator James Lankford (R-OK), the lead GOP negotiator in the conversations about the border, told reporters, "People are saying, 'Hey, I need a lot more time to be able to go through this.'" House Republican leaders in the lower chamber have already said that the bill is "dead on arrival." Former President Donald Trump is also encouraging Republicans to not vote in favor of the bipartisan bill, which is reportedly now backed by President Joe Biden.
In a post on social media, Trump wrote, "Only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill, which only gives Southern Authority after 5000 encounters a day, when we already have the right to CLOSE THE BORDER NOW, which must be done. This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats and a death wish for the Republican party."
Trump went on to say, "...Don't be STUPID!!! We need a separate border and immigration bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape for form! The Democrats broke immigration and the border. They should fix it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"
Lankford, who has faced steep criticism for this bipartisan legislation, is still urging critics to read the bill. According to Fox News, he stated that the bill will create a "faster and stronger system of deportation" and will "flip the script" on Biden's immigration policy. He also has repeatedly argued that the "misunderstood" portion of the bill stems from how illegal border crossings would be handled.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, alongside other GOP senators have stated that the proposed $118 billion spending package does not go far enough to curb illegal immigration.
On X, Johnson wrote, "I've seen enough. This bill is even worse than we expected and won't come close to ending the border catastrophe the President has created. As the lead Democrat negotiators proclaimed: Under this legislation, 'the border never closes.'"
In addition to not getting the votes necessary to pass the bill, several conservatives are calling for the immediate resignation of Lankford. Back in 2010, Lankford reportedly gave a deposition in a lawsuit case against a Baptist Church camp that he oversaw stating that be believes a 13-year-old child can consent to sex.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Lankford testified one week after being elected to his first term in the U.S. House. In 2009, while working at the camp, the family of a 13-year-old girl sued a 15-year-old boy who alleged to have had sex with the girl while at the camp. Lankford told Kenyatta Bethea, a lawyer for the girl's family, "Yes, I think they can."
According to the 155-page transcript obtained by the AP, the age of consent in the state of Oklahoma is 16, and although there is an exception in the law for minors between the ages of 14 and 17 who have sexual contact, there is no provision under which a 13-year-old can consent to sex.
Even after providing this information to Lankford, when Bethea asked for him to answer it in "terms of your position as a father," Lankford did not waiver. He said, "Yes, they can."
Lankford was questioned more, more specifically if he would allow either of his two daughters to consent to sex at the age of 13, to which he said, "No, I would not encourage that at all. Could she make that choice? I hope she would not, but I would not encourage that in any way with my own daughter."
For many conservatives, Lankford's deposition along with his support for the bipartisan bill, make him seemingly unfit to continue to hold a Senate seat. Mollie, the editor-in-chief at the Federalist, posted to X, "James Lankford should resign this week and give Gov. Stitt a chance to appoint someone far more capable and principled to serve in the United States Senate from Oklahoma."
Charlie Kirk wrote, "The new border 'deal' is so disastrous that even when in an 'emergency,' the Border Patrol is supposed to 'process' (read: let in) a minimum of 1,400 people per day - more than 500,000 per year. It is flabbergasting a single Republican could ever consider this acceptable."
Senator James Lankford (R-OK), the lead GOP negotiator in the conversations about the border, told reporters, "People are saying, 'Hey, I need a lot more time to be able to go through this.'" House Republican leaders in the lower chamber have already said that the bill is "dead on arrival." Former President Donald Trump is also encouraging Republicans to not vote in favor of the bipartisan bill, which is reportedly now backed by President Joe Biden.
In a post on social media, Trump wrote, "Only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill, which only gives Southern Authority after 5000 encounters a day, when we already have the right to CLOSE THE BORDER NOW, which must be done. This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats and a death wish for the Republican party."
Trump went on to say, "...Don't be STUPID!!! We need a separate border and immigration bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape for form! The Democrats broke immigration and the border. They should fix it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"
Lankford, who has faced steep criticism for this bipartisan legislation, is still urging critics to read the bill. According to Fox News, he stated that the bill will create a "faster and stronger system of deportation" and will "flip the script" on Biden's immigration policy. He also has repeatedly argued that the "misunderstood" portion of the bill stems from how illegal border crossings would be handled.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, alongside other GOP senators have stated that the proposed $118 billion spending package does not go far enough to curb illegal immigration.
On X, Johnson wrote, "I've seen enough. This bill is even worse than we expected and won't come close to ending the border catastrophe the President has created. As the lead Democrat negotiators proclaimed: Under this legislation, 'the border never closes.'"
In addition to not getting the votes necessary to pass the bill, several conservatives are calling for the immediate resignation of Lankford. Back in 2010, Lankford reportedly gave a deposition in a lawsuit case against a Baptist Church camp that he oversaw stating that be believes a 13-year-old child can consent to sex.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Lankford testified one week after being elected to his first term in the U.S. House. In 2009, while working at the camp, the family of a 13-year-old girl sued a 15-year-old boy who alleged to have had sex with the girl while at the camp. Lankford told Kenyatta Bethea, a lawyer for the girl's family, "Yes, I think they can."
According to the 155-page transcript obtained by the AP, the age of consent in the state of Oklahoma is 16, and although there is an exception in the law for minors between the ages of 14 and 17 who have sexual contact, there is no provision under which a 13-year-old can consent to sex.
Even after providing this information to Lankford, when Bethea asked for him to answer it in "terms of your position as a father," Lankford did not waiver. He said, "Yes, they can."
Lankford was questioned more, more specifically if he would allow either of his two daughters to consent to sex at the age of 13, to which he said, "No, I would not encourage that at all. Could she make that choice? I hope she would not, but I would not encourage that in any way with my own daughter."
For many conservatives, Lankford's deposition along with his support for the bipartisan bill, make him seemingly unfit to continue to hold a Senate seat. Mollie, the editor-in-chief at the Federalist, posted to X, "James Lankford should resign this week and give Gov. Stitt a chance to appoint someone far more capable and principled to serve in the United States Senate from Oklahoma."
Charlie Kirk wrote, "The new border 'deal' is so disastrous that even when in an 'emergency,' the Border Patrol is supposed to 'process' (read: let in) a minimum of 1,400 people per day - more than 500,000 per year. It is flabbergasting a single Republican could ever consider this acceptable."
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Comments
2024-02-09T10:33-0500 | Comment by: Chris
This bill does not help America in any way, shape, or form. The current administration is openly violating immigration law and this bill only makes them unaccountable for doing so. This bill will give 95 billion dollars to promote the wars that this administration has caused. We have problems here, in our own country, that need to be taken care of. Spend that money here.