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Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) issued the following statement on President Trump and Republicans’ decision to temporarily reopen the federal government:

“For 35 days, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have senselessly held the American people hostage by endangering our nation’s safety and inflicting pain on hundreds of thousands of hard-working federal employees and contractors who have struggled to feed their families and pay their bills. I’m grateful for their patriotism and commend the generosity shown by the El Paso community for helping and supporting them during this troubling and difficult period.

“As Congress comes together to determine a path forward beyond February 15th, we must recognize that over the past decade, border security funding has grown to more than $8 billion without any meaningful increase in oversight, accountability or transparency. Furthermore, as we address the challenge of thousands of Central Americans fleeing their countries and arriving at our border each month, we must address the root causes and ensure that our government effectively develops a plan to deal with the changing patterns of migration in a smart, humanitarian way.”