Rep. Bob Gibbs gives thumbs up to border fence, thumbs down to Capitol Hill security fence – cleveland.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Holmes County Republican Rep. Bob Gibbs believes Democrats whove just taken over the apparatus of government in Washington are prioritizing the wrong fences by erecting a network of security barricades around the U.S. Capitol complex while halting construction of the wall on the border between the United States and Mexico that was championed by President Donald Trump.

Gibbs spent January 27-30 touring the border between the United States and Mexico with a group of Republican Congress members assembled by Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs. The group, whose members also included Miami County Republican Rep. Warren Davidson, visited border stations on Sasabe, Nogales, and Sierra Vista and met with Border Patrol agents, members of local law enforcement, customs officials, and the mother of a former City of Mesa police officer who was killed by an immigrant who was in the United States illegally.

In a Wednesday interview about the excursion, Gibbs said the Border Patrol agents he met and ranchers who own property along the border all agreed it was a mistake for President Joe Biden to stop the walls construction with a proclamation he issued the day he was inaugurated. Bidens proclamation called the wall a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security, and said that Trumps declaration of a national emergency on the southern border was unwarranted.

Gibbs said finishing the wall Trump envisioned will save money by allowing fewer agents to patrol more miles along the border. Fenced sections of the border require one agent to patrol two linear miles, while unfenced sections require three to five agents per mile. Gibbs says completing the border wall will also help crack down on the murderous cartels that smuggle drugs and humans across the border. He said a porous border is contributing to a humanitarian crisis where desperate people from impoverished countries who hope to enter the United States are victimized by criminals.

You hear so much from the other side that the borders not a problem, that the fence is worthless, that it doesnt do anything, and thats absolutely not true, said Gibbs, who said all the border agents he met fully support completing the wall.

Gibbs criticized Democrats who control the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate for not removing a network of security fencing topped with barbed wire that was installed around the U.S. Capitol complex after a Jan. 6 riot by supporters of Trump, resulting in the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer. He calls the fencing totally unnecessary.

Gibbs said theres no longer a threat of mayhem at the Capitol, and that security forces had advance warning that a mob was headed there on Jan. 6, but failed to act. Gibbs said he believes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has kept the fencing up as part of an agenda for power and control, starting to scare everybody.

A letter that Pelosi sent to colleagues on Tuesday said Congress and its members are face serious and ongoing security threats, and called for an emergency supplemental funding bill to meet institutional security needs, as well as establishment of a 9/11-type Commission to examine and report upon the facts, causes and security relating to the terrorist mob attack on January 6..

The irony here is, we build a fence around the symbol of a democratic republic, and we cannot have a secure border, said Gibbs, who represents a district that includes parts of Medina, Lorain, Huron, Richland Stark and Tuscarawas counties and all of Ashland, Coshocton, Holmes and Knox counties.

Read more:

Rocky River Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez gets flak for voting to impeach President Donald Trump but doesnt regret taking a stand

Sen. Rob Portman hopes for coronavirus compromise with Biden administration

Nina Turner takes big fundraising lead in congressional race to succeed Marcia Fudge; her donors include actress Susan Sarandon and entrepreneur Andrew Yang

Sherrod Brown hopes Senate can pass $15 hourly minimum wage and coronavirus aid for local governments with or without Republican support

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan wont run for U.S. Senate next year

Senators grill Ohios Rep. Marcia Fudge at her confirmation hearing to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Sen. Rob Portman backs measure to question constitutionality of impeaching former President Donald Trump

Rob Portman talks about his future plans and whats ahead for the Republican Party

Sen. Rob Portman announces he wont seek re-election

U.S. Capitol riot prompts Democrat Jeff Sites to seek Rep. Jim Jordans congressional seat

Ohio Congress members at President Joe Bidens inauguration hope for new era of cooperation

Several Ohio Congress members will skip Joe Bidens inauguration amid unprecedented security measures

Rep. Bob Gibbs and other Ohio Republican Congress members object to metal detectors to access House floor

Read more:
Rep. Bob Gibbs gives thumbs up to border fence, thumbs down to Capitol Hill security fence - cleveland.com