I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 968 

To prohibit the use of Federal funds to build a wall along the southern 

border, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2019 

Ms. MOORE (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. 

WILSON of Florida, Ms. SPEIER, and Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To prohibit the use of Federal funds to build a wall along 

the southern border, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Taxpayer Funding 

5 for the Wall Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The construction of a wall along the south2 ern border is estimated to cost tens of billions of 

3 taxpayer dollars. 

4 (2) On June 16, 2015, in New York, NY, while 

5 announcing his candidacy for President of the 

6 United States, Mr. Donald Trump stated ‘‘I would 

7 build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better 

8 than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inex9 pensively. I will build a great, great wall on our 

10 southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that 

11 wall. Mark my words.’’. 

12 (3) On July 31, 2015 in Turnberry, Scotland, 

13 during an interview on CNN, Mr. Donald Trump 

14 stated ‘‘I will build the wall and Mexico’s going to 

15 pay for it and they will be happy to pay for it. Be16 cause Mexico is making so much money from the 

17 United States that that’s going to be peanuts and all 

18 these other characters say, ‘Oh, they won’t pay, they 

19 won’t pay.’ They don’t know the first thing about 

20 how to negotiate. Trust me, Mexico will pay for it.’’. 

21 (4) On February 25, 2016, in Houston, TX, 

22 during a Republican Presidential Debate, Mr. Don23 ald Trump stated, ‘‘We have a trade deficit with 

24 Mexico of $58 billion dollars a year, and that doesn’t 

25 include all the drugs that are pouring across and deVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H968.IH H968

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1 stroying our country. We’re going to make them pay 

2 for that wall.’’. 

3 (5) On August 23, 2015, during an interview 

4 on Justice with Judge Jeanine, Mr. Donald Trump 

5 stated, ‘‘We’re going to build a wall. It’s going to be 

6 a great wall. Mexico is going to pay for it.’’. 

7 (6) On August 31, 2016, in Phoenix, AZ, dur8 ing a rally, Mr. Donald Trump stated, ‘‘We will 

9 build a great wall along the southern border and 

10 Mexico will pay for the wall. One hundred percent. 

11 They don’t know it yet, but they’re going to pay for 

12 the wall.’’. 

13 (7) On January 10, 2017, General John Kelly, 

14 President-elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of 

15 Homeland Security, stated during his Senate con16 firmation hearing, ‘‘A physical barrier in and of 

17 itself—certainly as a military person that under18 stands defense and defenses—a physical barrier in 

19 and of itself will not do the job, it has to be really 

20 a layered defense.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF CERTAIN FEDERAL 

22 FUNDS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

24 (1) FEDERAL PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding 

25 any other provision of law, no Federal department 


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1 or agency, including the Department of Homeland 

2 Security and the Department of Defense, may obli3 gate or expend any Federal funds (including any 

4 funds previously appropriated for such purpose or 

5 any fee revenue generated by the Department of 

6 Homeland Security or any other Federal department 

7 or agency) to carry out section 102 of the Illegal Im8 migration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act 

9 of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) or any other related 

10 provision of law, or to otherwise build a border 

11 fence, related physical barriers or infrastructure, or 

12 wall along the southern border of the United States, 

13 including to carry out any activities related to such 

14 construction. 

15 (2) STATE PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any 

16 other provision of law, a State that has received or 

17 receives any Federal funding in the form of a grant 

18 from the Department of Homeland Security or any 

19 other Federal department or agency may not use 

20 such funding to carry out section 102 of the Illegal 

21 Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility 

22 Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) or any other re23 lated provision of law, or to otherwise build a border 

24 fence, related physical barriers or infrastructure, or 

25 wall along the southern border of the United States, 


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1 including to carry out any activities related to such 

2 construction. 

3 (3) FOREIGN PAYMENT REQUIRED.—The Presi4 dent is authorized to enter into a binding, written, 

5 and enforceable treaty, approved by the Senate, with 

6 a foreign country to pay for the costs associated 

7 with carrying out section 102 of the Illegal Immigra8 tion Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 

9 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) or any other related pro10 vision of law, or to otherwise build a border fence, 

11 related physical barriers or infrastructure, or wall 

12 along the southern border of the United States, in13 cluding to carry out any activities related to such 

14 construction. 

15 (b) AUDIT AND PENALTY.— 

16 (1) AUDIT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

17 end of each fiscal year, the Comptroller General of 

18 the United States shall conduct an audit of each 

19 Federal department and agency under subsection 

20 (a)(1) and each State that has received or is receiv21 ing any Federal funding under subsection (a)(2) to 

22 assess compliance with the prohibition under such 

23 subsections for each such preceding fiscal year. 

24 (2) PENALTY.—If the Comptroller General of 

25 the United States is unable to confirm the compliVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H968.IH H968

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1 ance with the prohibitions under subsection (a) by a 

2 Federal department or agency or by a State, as the 

3 case may be, pursuant to an audit conducted under 

4 paragraph (1), notwithstanding any other provision 

5 of law— 

6 (A) in the case of Federal department or 

7 agency, the Office of Management and Budget 

8 may not obligate or expend more than 25 per9 cent of funds authorized to be appropriated for 

10 such Office for the fiscal year during which 

11 such audit is conducted, until such time as the 

12 Comptroller General is able to confirm such 

13 compliance; and 

14 (B) in the case of a State, the heads of ap15 propriate Federal departments and agencies 

16 shall take such steps as may be necessary to re17 duce the amount of Federal funds that are 

18 made available to such State and to require 

19 such State to repay such amounts previously 

20 made available, as appropriate, until such time 

21 as the Comptroller General is able to confirm 

22 such compliance. 

23 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that the funding prohibition under this section 

25 should not interfere with the responsibility of the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H968.IH H968

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1 retary of Homeland Security to take actions as may be 

2 required to secure the southern border of the United 

3 States. 

4 SEC. 4. OVERSIGHT. 

5 The Inspector General of the Federal department or 

6 agency responsible for carrying out the treaty referred to 

7 in section 3(a)(3) shall oversee the use of funds received 

8 and expended pursuant to such treaty to carry out section 

9 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re10 sponsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) or any other 

11 related provision of law or to otherwise build a border 

12 fence, related physical barriers or infrastructure, or wall 

13 along the southern border of the United States, including 

14 to carry out any activities related to such construction. 

15 Such oversight shall include oversight regarding the use 

16 of high risk contractor practices, including limited or sole 

17 source contracting, any cost overruns, significant delays 

18 in contract execution, and departmental contract manage19 ment and oversight of such funds. 

20 SEC. 5. BUDGETARY IMPACT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

22 Management and Budget shall include a statement of 

23 budgetary impact, including costs, benefits, and revenues, 

24 as a result of and related to any executive order or presi25 dential memorandum issued relating to border security 


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1 during the period of fiscal year 2019 through fiscal year 

2 2023. 

3 (b) CONTENTS.—Any statement under subsection (a) 

4 shall include— 

5 (1) a narrative summary of the budgetary im6 pact of such order or memorandum on the Federal 

7 Government; 

8 (2) the impact on mandatory and discretionary 

9 obligations and outlays as the result of such order 

10 or memorandum, listed by Federal department and 

11 agency, for each year in the 5-fiscal-year period be12 ginning in fiscal year 2019; and 

13 (3) the impact on revenues of the Federal Gov14 ernment as the result of such order or memorandum 

15 over the 5-fiscal-year period beginning in fiscal year 

16 2019. 

17 SEC. 6. WEBSITE. 

18 The Director of the Office of Management and Budg19 et shall establish a publicly available website to track and 

20 display funds received from non-Federal sources, including 

21 foreign governments, to carry out section 102 of the Illegal 

22 Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 

23 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) or any other related provision 

24 of law or to otherwise build a border fence, related phys25 ical barriers or infrastructure, or wall along the southern 


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1 border, including to carry out any activities related to such 

2 construction. Such website shall be updated at least 

3 monthly to accurately reflect data on funds received by 

4 source and by date and on the obligation and expenditure 

5 of such funds. 

Æ 


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