Finish It Act

Bill: 118-s-1498
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS]
Introduced: 2023-05-09
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Latest action: action_date: 2023-05-09
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-05-09
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Finish It Act</b></p> <p>This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to submit a plan (within 15 days after the bill is enacted) to utilize, transfer, or donate to states all existing excess border wall construction materials to construct a permanent physical barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border. If DOD delays in submitting or executing the plan, the travel budget of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy must be decreased by 1% for every two days of delay.</p> <p>DOD must work with the Defense Logistics Agency to execute the plan until DOD is no longer incurring any costs to maintain, store, or protect the excess materials.</p> <p>Any state requesting border wall construction materials must certify, in writing, that the materials will be used exclusively for the construction of a permanent physical barrier to stop illicit human and vehicle trafficking along the border. If a state does not use all such materials for the specified purpose within two years of receiving the materials, the state must pay the federal government an amount equal to the original purchase price of the materials.</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1498 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 9, 2023 Mr. Wicker (for himself, Ms. Ernst , Mr. Cruz , and Mr. Cotton ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To require the Secretary of Defense to use, transfer, or donate all excess construction materials intended for the wall on the southwest border of the United States that are being stored by the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Finish It Act . 2. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) constructing physical barriers along the southwest border of the United States has been one element of broader efforts to secure that border during the administrations of President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama, and President Donald Trump; (2) President Joe Biden is the first president to block efforts to build a physical barrier along the southwest border; (3) since President Biden cancelled southwest border wall construction contracts in April 2021, the Department of Defense has spent approximately $130,000 per day to store construction materials on approximately 20 private sites in Arizona and New Mexico; (4) under the Biden administration, the Department of Defense has paid at least $25,000,000 to store border wall construction materials, rather than using those materials to continue constructing a wall along the southwest border, or fortifying the existing wall where necessary; (5) the Biden administration has also prevented States from using the existing construction materials to fortify or build walls along their respective borders with Mexico; (6) the Department of Defense has spent approximately $300,000,000 on the unused border wall construction materials; (7) physical barriers along the southwest border complicate the persistent efforts of transnational criminal organizations to traffic drugs and people into the United States, and enable our law enforcement agencies to respond in a more focused manner to the crisis at the southwest border; and (8) given the severe crisis at the southwest border, there is no justification for paying private landowners to store wall construction materials rather than using those materials to secure our border as soon as possible. 3. Deployment of existing construction materials (a) Plan Not later than 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a plan to utilize, transfer, or donate to States on the southern border of the United States all existing excess border wall construction materials, including bollards, for the express purpose of constructing a permanent physical barrier to stop illicit human and vehicle traffic along the border of the United States with Mexico. (b) Execution of plan Not later than 15 days after submitting to Congress the plan required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall work with the Defense Logistics Agency to execute that plan until the Department of Defense is no longer incurring any costs to maintain, store, or protect the materials specified under subsection (a). (c) Requirements of requesting States (1) In general Any State requesting border wall construction materials made available under this section must certify, in writing, that the materials it accepts will be exclusively used for the construction of a permanent physical barrier to stop illicit human and vehicle traffic along the border of the United States with Mexico. (2) Penalties (A) In general If, by the date that is two years after receipt of materials accepted under this section, a State does not use all such materials for the construction of a permanent physical barrier to stop illicit human and vehicle traffic along the border of the United States with Mexico, the State shall pay to the United States Government an amount equal to the original purchase price of the materials that have not been used for such purpose. (B) No waiver The penalty under subparagraph (A) may not be waived. (d) Impact of delay If the Secretary of Defense delays in submitting the plan required under subsection (a) or executing that plan as required under subsection (b), the travel budget of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy shall be decreased by one percent for every two days of delay. 4. Report Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report containing the following: (1) Any internal correspondence of the Department of Defense that informed the decision to forgo the excess property disposal process of the Department of Defense and instead pay $130,000 per day to store border wall panels. (2) A list of the individuals and entities the Department is paying for use of their privately owned land to store unused border wall construction materials. (3) An explanation of the process through which the Department contracted with private landowners to store unused border wall construction materials, including whether there was a competitive contracting process and whether the landowners have instituted an inventory review system. (4) A description of any investigations by the Inspector General of the Department that have been opened to examine the wasteful policy of paying to store border wall construction materials rather than using those materials to continue building or fortifying the wall on the southwest border of the United States.