WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) met with Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy, and Environment Alex Beehler, who oversees the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), about their current efforts to build physical barriers along the southern border.
“The crisis at the southern border demands swift and immediate action. If President Trump wants the wall built on time and under budget like the American people deserve, the Army Corps needs to drastically improve,” said Senator Cramer. “Even with millions already appropriated to them, the Army Corps has repeatedly failed to build physical barriers in a quick and efficient manner. I urged Assistant Secretary Beehler to reform their overly-bureaucratic process to ensure the wall gets built."
Background:
Assistant Secretary Beehler is primary advisor to the Secretary of the Army and Chief of Staff, Army on all United States Army matters related to Installation policy, oversight and coordination of energy security and management. While a plan for building the wall through President Trump’s national emergency declaration has not yet been finalized, Assistant Secretary Beehler would be in charge of overseeing construction.
Senator Cramer has written multiple letters and spoken by phone to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen about the failure of the USACE to build physical barriers along the southern border. Each time, he has advocated for getting the USACE out of projects that can be handled by private contractors in order to eliminate bureaucratic hindrances and move our government in a more efficient direction.