The Joe Biden administration asked Congress on Friday to release $4 billion to rebuild the collapsed bridge in Baltimore, among other things, and called for strengthening capabilities on the border with Mexico.
“Congress must still respond to additional urgent requests made by the President last October that will strengthen border security and address urgent national needs,” White House Budget Director Shalanda Young wrote in a letter to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“I am writing today to reiterate the request and provide revised estimates of an additional $4 billion,” Young said.
Young spoke about rebuilding the bridge that collapsed last March, after a container ship collided with it at the entrance to the Port of Baltimore (Maryland), and about repairs in Hawaii, after fires that swept it last summer, and aid after hurricanes in the midwestern United States.
In addition to the $4 billion request, Young called on Congress to support the “border security” agreement drawn up by members of both parties as it “would lead to important policy changes, resources and personnel needed to secure the borders of the United States, and reform the suffering immigration system.” “A glitch.”
Young urged Congress to take action in the face of “the precarious situation of the childhood sector and the need to reduce the costs of child care for working families.”
In April, Congress, after months of tense negotiations, adopted a $95 billion aid plan that included a military and economic aid package for Ukraine.
The White House accuses Republicans of obstructing any immigration reform in Congress, at the request of Donald Trump.
The Senate rejected a bill in late May aimed at strengthening controls on the southern border with Mexico after an initial failure in February.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who nevertheless helped negotiate the text, considered that the Democrats’ decision to put it to a vote again was nothing but a “trap” before the elections.