Tim Scott, a Republican senator from South Carolina, introduced legislation on Wednesday to redirect $15 billion meant for the payment of 87,000 new IRS employees towards security measures at the southern border.
The Daily Caller was the first to obtain the legislation, titled Securing Our Border Act. The bill will fund border inspections in order to better equip law enforcers to track down illegal substances and items before they enter the United States. The bill also funds border wall construction, as well as other technologies that will help track and enforce efforts along the southwest boundary.
The legislation also provides bonuses for Border Patrol agents who remain in their jobs and ends the “catch-and-release” policy.
Republicans are particularly concerned about the new funding of more than 80 billion dollars for the IRS. While Democrats claim that the increased funding would boost revenue and allow Congress to pay off the federal debt, GOP officials assert that middle-class Americans and poor Americans will be subjected to more audits. The funding will allow the agency to hire as many as 87,000 new staff.
“We are facing a crisis at our southern border.” Scott, before introducing his bill to the Caller, said that the Biden administration chose to use $45 billion in taxpayer funds to hire IRS agents who would audit the middle-class rather than put resources into place to deal with this national security and human catastrophe.
“While President Biden continues slack off, I am introducing legislation that will fund border infrastructure to give Border Patrol agents the necessary tools to stop unaddressed flow of illicit goods and people into this country. Scott said that Americans needed more border agents to keep them safe, not thousands of IRS agents watching over their shoulders.
Five Republican Senators are the original sponsors of this bill. Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, Steve Daines from Montana, Joni Ernest of Iowa, Cynthia Lummis from Wyoming, Mike Rounds in South Dakota and James Lankford, an Oklahoma senator, are the original co-sponsors.
