HR 163 · 119th Congress 2025–2027

Finish the Wall Act

Introduced Jan 3, 2025 Originated House Sponsor Clay Higgins R-LA

Latest action · Jan 3, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedJan 3, 2025
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Finish the Wall Act

This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to resume activities related to the construction of a barrier system along the U.S.-Mexico border and addresses other border-related issues.

DHS must resume all such construction activities that were planned or underway prior to January 20, 2021. DHS must also expend all funds appropriated or explicitly obligated since October 1, 2016, for construction of this barrier system. DHS may not cancel contracts for activities related to such construction entered into on or before January 20, 2021.

Furthermore, within 14 days of this bill's enactment, DHS must certify to Congress that U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities that process adults taken into custody at the border are fully compliant with certain laws related to the collection of DNA. (Among other things, these laws allow for the collection of DNA samples from non-U.S. persons detained under U.S. authority.)

Cosponsors 29

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jan 3, 2025 to Apr 27, 2026; 22 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
R-FL	Anna Paulina Luna	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-VA	Ben Cline	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-MI	Bill Huizenga	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-TN	Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-TX	Chip Roy	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-PA	Daniel Meuser	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-OH	David J. Taylor	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-TN	David Kustoff	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-TN	Diana Harshbarger	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-IN	Erin Houchin	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-MI	Jack Bergman	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-CO	Jeff Crank	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-MI	John R. Moolenaar	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-TN	John W. Rose	Original	Jan 3, 2025
R-OK	Josh Brecheen	Original	Jan 3, 2025

Show all 29 cosponsors

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Homeland Security Committee	Referred Jan 3, 2025
	Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee	Referred Jan 3, 2025

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

Jan 3, 2025Introduced in House
Jan 3, 2025Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Jan 3, 2025Referred to the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Under Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress has the power ``to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or any Department or Officer thereof'' The single subject of this legislation is: To immediately resume construction of the border wall system along the international border between the United States and Mexico to secure the border, enforce the rule of law, and expend appropriated funds as mandated by Congress.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 1, January 3, 2025, page H41.

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To immediately resume construction of the border wall system along the international border between the United States and Mexico to secure the border, enforce the rule of law, and expend appropriated funds as mandated by Congress, and for other purposes.
Short Title(s) as Introduced: Finish the Wall Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Immigration.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Jan 3, 2025Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.