Katie Britt: Hit the ground running in first 100 days, but just getting started

Today marks my 100th day in office as U.S. Senator for the great state of Alabama. To say that this responsibility is an honor of a lifetime would be an understatement. I continue to be humbled by the people of Alabama’s trust, confidence, and prayers, and as your Senator, I am working to make you proud every single day. 

Alabama sent a mom to the U.S. Senate to actually get things done, and I am happy to report that I hit the ground running immediately to do just that. From the minute I was sworn into office on January 3, I took the fight for faith, family, and freedom to Washington, D.C., as my team and I have been laser-focused on advocating for our people, our liberties, our values, and our interests. While we are off to a fast start, these past 100 days have also made it crystal clear we have a lot more work ahead of us.

In my first week as your Senator, I traveled to the Del Rio Sector of the U.S.-Mexico border in my first official trip to witness President Biden’s border disaster firsthand. What I witnessed on that trip was gut-wrenching and reaffirmed that we truly have an unprecedented national security and humanitarian crisis at the southern border. This trip was an important opportunity for me to listen to and learn from the people who are facing this every single day, from boots-on-the-ground law enforcement officers to courageous survivors of the cartels’ human and drug trafficking. Following this trip, I joined Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) in introducing the “Stop Taxpayer Funding of Traffickers Act” to ensure human and drug traffickers are not subsidized by hardworking American taxpayers while these criminals await prosecution and conviction. In February, I joined Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and a bicameral congressional delegation to visit theepicenter of fentanyl trafficking in the San Diego Border Sector, where we also met with Border Patrol Council leaders. We then traveled to Mexico City to hear from top leaders in the Mexican military about the latest tactics being used by cartels and other criminals to avoid detection, capture, and prosecution while trafficking lethal drugs through Mexican territory and international waters to the United States. Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex.) also afforded me the opportunity to visit the border for a third time in March in the Rio Grande Valley sector in Texas, where we heard about the 488% annual surge in Chinese nationals attempting to illegally enter our country.

Taking what I learned and experienced across my visits, my team and I worked hard to formulate and introduce tangible solutions in a package of four pieces of legislation aimed at sealing and securing our nation’s southern border, keeping American communities and families safe, and ultimately ending the ongoing crisis. This legislation includes the “Keep Our Communities Safe Act” to close Obama-Biden catch-and-release policies, the “Asylum Abuse Reduction Act” to fix America’s broken asylum process, and the “WALL Act” to complete building the wall on the southern border. I have cosponsored nine additional bills related to border security, including Senator Marsha Blackburn’s (R-Tenn.) Stop Taxpayer Funding of Traffickers Act; Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa)Immigration Parole Reform Act of 2023 and Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act; Senator Ted Budd’s (R-N.C.) Build the Wall Now Act; Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) No Coyote Cash Actand Felony Murder for Deadly Fentanyl Distribution Act; Senator Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) Stopping Border Surges Act; Senator Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) Border Safety and Security Act; and Senator John Kennedy’s (R-La.) Fairness in Fentanyl Sentencing Act of 2023.

In addition to those nine bills, I have cosponsored 60 pieces of legislation thus far in the 118th Congress. This is the most of any United States Senator in this timeframe, underscoring the urgency with which my team and I have approached this incredible responsibility. These five dozen pieces of legislation span a wide range of pressing issues facing hardworking Alabamians – they would bolster American energy independence, lower taxes, combat inflation and our runaway national debt, slash burdensome red tape, safeguard the sanctity of life, uphold the rule of law, protect the ability of girls and young women to compete in sports, defend the right to work, support our tremendous law enforcement officers, strengthen our supply chains, fortify Americans’ retirement savings, hold elected officials accountable to the people, advance election integrity, stand up for our family farmers, and much more. Already, 13 of these measures passed the Senate, including three that reached President Biden’s desk. 

One of my top priorities, ​​especially as the ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, has been to stand up to the Biden Administration’s dangerously weak national security policies. There is no doubt that the Chinese Communist Party is our greatest geopolitical and national security threat, and everything they do is as our adversary. From stealing our intellectual property and spying on our children through TikTok, to buying up American farmland near military installations and engaging in unfair trade practices that undercut Alabama steel makers and shrimpers, we must hold the CCP accountable. Defending hardworking Americans and protecting our homeland is not a responsibility I take lightly, which is why I have joined my colleagues in introducing five pieces of legislation holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable for their continued aggression. This includes cosponsoring a bipartisan resolutioncondemning the unlawful incursion into the United States’ airspace by the People’s Republic of China high-altitude surveillance balloon, and the Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act, introduced by Senator Tuberville, which would crack down on the CCP’s growing ownership of U.S. farmland and agricultural companies. I have also cosponsored the Cutting-off Communist Profiteers(CCP) Act, prohibiting any former U.S. presidential appointees from knowingly representing, aiding, or advising the Chinese Communist Party or Chinese military companies, and the Protecting America from Spies Act, targeting Chinese Communist Party spies that are committing espionage toward American technology firms and businesses. Most recently, I joined Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in introducing the “Not One More Inch or Acre Act,” legislation that would prevent any Chinese national or entity from owning American land. I believe that the only path forward for our country is through strength, not continued weakness, which is why I’m committed to modernizing our defense and intelligence capabilities; onshoring critical industries, supply chains, and jobs; and protecting American land and resources.

Another highlight of my term so far has been utilizing my committee assignments to fight on behalf of hardworking Alabamians and Americans. My mission is to ensure Alabama has the best possible seat at the table, and I am pleased to serve on the Senate Committees on Appropriations; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; and Rules and Administration. The committees and subcommittees on which I serve give me a powerful oversight platform to ensure that federal bureaucrats are held accountable to the public and that taxpayer funds are not wasted. Recently, I participated in a series of hearings in which I did just that. From presiding as ranking member at my first Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, to questioning U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on the Department of Justice’s failure to impartially enforce federal law, to inquiring of HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra about the Administration’s reckless policies regarding the treatment of children, to grilling federal financial regulators on the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, I will continue to hold the Biden Administration accountable for their actions any time they harm the American people.

While I have certainly been busy in our nation’s capital, I’ve also been fortunate to take several productive trips back across Alabama since January, spanning 14 counties from the Gulf Coast to the Tennessee Valley. I always say that local leaders know best, and hearing from local law enforcement at the Alabama Fusion Center, mayors from across Jefferson County, family farmers like Nelson Cattle & Hay, and Autauga County Commissioners, to name just a few examples, has reminded me why I ran for the U.S. Senate in the first place. Alabamians are working diligently to make our state and country the best possible place to live, worship, work, and raise a family, and I’m proud to be their partner at the federal level. I have especially enjoyed visiting schools like Dunbar Magnet School in Mobile, i3 Academy in Birmingham, Lawson State Community College’s Bessemer campus, Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, and Head Start classes in Townley. Meeting students of all ages has only reinforced what this is all about – building a bright future for the next generation. In January, I joined a bicameral coalition of colleagues in introducing the“Educational Choice for Children Act” to expand educational freedom and opportunity for students, so every child – regardless of zip code – can reach his or her full potential.  I look forward to many more trips back home touching every corner of Alabama, and I will continue to fight in Washington to unlock the American Dream for every single person in our great state. 

Alabama, thank you again for the honor of serving you each and every day. These first 100 days have been productive, but this is just the beginning of what we can accomplish together. The best is yet to come for our great state and our nation.