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U.S. Senator Katie Britt, R-Ala., released the following statement welcoming new members of the U.S. Senate and voicing optimism for accomplishing Alabama’s priorities in the 119th Congress.
“Congratulations to the new freshman class of Senators—Angela Alsobrooks, Jim Banks, Lisa Blunt Rochester, John Curtis, Ruben Gallego, Jim Justice, Andy Kim, Dave McCormick, Bernie Moreno, Adam Schiff, Tim Sheehy, and Elissa Slotkin! We have a real opportunity to get things done on behalf of the American people,” said Senator Britt. “While I am tremendously excited about the new Republican majority in the U.S. Senate, there is still so much opportunity to get things done on a bipartisan basis for Alabamians.”
“This Congress, my first priority out of the gate will be strengthening border security and interior immigration enforcement—something the American people overwhelmingly voted to support in November,” said Senator Britt. “Monday, January 6, will be the first day of business in the 119th Congress, and I will waste no time introducing meaningful legislation to protect American families and combat illegal migration. It’s time to make America safe once again.”
In the 118th Congress, Senator Britt introduced several pieces of legislation prioritizing America’s border security and the safety of American children, families, and communities:
- Weeks into her first term, Senator Britt introduced a package of four pieces of legislation aimed at sealing and securing the southern border, cracking down on asylum abuse, keeping American communities and families safe, and ultimately ending the ongoing border crisis.
- The package included the Keep Our Communities Safe Act, to end catch-and-release policies, and the WALL Act, to complete building the wall on the southern border.
- Senator Britt, following the horrific murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, introduced the Laken Riley Act, which would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest illegal aliens who commit theft, burglary, larceny, or shoplifting offenses and would mandate that these aliens are detained until they are removed from the United States so they cannot reoffend and commit further crimes.
- Senator Britt also joined several of her Senate Republican colleagues in introducing the Secure the Border Act, the Senate’s companion bill to the House of Representatives’ H.R. 2.
- The legislation would resume construction of the wall at the southern border, strengthen asylum standards, criminalize visa overstays, increase the number of Border Patrol agents, defund NGOs that are using tax dollars to resettle migrants within the U.S., and end the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s use of the CBP One app to assist illegal migrants.
- This fall, Senator Britt recently led a group of Senate Republicans in asking the Senate to pass four critical pieces of legislation, including the WALL Act, which Senator Britt introduced, and the Stopping Border Surges Act, legislation she cosponsored.
- Commonsense border legislation supported by Senator Britt, the Southern Border Transparency Act, passed the Senate this fall. This bill would require the DHS to accurately report how it is handling migrants encountered at the border and ensure the American people have a full, timely accounting of the number of migrants being released into the U.S. by the Biden Administration.
- Senator Britt also supported the FINISH IT Act, legislation that forced the Biden Administration’s Department of Defense (DOD) to allow millions of dollars of unused border wall panels already owned by the U.S. government to be used to extend the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that was started under the Trump Administration. The FINISH IT Act was signed into law last year as part of the FY24 NDAA.
- Senator Britt has made border security and the safety of American children, families, and communities a top focus during her Congress. She joined Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and 16 colleagues in introducing the Preventing the Recycling of Immigrants is Necessary for Trafficking Suspension (PRINTS) Act. Senator Britt has cosponsored numerous additional pieces of legislation related to border security and interior immigration enforcement, including Senator John Cornyn’s, R-Texas, Visa Integrity Preservation Act and joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to strike down President Biden’s Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule; Senator Ted Cruz’s, R-Texas, Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act; Senator Blackburn’s 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 Act and Felony Murder for Deadly Fentanyl Distribution Act; Senator Tommy Tuberville’s, R-Ala., Border Safety and Security Act; Senator John Kennedy’s, R-La., Fairness in Fentanyl Sentencing Act of 2023; and Senator Tim Scott’s, R-S.C., FEND Off Fentanyl Act.
