Katie Britt calls on Senators to pass the Laken Riley Act

January 15, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama) spoke on the Senate Floor recently to provide an update on the Laken Riley Act. She discussed the path forward for her legislation and called on her colleagues in the Senate to stay focused on delivering safety and security for the American people through this commonsense, targeted, and bipartisan bill.

"Last week, the Senate took a big bipartisan step toward honoring the life and legacy of Laken Riley-answering her loved ones' call to action and protecting American families," said Senator Britt. "But that step, no matter how big, was just that-a first step, and there are many to follow if we want to follow through for the American people on their demands to secure our border . . . And to do that, we'll have to break the cycle we've seen over the past year," said Senator Britt."

Sen. Britt outlined last year's attempts to move the Laken Riley Act forward despite Democrats' repeated efforts to block it.

"It is a new day in the United States Senate, and peoples' tunes [have] changed," said Sen. Britt. "I am hearing from many of my colleagues across the aisle that they want to vote yes on this bill. That illegal aliens who commit crimes should be sent back to their country – not released onto American streets. I am optimistic, but I want to caution my colleagues: Don't revert to your partisan tribe."

"I want to be clear: This bill does not attempt to fix every single thing in our immigration and border security system," said Sen. Britt. "We all know there are plenty, [. . . but] this is a targeted bill to protect American families from criminal illegal aliens. Isn't that commonsense? Regardless of which side of the aisle you're on, I think this is clearly common ground that we should be able to rally around."

"Special interest groups are working around the clock right now to try to kill this bill," said Sen. Britt. "They're waging a campaign of misinformation and in doing so [are] trying to create enough momentum so this bill doesn't becoming law. They have created every far-fetched hypothetical they can dream up – but never discuss the real tragedies like Laken Riley – and how they could have been stopped if we had only done our job."

Senators Britt and Tommy Tuberville have been outspoken proponents of the Laken Riley Act. Laken Riley was a devout Christian and a nursing student in Georgia whose life was full of promise until a criminal illegal alien violently ended her life last year.