Washington D.C. – In a statement released today, United States Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) expressed her reservations regarding the supplemental national security bill unveiled on Sunday night. Anticipated to reach the Senate floor this week, the bill has drawn attention and criticism from Senator Britt due to various concerns surrounding its content and the broader appropriations process.
As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Britt highlighted her pride in seeing all 12 Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills publicly marked up and advanced by the end of July. However, she underscored the glaring issue of none of these bills being enacted during the subsequent 193 days, despite Fiscal Year 2024 beginning 127 days ago.
Senator Britt also criticized the delay in bringing an FY24 appropriations bill to the Senate floor, emphasizing that it has been 96 days since such a bill was considered. She argued that this delay contributes to a broken appropriations process, resulting in a national debt exceeding $34.2 trillion and placing an undue burden on future generations.
The senator questioned the rationale behind considering a supplemental funding bill when the base funding for Fiscal Year 2024 is still unresolved. She argued that the process is nonsensical as it attempts to supplement something that doesn’t yet exist.
Beyond procedural concerns, Senator Britt raised substantive issues with the proposed bill, asserting that it would not effectively address President Biden’s mass migration agenda. She expressed dissatisfaction with the bill’s failure to impose meaningful limits on Presidential abuse of parole, end ‘Catch and Release,’ and enhance interior enforcement – critical elements in resolving the ongoing border crisis.
Senator Britt attributed the current crisis at the border to the Biden Administration’s policies, citing over 8.8 million illegal crossings and a surge in the non-detained docket to more than 6.2 million individuals. She criticized the President’s catch and release approach and highlighted the discrepancy between the ratio of illegal encounters to removals under Presidents Obama and Biden.
Furthermore, Senator Britt accused President Biden of perpetuating the crisis through his funding proposals, suggesting that the President’s budget request for FY24 included a 1% cut to the Department of Homeland Security and subsequent requests for border-related funding acted as a magnet for more mass migration.
Concluding her statement, Senator Britt made it clear that she would not support the bill, asserting that it does not effectively block President Biden from pursuing his agenda. The senator emphasized the need for serious and effective measures to address the border crisis and ensure national security.
