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The State of Our Union
Watch my interview here.
I kicked off the week on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, responding to President Biden’s State of the Union address and the rising migrant crime devastating the U.S. If we are going to protect the American Dream for the next generation, we must have leadership that embraces commonsense solutions and secures our border.
Read more about my interview here.
Protecting Americans by Cracking Down on Illegal Immigration
This week, I focused on cracking down on the migrant crime that has impacted communities across our nation because of President Biden’s open border policies.
I was proud to join my Senate colleagues in introducing the Laken Riley Act. Laken Riley was a bright young student who was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant while jogging on the University of Georgia campus. Her killer, Jose Ibarra, had been arrested twice and twice released back onto our streets before he took Laken’s life. Her death was the result of a total failure by the Biden administration to secure our border and keep American citizens safe.
The Laken Riley Act works to ensure America’s streets are safe from illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes. This legislation addresses disastrous illegal immigration policies that fueled Laken Riley’s murder and too many other tragedies.
Read more about the Laken Riley Act here.
I also championed two other bills, the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act and the Immigration Detainer Enforcement Act, to combat progressives’ devastating illegal immigration policies. For too long, we’ve watched the Left’s sanctuary cities provide a safe harbor for illegal immigrants who go on to commit violent crimes. These bills take much-needed steps to empower law enforcement and hold the people who commit these crimes, as well as the officials who enable them, accountable.
Read more about these two illegal immigration bills here.
Finally, I urged President Biden to formally designate Tren de Aragua—a notoriously violent Venezuelan gang infiltrating the U.S.—as a Transnational Criminal Organization. Tren de Aragua is a dangerous gang of killers coming straight from Venezuela’s prisons, across President Biden’s open border, and right into our streets and towns.
Recent FBI reports confirm that the Aragua gang members have infiltrated our open border. Additionally, the gang has been linked to the recent attack on New York City police officers, and there have been revelations that the brother of the suspect in the killing of Laken Riley has ties to the gang. This is a clear signal that it is time to send Tren de Aragua a message that America will not stand for its reign of terror.
Read more about the letter to President Biden here.
Fighting to Protect the American Dream of Homeownership Watch my opening statement here.
At this week’s Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing about housing legislation, I renewed my call for action on solutions to help more families access the American Dream of homeownership.
As the committee’s top Republican, I highlighted my ROAD to Housing Act – a new approach to federal housing policy that makes homeownership possible for Americans grappling with President Biden’s broken economy. I also discussed Opportunity Zones (OZs) – which I championed into law in 2017 – that have fueled investment into housing construction across South Carolina and our nation. It iscommonsense legislation like my ROAD to Housing Act and OZs that give us hope that the best is yet to come for our nation.
Read more about the Banking hearing here.
Bringing Costs Down For America’s Farmers and Families
This week, I worked to help American farmers and lower food prices for American families, joining a letter to Senate leadership urging them to use the earliest possible legislative vehicle to temporarily freeze the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) and lower input costs for our farmers.
In South Carolina, farmers are currently facing massive hikes to their production costs, which will ultimately be felt downstream at the grocery store by American families who continue to struggle with high inflation. With food prices already up 21% under the Biden administration, the recent AEWR increases are not only unsustainable for many farms across the country, but they are unsustainable for every American working to feed their family. We must do everything in our power to relieve our farmers and bring costs down for the American people.
Read more about my work to stop the AEWR rule here.
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