Pointing out the ills of Congress — in both the House and Senate — would result in a very long list. Right off the cuff, we could talk about those who are too old to serve, why we don’t have term limits and how members of Congress use inside information to their own benefit.
There is plenty more I could list but I prefer to focus on Democrats in the U.S. Senate blocking the “Laken Riley Act.” It is a serious symptom of one other Congressional ills — either the inability or the lack of effort among the two parties to be cooperative when it comes to passing good bills. Instead, we get into partisan fights over political ideology and refrain from acknowledging issues when it might affect one party of the other.
North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd teamed up with Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama to file the act named for the 22-year-old University of Georgia student killed while jogging in February. The man charged is an illegal alien.
Since “illegal” and “alien” have become controversial, let me explain my use of the words. First, those crossing the southern border without going through the naturalization process are violating the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The act provides definitions to words that it uses throughout the code. Under the definitions section, the code says “The term ‘alien’ means any person not a citizen or national of the United States.”
It seems clear to me that anyone crossing the southern (or northern) border that isn’t a U.S. citizen or national of the U.S. is an “alien.” When you put the two words together it simply means that a non-U.S. citizen entering our country without going through the property naturalization process is, indeed, an “illegal alien.” I would encourage anyone interested in learning more about the Immigration and Nationality Act visit www.uscis.gov/laws-and-policy/legislation/immigration-and-nationality-act.
Back to Laken Riley. Sens. Budd and Britt, both Republicans, sought the act to improve the nation’s approach to crimes being perpetrated by illegal aliens. The act would have required U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain any illegal alien who is involved in committing theft, burglary, larceny or shoplifting offenses until they are removed from the United States. The act also would give authority to all the state attorneys general to sue the Secretary of Homeland Security for taking actions on immigration that harm their states or citizenry.
A news release from Budd’s office noted that Democratic Whip Dick Durbin from Illinois blocked the Senate version of the legislation. It also noted that the illegal alien that allegedly killed Riley had “… previously been cited for theft and shoplifting but was released.”
In his floor speech before the vote, Budd said, “Bottom line: If this bill were in place before February 22, Laken Riley would be alive today. The House of Representatives passed the bill last week in a bipartisan vote of 251-70, including 37 Democrats. In a time of division and polarization, the Laken Riley Act brought both sides together. It is our hope that we can learn from this horrific situation and make some positive change. Let’s pass the Laken Riley Act today.”
Obviously, the Senate Democrats do not want bipartisanship for a sensible act that tightens up federal law. Following the rejection by Durbin, Budd said, “I am deeply disappointed in my Democratic colleagues for objecting to a bill that would have saved Laken Riley’s life. The Democrat party’s commitment to open borders is causing otherwise preventable tragedies to occur again and again.”
Why would Senate Democrats reject such a bill? Could it have anything to do with the fact President Joe Biden refused to even acknowledge Laken Riley in any way until he was essentially forced to in his State of the Union address, and even then fouled up her name? Could it be that Senate Democrats simply want to deny that Lake Riley was killed on their administration’s watch? Maybe Democrats are protecting their director of Homeland Security from lawsuits and want the chaos at the border to continue?
For Senate Democrats not to move this bill to formal passage is sad. And is a symptom of intentionally running from bipartisanship that hurts the citizenry. When will Congress work for the people?
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