Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) said on Tuesday that there will “absolutely” be amendments to the Senate GOP’s first immigration bill — indication that Republicans will agree to Democratic demands for a more expansive legislative debate.
“We are absolutely open to amendments,” Britt said at a summit hosted by POLITICO Playbook. “There [are] absolutely going to be amendments and hopefully a lot of debate.”
Her comments come after the Senate overwhelmingly advanced a bill to crack down on illegal immigration known as the Laken Riley Act, named for a Georgia nursing student murdered last year by an undocumented immigrant. The House passed companion legislation last week and Britt introduced a version in the Senate, which cleared another procedural hurdle on Monday night.
Several Democrats who voted to advance to debate on the Senate bill, however, conditioned their support on being allowed to vote on certain amendments that could result in changes to the underlying bill, throwing its prospects for final passage into question.
Asked if Republicans could pass the bill without amendments, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told Inside Congress on Monday he was uncertain if enough Democrats would vote to pass the bill if they didn’t get amendment votes.
Senate Republicans are expected to discuss amendment votes during their weekly closed-door lunch on Tuesday afternoon. As of Monday night, 15 amendments had already been filed for consideration. In order for any of them to get a vote without eating up days of floor time, all 100 senators will need to agree on a full package.
Britt warned on Tuesday the legislation is not meant to be a “comprehensive” immigration bill and questioned if Democrats would offer amendments that “actually strategically improve the bill.”
She added, “This is a targeted bill. And we will maintain that.”
