Washington, D.C. - Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) today announced that they will support and sponsor Senator Ted Cruz's amendment to the First Step Act to exclude additional violent felons from early release and Senator James Lankford's amendment to remove the discriminatory language in the bill that prohibits faith-based groups from receiving funding:

"We believe these are commonsense improvements to a bad bill and urge all of our colleagues to allow these amendments to come to the floor for a vote."

Background:

  • The First Step Act states that "A group, company, charity, person, or entity may not engage in faith-based activities using direct financial assistance...", Senator Lankford's amendment fixes this discriminatory language. 
  • Senator Cruz's amendment excludes additional categories of violent felons including carjackers who intend to cause serious bodily injury.