Sen.-elect Katie Britt is ready to get to work for the people of Alabama, calling for America to be “energy dominant” and “holding China accountable” as she stresses the need for unity in the Republican Party following the 2024 midterm elections.
In one of her first interviews since her election victory over her Democratic challenger last week, Britt, the first female senator from Alabama who will become the youngest female Republican to serve in the Senate once she takes office, told Fox News Digital that she is looking to tackle a number of issues in the Senate.
Britt, who previously served as chief of staff to retiring GOP Sen. Richard Shelby, and later as president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama, traveled to the nation’s capital this week for the orientation ahead of her six-year term representing the residents of the Yellowhammer State in the Senate.
Britt said she’s looking to take what she learned on the campaign trail and implement it through her official Senate capacity, saying that she hopes to help those who fear for the future, particularly younger generations.
“We’re at a critical juncture where we may, for the first time, be leaving my children with less freedoms and less opportunities than I had,” Britt said. “We need to figure out, you know, how we can do an even better job communicating our policies and our positions to even more people.”
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Alabama GOP Sen.-elect Katie Britt speaks to supporters at her election night watch party, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Montgomery, Ala.
(AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
The conservative message is what the country needs, Britt insists.
“I believe every single thing in the country is moving in the wrong direction under President Biden, so there is no shortage of things that we need to do and sign on to and work hard to fix or to change direction on,” Britt said.
Among the issues she’s looking to focus on are immigration and the opioid crisis in America.
“Sealing and securing our border has to be a top priority, you know, not only to end the humanitarian crisis that’s happening there, but the affects of it in our communities and in our schools, she said. “We’re seeing the fentanyl that crosses the border come into our communities all across Alabama. Every state has become a border state under Joe Biden’s leadership. So, putting an end to that, helping our children be more safe and secure is a top priority.”
Britt also highlighted the importance of “holding China accountable” and insisted “we need to be ready” amid ongoing tension between China and Taiwan.
“We’re seeing what’s happening in the news today. We’re still not getting answers about the origins of the virus. We are not holding them accountable for stealing our intellectual property. We seem to be just sticking our head in the sand,” she stated. “When it comes to what we’re looking at from a national defense perspective, particularly given China and Taiwan and that ongoing conversation there, we need to be ready. We need to have the most ready, trained and capable military in the world.”
Several of Britt’s future constituents — like millions of Americans — are concerned about inflation and rising prices, which continue to put pressure on Americans struggling to get by.
Britt stands alongside other newly elected GOP senators and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in his office on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022 in Washington, DC.
(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“When it comes to inflation, you know, talking to people across our state, whether it’s retirees or hard-working families, people are hurting,” Britt said. “People can’t make ends meet. You look at what we need to do to rectify that. First, we need to rein in spending. We have got to stop the ridiculous, consistent overspending that has put us in this position to start with.”
Britt said America shouldn’t aim to just be “energy independent,” but “energy dominant.”
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“We must do things like finish building the Keystone pipeline. We must do things like have real permitting reform and not kind of a Trojan horse permitting reform that would be led by Democrats, but real permitting reform led by somebody like Shelley Moore Capito,” she said. “I believe utilizing our federal lands for drilling and utilizing our natural resources, God given natural resources, in a responsible way is what our country needs to be doing.”
A native of Enterprise, Alabama, Britt, who is the mother of two school-aged children, said she believes that Americans are “witnessing the year of the parent” as it relates to education.
“I believe across the nation that we are witnessing the year of the parent and parents that are saying we’re going to be engaged and we’re going to fight for our kids, whether that’s in the classroom or in our communities or in the nation at large,” she said.
“We worked hard to reach out and to spread the conservative message to even atypical groups, to bring as many people into the fold as possible. Because I believe when people hear our plan, when they hear our vision, when they hear where we are on the policies, we will win. So it is my hope that we can do that, that we can come together, that we can step up and be a real force for change. We can’t do that if we’re fragmented.”
Britt believes the conservative message is what propelled her to victory, and wants to see the whole GOP move in that direction.
“We worked hard to reach out and to spread the conservative message to even atypical groups, to bring as many people into the fold as possible,” she said. “Because I believe when people hear our plan, when they hear our vision, when they hear where we are on the policies, we will win. So it is my hope that we can do that, that we can come together, that we can step up and be a real force for change. We can’t do that if we’re fragmented.”
Katie Britt greets young people in the audience at her election-night watch party Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Montgomery, Ala.
(AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
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Asked about division within the party among senators who are skeptical of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and how she views his role, Britt said she wants to see unity in the GOP.
“Right now, the thing that we should be talking about is how do we all come together to make sure that Herschel Walker wins the Senate,” she said. “We need him in the United States Senate. It matters. 50/50 is very different than 51/49. I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Herschel, to see his heart, and believe that we need him in the U.S. Senate.”
