WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), in introducing the Violent Incident Clearance and Technological Investigative Methods (VICTIM) Act to establish a grant program at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to help state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to solve more crimes and improve clearance rates for homicides and firearm-related violent crimes.

“When our heroes in blue do not have the resources to solve violent crimes, families and communities pay the price. In Louisiana and across America, too many police departments are being asked to fight today’s violent criminals with yesterday’s tools. The VICTIM Act would give law enforcement the key financial and technical support they need to put violent criminals behind bars and deliver justice for victims,” said Kennedy.

“Solving violent crime is the most powerful deterrent we have, and it starts with giving law enforcement what they actually need: detectives, forensic technology, and investigative training. When murders go unsolved, it denies victims and their communities justice, signals that authorities don't care about public safety, and leaves perpetrators without consequences. With nearly half of homicide cases remaining unsolved, we cannot afford to keep shortchanging law enforcement. I am proud to reintroduce this bipartisan legislation, which dedicates critical resources to improve clearance rates so that law enforcement can solve these cases and every family gets the accountability they deserve,” said Booker. 

Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Dwight Evans (D-Pa.) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

“The VICTIM Act will provide law enforcement with the funding, training, and technology needed to solve more homicide and non-fatal shooting cases. By helping agencies investigate these serious crimes more effectively, this legislation will deliver justice for victims’ families, support the officers working these cases, and strengthen public safety across Nebraska,” said Bacon. 

“I appreciate the partnership of Congressman Bacon and Senators Kennedy and Booker in continuing to work together on this important bill. Prosecutors can't bring cases that don't reach them, so this would help make our neighborhoods and communities safer. And as someone who has pushed for help for victims of gun violence, I'm very pleased that this bill would help to provide victims and family members with emergency food, housing, clothing, travel, and transportation,” said Evans.

The Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police (LACP), Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association (LSA), Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA), Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies (ASCIA), National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), the Niskanen Center, and the R Street Institute all support the bill.

“The Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police (LACP) proudly supports the Violent Incident Clearance and Technological Investigative Methods (VICTIM) Act of 2026 introduced by Senators John Kennedy and Cory Booker. Violent crime leaves lasting impacts not only on victims and their families, but on entire communities. Far too many homicide and firearm-related violent crime cases remain unresolved, leaving families without answers and hindering the pursuit of justice. This bipartisan legislation recognizes the critical need to ensure law enforcement agencies have the resources, personnel, training, and technology necessary to improve investigative outcomes, strengthen public safety, and better support victims and their families throughout the investigative process. The Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police appreciates efforts to provide state and local law enforcement agencies with meaningful tools and resources that will assist in reducing violent crime, improving clearance rates, and helping make communities safer throughout Louisiana and across the nation,” said Fabian Blache, LACP Executive Director.

“On behalf of Louisiana’s 64 sheriffs and the over 14,000 deputies they serve, the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association is proud to support the Violent Incident Clearance and Technological Investigative Methods Act of 2026 (VICTIM Act). This bipartisan bill will provide our sheriffs with additional resources to investigate and close violent crime cases. Our detectives across the state see the toll homicides and firearm-related crimes take on victims, their families, and the communities they serve. They want nothing more than to solve these violent crimes as swiftly as possible. The VICTIM Act will go a long way in helping our detectives do just that by arming them with the financial and technical support they need to take violent criminals off our streets while bringing closure to the victims. We thank Senators Kennedy and Booker for their leadership on the VICTIM Act and look forward to seeing this legislation enacted,” said Sheriff Kevin Cobb (Ret.), LSA Executive Director.

“Homicide cases can be very difficult to clear—and violent firearms-related cases can be even more so. Closing these types of crimes requires diligence, manpower, and a sustained investigative effort. Given the limited resources of law enforcement agencies, it’s important to provide the significant, dedicated resources that clearing these crimes requires, especially given their oftentimes heinous nature. The resources the VICTIM Act would provide would improve the ability of law enforcement agencies to punish the perpetrators of these crimes, provide justice for the victims and their families, and grant peace of mind for communities and the dedicated law enforcement officers that serve them. When we can clear more crimes like these, our communities are safer places to live and work,” said Patrick Yoes, FOP President.

“The Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA) is proud to support the VICTIM Act and thanks Senators Kennedy and Booker for their continued leadership on this important bipartisan legislation. The VICTIM Act would provide law enforcement agencies with critical resources to strengthen violent crime investigations, support victims and their families, and improve public safety outcomes in communities across the country. Specifically, the legislation would help agencies hire and train investigative personnel, expand access to forensic and investigative technologies, and enhance the tools needed to identify offenders, solve cases, and prevent future violence. MCSA stands ready to support efforts to advance this important legislation and ensure law enforcement agencies have the resources necessary to protect the communities they serve,” said Megan Noland, MCSA Executive Director.

“Building capacity across state and local law enforcement agencies to investigate violent crime is an important priority. The Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies (ASCIA) appreciates Senators Kennedy and Booker for their leadership on the VICTIM Act, which would provide new resources to help agencies strengthen their abilities to efficiently, fairly, and accurately analyze forensic evidence, investigate, and solve violent crimes,” said Drew Evans, ASCIA President. 

“The National District Attorneys Association supports the VICTIM Act as a critical step to help solve more violent crimes, improve clearance rates for homicides and firearm offenses, and ensure victims and their families receive the justice and support they deserve,” said Nelson Bunn, NDAA Executive Director.

“The VICTIM Act sends a clear message that violence will not be tolerated and criminals will not be allowed to terrorize American neighborhoods without consequence. By giving law enforcement the tools needed to solve more violent crimes, this legislation will help restore order, protect families, and bring offenders to justice. We thank Senator Kennedy for his continued leadership on this issue,” said Greg Newburn, Director of Criminal Justice at the Niskanen Center.

“The R Street Institute strongly supports the VICTIM Act of 2026. Decades of research confirm that the certainty of apprehension is the most powerful deterrent to crime, yet clearance rates for serious offenses remain alarmingly low. This critical legislation would provide targeted grants to improve clearance rates by supporting detective recruitment and retention, forensic and digital evidence capacity, and sophisticated analytic methods like Gun Violence Problem Analysis. Furthermore, it funds trauma-informed investigator training and direct services for victims and surviving family members. We applaud Senators John Kennedy (R-LA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) for their bipartisan leadership and urge their colleagues to join this essential effort,” said Jillian Snider, Resident Senior Fellow at the R Street Institute, and a retired NYPD officer. 

Background:

The VICTIM Act would help law enforcement:

• Train detectives and police personnel to investigate, solve, and respond to homicides and non-fatal shootings.

• Hire additional detectives and investigative personnel.

• Invest in the technology needed to solve crimes.

• Train police personnel to address the needs of victims and family members of homicides and firearm-related violent crimes.

• Provide victims and family members with mental health resources and temporary assistance.

The bill would also require recipients of VICTIM Act grants to report how they use the funds to the DOJ. DOJ would collect and provide that information to Congress.

The full text of the VICTIM Act is available here.

Watch Kennedy’s comments here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) argued that no carbon capture injection wells should be installed in Louisiana without the consent of landowners in two speeches on the U.S. Senate floor.

Key excerpts of Kennedy’s first speech on April 28 are below.

“It is called the 45Q tax credit. . . . We are paying companies a whole bunch of money to go capture this carbon and inject it in the ground. Now, I didn’t come here tonight to debate whether that is a good idea or a bad idea. A lot of that is up to the States and to Congress for another day. There are pros and cons, and some say it is a good idea. Some say it is a bad idea.

“I know certain oil and gas companies have been injecting CO2 into producing oil and gas wells for years to make the gas and oil flow better without hurting anybody. I know in other cases there have been CO2 pipelines—carbon dioxide pipelines—transmitting carbon dioxide that have ruptured and injured people.

“I don’t know who is right, and I don’t know who is wrong. I do know, though, that to inject it underground, you have got to do it on somebody’s property. And that is where the rub comes in. We take our property rights in Louisiana seriously. Your right to own property is a federal constitutional right. In Louisiana, it is also a state constitutional right. So important, we put it in our state constitution.”

. . .

“In my State, in every other state, and under the federal government, the state can come in and say: Look, Kennedy, we know you don’t want to give up your property, but it is going to cost us a lot more to put the road over here. So we are going to take your property, but we are going to pay you full price.

“And they do. They have to. It is in our constitution. They have to pay the full, fair market price. So, we are pretty comfortable with that.

“But the people in Louisiana have just discovered that the companies that I talked about who are being paid this Federal money—$85 a ton to capture carbon and inject it into the ground—can also take people’s land to put in an injection well. And I don’t like that.”

. . .

“So, if one of these companies comes to one of my people on their family land and says, ‘We will offer you this. We want to put in an injection well,’ and the owners of that land go, ‘I don’t think so. This property has been in my family for years, and I don’t know about this CO2 stuff anyway,’ they are not going to have a choice because the state can come in and take that land.

“I don’t like that, and I think our legislature needs to weigh in on this. I think we ought to go back to what our state constitution says and what the federal constitution has said even longer: People have the right to property.”

On April 29, Kennedy delivered a second speech on carbon capture. Key excerpts of that speech are below.

“If the powers that be in my state start bullying people—I’m not saying they will, but if they start bullying people and taking their property when they don’t want to give it up to inject carbon dioxide beneath their land without their permission or consent—then I’m going to have something to say about it because this money that we’re paying companies to do that, it’s a federal statute.”

. . .

“And you know what? That 45Q tax credit can be changed. I can’t make the legislature pass or not pass a law, but I sure can offer a bill to change that amount of money that we’re paying companies to do this if they’re going to force people and take their land in order to put in these wells.”

Watch Kennedy’s speeches here.  

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) penned this op-ed in Fox News Digital explaining how Democrats’ shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is proof that Republicans will need to use reconciliation yet again to address any of the cost-of-living issues facing America.

Key excerpts of the op-ed are below: 

“For more than 70 days, Senate Democrats claimed that they shut down the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) because they wanted to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It’s clear now that they shut down DHS out of fear of their own voters. 

“The loon wing of the Democratic Party — the folks who think Dr. Seuss is racist, Mr. Potato Head is sexist and children can change their genders at recess — is the largest and loudest segment of the Democratic Party. They hate our immigration laws. They want criminal illegal aliens to roam free while ICE officers rot in jail. And they have made it clear to every Democrat in office that a vote to fund ICE would haunt them for the rest of their natural lives.”

. . .

“As the anti-ICE, pro-Karen wing has grown in prominence, Senate Democrats have developed a severe allergy to common-sense policies.

“It’s why they voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill and the thousands of dollars of tax savings for the average American. And why they melted down when Republicans voted to rescind more than $9 billion in woke foreign aid, including funding for ‘Sesame Street’ programs in Iraq, free vasectomies in Zambia and pastry-cooking classes for male prostitutes in Nepal. 

“I don’t hate my Democratic colleagues for losing their minds to appease their political base. I don’t hate anybody. But the loon wing’s dominance has changed how Republicans need to operate if we are ever going to get anything done.”

. . .

“The One Big Beautiful Bill made important changes to our tax code to keep more money in people’s pockets, including no tax on tips, overtime and some Social Security benefits. But we can do a lot more to help Americans make ends meet through reconciliation.

“Senate Democrats aren’t just holding ICE hostage on behalf of the loon wing of their party. They’re stopping every effort we make to improve the lives of the American people. If we want to fulfill all the other promises we made to American families, reconciliation is our only opportunity. I hope we won’t waste it.”

Read Kennedy’s op-ed here.  

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, introduced a bill to prevent the U.S. Treasury Department from unnecessarily collecting small business owners’ personal information.

“When an obscure government policy requires small business owners to fork over personal data that even our government admits it doesn’t need, it’s time to change that policy. That’s why I’m leading the bill to permanently end this burdensome mandate and keep law-abiding Americans’ personal information out of a database it should never have been in,” said Kennedy.

Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) joined Kennedy in introducing the bill.

“I've heard loud and clear from Kansas small business owners that the Corporate Transparency Act's reporting requirements are too costly and too burdensome. Since the CTA took effect, it became clear that requiring American small business owners to register sensitive personal information with a federal database was not going to work. I’m glad to join Senator Kennedy’s bill, which will save American small businesses billions of dollars. I'll push hard to get it across the finish line so that American businesses can have the certainty of knowing it won't be rearing its ugly head again,” said Marshall.

“The federal bureaucracy loves to bury small businessowners in paperwork that costs time, money, and even their private information. I have long opposed the Corporate Transparency Act’s overregulation and its Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirement and have ardently advocated for repeal. I’m proud to cosponsor Senator Kennedy's critical legislation to end these burdensome reporting rules for American-based businesses,” said Lee.

“Texas is home to more than 3.5 million small businesses. They are the backbone of our economy, and they should not be treated like criminal suspects by Washington bureaucrats. We should be protecting their privacy and reducing regulatory burdens on American small businesses, and I’m glad to join Senator Kennedy in introducing this bill,” said Cruz.

“By imposing heavy compliance burdens, the Beneficial Ownership Information requirement in the Corporate Transparency Act distracts small business owners from essential tasks, such as innovation, customer service, and daily operations. It is essential that we repeal and remove this requirement from FinCEN,” said Blackburn.

“I’m proud to support this legislation that reins in unnecessary data collection and puts U.S. small businesses’ privacy first. For too long, hardworking Americans—including many West Virginians—have faced overly broad reporting requirements that do little to enhance security while also exposing their sensitive personal information. This bill takes a targeted, responsible approach that ensures oversight efforts are focused where they matter most, while lifting an undue burden,” said Capito.

Background:

• Under 2021’s Corporate Transparency Act, the federal government began mandating the collection of certain individuals’ Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI), including small business owners’ full legal names, dates of birth, addresses and unique identifying numbers. 

• The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) ultimately found these reporting requirements to be overly onerous and intrusive for small businesses.

• By March 2025, FinCEN issued a rule narrowing the scope of the data collection to foreign reporting companies, pausing the collection of many Americans’ data.

Kennedy’s bill would make this March 2025 rule law and require FinCEN to delete Americans’ data already collected under the 2021 requirement.

By ending this data collection, the legislation would save taxpayers an average of $9 billion per year and save U.S. small businesses $6.7 billion over 10 years.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) supports Kennedy’s bill. 

"NFIB thanks Senator Kennedy for his leadership to protect over 32 million small businesses from being forced to hand over more personal data to the federal government. The new federal database created by the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting law is a disaster waiting to happen and it's time for FinCEN to destroy the unconstitutionally collected BOI data of America’s small businesses. Senator Kennedy’s legislation would free U.S. small businesses from the threats of the invasive BOI mandate," said Brad Close, NFIB President.

Full bill text is available here.