Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) defended his proposed amendments to the crime reform bill known as the First Step Act on Tuesday. Cotton proposed the amendments along with Sen. John Kennedy (R., La.). 
The Senate voted Monday night to advance the FIRST STEP Act, setting up what is likely to be a contentious fight over a number of proposed amendments before a final vote later this week. 
A representative of the Church of Scientology is among 20 signatories to a letter released Monday calling on President Donald Trump to reject changes to the FIRST STEP Act, the criminal justice bill currently pending in the Senate. 
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) and Sen. John Kennedy (R., La.) announced today that several law enforcement and victims' rights groups support their amendment to criminal justice reform legislation known as the First Step Act. 
Authors of a criminal justice reform bill pending in the Senate rolled out a new version late Wednesday, with changes reflecting some but not all bill critics' concerns. 
The Senate will vote on the White House's criminal justice reform proposal before recessing for the end of its term, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday. 
Several major law enforcement groups, thought to have backed down on their opposition to a federal criminal justice reform proposal, issued a letter to Senate leaders Thursday outlining why they were still troubled by the bill. 
Two more law enforcement groups have voiced their skepticism of a proposed federal prison and sentencing reform bill that would potentially release serial drug traffickers and other dangerous offenders. 
President Donald Trump is opposed to a major criminal justice reform in its current form, in large part due to an exception it carves out that may release convicted drug traffickers early, sources told the Washington Free Beacon on Friday. 