SCOTTSBORO — U.S. Senate candidate Katie Britt on Monday took her campaign to rural Jackson County where she outlined her key priorities in addressing national security issues.

In her return to the state’s Mountain Lakes region, Britt spoke to a number of issues facing the country which she has made an integral part of her candidacy. Among these were cancel culture, education, election integrity, broadband expansion, agriculture, economic growth and others.

In matters of importance relating to national security, Britt honed in on the threat posed to the United States by way of illegal immigration and the communist regime of China.

The first-time candidate outlined statistics regarding the growing number of border encounters the nation was experiencing under the Biden administration. Britt then advocated for the return to Trump-era border security policies to curb the rising tide of illegal aliens overwhelming border enforcement personnel.

“[W]e must seal and secure our border – we have to,” declared Britt. “We have to put back Remain in Mexico and public charge. Folks, and it’s not just about national security, which I hope you know is of paramount importance, because they are catching about 41 criminals 3,677 pounds of drugs [per day]. It is also about ending the humanitarian crisis that is happening there every single day.”

She added, “As they traffic more men, women and children they found just under 15,000 children unaccompanied at the border last month… Folks, we have to seal and secure our border. China is sending enough fentanyl to Mexico that’s coming across our border that they said could kill every single American four times over. So no matter which way you look at it, we gotta build the wall, build it tall, and secure the border.”

Britt went on to sound the alarm over the intensified aggression China had displayed against the United States, saying the communist nation was “undermining us at every single turn.”

“From the origins of the virus, to stealing our intellectual property, to undermining the American worker… We saw it first hand with regards to the intellectual property. So they steal about $600 billion of intellectual property a year, which is about two and a half times our annual GDP here in the state of Alabama,” she advised.

Britt touched on China’s recent launch of a hypersonic nuclear-capable rocket in low-space orbit which circled the globe until nearly reaching its intended target.

“And the sad thing is, we don’t even know about all of it. When we saw that hypersonic weapon that they tested, it came 12 miles from hitting its target. The worst thing about that was that was our technology that we didn’t know they have. We have to have leaders that will hold them accountable, realize they’re ten steps ahead, not only catch up but leave them in the dust,” she proclaimed.

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL