In a conference call Thursday, conservative leaders urged Congress to act on criminal justice reform in 2016. The call took place a few days after Politico published a story about a small group of conservative senators who are leading an effort to block reform.

According to Politico, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and a handful of other Republican senators claim that the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act would free thousands of violent felons and threaten the Republican Party’s tough-on-crime reputation. The bill was introduced in the Senate on Oct. 1 and approved by the Judiciary Committee on Oct. 22, 2015.