Marsha Blackburn

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, this year, those of us at the Consumer Protection, Public Safety, and Data Security Subcommittee have spent hours working through how we deal with social media and hold them to account. And it has been a heartbreaking task of investigating thousands of pages of reporting testimony and other evidence that really has proven to us there is a devastating impact from social media on our Nation's children and teens. This past February, Senator Blumenthal and I introduced the Kids Online Safety Act after a series of hearings that exposed Big Tech's disregard for the safety of their underage users. The bill provides kids and parents with the tools and transparency that they need to stay safe and requires social media companies to make those platforms safer in the default settings. It also requires independent audits to ensure that these companies are, indeed, addressing the risk to underage users. I am appalled that this is necessary, but the committee has a mountain of proof to show it is time for Congress to do something to hold these platforms to account. And we can't wait. We really cannot afford to wait any longer because as bad as things are here in Washington, they are really worse for the kids and teens who have been pulled into these platforms. Depression, self-harm, and suicide in teens increased at an alarming rate between 2010 and 2020. There are a limited number of plausible explanations for why this has happened, but I would remind my colleagues that the 2010s ushered in the golden age of social media. This is when social media transformed from a novelty into an almost mandatory activity, especially for teens. So it is no coincidence that it was a good decade for Silicon Valley but a very dark decade for our Nation's children. Between 2011 and 2016, as social media became popular, sleep deprivation among U.S. teens increased by 17 percent. We also know that teens who are heavy users of social media sleep about an hour less per night than their friends who are not using social media. And as I am sure many of my colleagues know, sleep deprivation is a significant risk factor for depression among adolescents. Between 2011 and 2018, the rates of teen depression increased by more than 60 percent. Between 2011 and 2015, emergency room admissions for children and teens for depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric issues rose by 28 percent. Before 2010, suicide by young people had stabilized and declined for decades; but, over the next decade, the teen suicide death rate increased by 62 percent. And now, suicide is the second leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 10 and 24, only behind unintentional injuries like auto accidents. Think about that. This is what is happening to our children. It is not my stats. It is not your stats. These are stats that are coming from research, from surveys, from medical research on our children-- anxiety, depression, suicide. All of this is coming, and, when you look at the growth rate, what does it parallel? The use of social media. Many of these platforms are robbing our children of their childhood. They are ripping it from them. American teens are succumbing to despair, and we know that social media is a big part of this reason. In 2018, Pew released a survey revealing that close to 60 percent of youth have experienced some form of abusive online behavior. I have spent years examining what that behavior looks like, and I can tell you that calling it ``abusive'' is a gross understatement. And as the years have gone by, the stories have gotten worse. And over the past few weeks, I have worked with dozens of parents and friends of young people who died because of what and whom they encountered on social media. Today, with permission of their parents, I am going to share a few of the stories of these children because it is imperative that we realize what children are being exposed to online. I had one mom tell me this. She said: You know, when you see these things and you hear these things, you cannot unsee it; you cannot unhear it. I had another mom tell me: You know, Marsha, I once felt that, when I had my kids home and we had locked the doors, we were safe--that we were safe from the outside world. But the pandemic happened, and I realized we were not, that the enemy, the evil, the harm that was wrecking my child's life--the drug traffickers, the sex traffickers, the pedophiles--they were right in there with us. This is what our children are being exposed to--and the extent of the damage, the severity of the harassment, the bad behavior that takes place. And parents call it out to Big Tech, and too often these platforms do nothing--nothing. They hardly even respond. They take it down for a day, and the children are suffering from this. Grace McComas: Now, Grace endured the torture of a man who had drugged and assaulted her. He used social media to make Grace feel isolated and afraid and worthless. From the summer of 2011, when she was subpoenaed to testify against him, until she died by suicide on Easter Sunday 2012, Grace's parents fought to save her, but there was nothing they could do to force those digital platforms to ban this evil monster who was her tormenter. On June 23, 2020, 16-year-old Carson Bride quietly ended his life while his family slept. The night before, the whole family had celebrated Carson's first summer job. But what they didn't know is that he had been receiving hundreds of harassing, threatening, and sexually explicit messages from his classmates who were using anonymous apps to hide their identities. Carson asked his tormentors to identify themselves so that they could talk things out in person, but nobody ever did. Social media lets you be anonymous. The very last search on Carson's phone was for hacks to find out who was tormenting him. David Molak: He was an Eagle Scout, a fantasy football aficionado, a hunter, a fisher, and, by all accounts, a truly great friend. But in the last few months of his life, he became overwhelmed with hopelessness over the barrage of threats, harassment, and abuse he experienced through text messages and on social media. On January 4, 2016, he took his own life. He was 16 years old. There are hundreds more stories just like these, just like them. Senator Blumenthal and I have talked with these parents and these kids. Children are using social media platforms to torment other children to the point of death. But we also know that adults are leveraging the power these platforms have over underage users so that they can--do what?--make a profit. Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids increased over 56 percent from 2019 to 2020, with prescription pill abuse highest among people ages 18 to 25. They are starting younger, and drug dealers are finding them--where?--on social media platforms. When she was 15, Becca Schmill was assaulted by a boy she and her friends met on the social media party chat. The cyber bullying and harassment that followed destroyed Becca's sense of self, and, eventually, she started using drugs to cope. In a sane world, she never would have been able to get her hands on the pills that eventually killed her, but social media made it easy. On September 16, 2020, Becca died from fentanyl poisoning. Olivia Green was 15 years old, a freshman in high school. She dreamed of becoming a marine biologist, but then she met an adult stranger on a social media platform. When she saw him in person, this man gave her a pill that he said was Percocet. It was actually fentanyl. So when she took it, she laid down and died from an overdose. Alexander Neville's mom describes him as someone who competed with himself to be successful with everything he did. He pushed himself to succeed in Boy Scouts, at fencing, skateboarding, and as a person and a dear, dear friend. At 14, Alexander bought pills online that he thought were pain relievers, but it actually was fentanyl, and that is how Alexander became another victim of fentanyl poisoning. Big Tech executives would like us to write these deaths off as tragedies and just move on, which is exactly the attitude you would expect from people who have treated our congressional hearings like they are on some kind of PR tour. I think that as they point to their glossy white papers laying out steps that parents and teens can take to protect themselves and they think they provide a little bit more information about the steps and they talk about what the company is going to do to try to get this under control, they think we are going to move on. But we are not. We are talking about our children and our grandchildren, and, no, we are not moving on. The enduring refrain of my discussions with the parents and the teens who have seen this firsthand is that trying to address the problem with the platform is like talking to a brick wall. When they received a response at all, there was no concern for the danger. Over the past 2 years, this body has passed several pieces of legislation to address ``emergencies.'' But what about this emergency? What about the emergency that is taking the lives of our children? What about this emergency that is causing death by fentanyl? Now, when we talk about Big Tech and we talk about social media, there is one point they have made clear time and time again, and it is that they are fully incapable and unwilling to regulate themselves because they are more interested in attracting eyeballs and keeping those eyeballs on their site longer and longer and mining that data because it is dollars in the bank to them. To me, it is absolutely sickening. And their bad behavior--getting any change in that behavior--it is too late for Grace and Carson and the other young people I talked about today, but it is not too late to save the children and the teens who are suffering right now because these tech platforms refuse to protect them. In July, the Commerce Committee passed the Kids Online Safety Act. Senator Blumenthal and I have worked diligently on this, and it came out of committee on a 28-to-0 vote. That is pretty overwhelming bipartisan support for a piece of legislation. And right now, this bill is waiting for a vote on the Senate floor. I would implore Leader Schumer and I would implore my colleagues from each side of the aisle: Listen to these stories; talk to these parents and these young people who are activists for changing what is happening on social media. Listen to them. Listen to these stories. Recognize the danger that exists on social media, and let's get this bill passed and to the President's desk. I yield floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, this month, Team Blackburn is saying goodbye to Srdjan Simunovic, who has spent 2 years with us as part of a fellowship program between my office and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is just outside of Knoxville, TN. Most staff here on Capitol Hill dabble in politics. Even our most dedicated policy staff tend to have ambitions that extend beyond their chosen portfolio, but the position of Oak Ridge fellow is special in that it attracts people whose expertise transcends politics. It has been such a pleasure working with Srdjan over the past 2 years and watching him open my team's eyes to the truly marvelous things Tennesseans are doing at Oak Ridge. We will miss him tremendously, but I know his wife Marina and son Thomas will be grateful to have him home full time. Srdjan, thank you for giving 2 years of your life to Team Blackburn. We wish you all the best with what comes next.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, on November 5, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored Dolly Parton as part of their 2022 class of inductees. Anyone familiar with Dolly's path to official ``rock star'' status will remember that, when she discovered the Rock Hall was considering her for a nomination, she declined. She told them she felt she hadn't earned the right to say yes. Never has such universal outrage sprung from such universal admiration. Country fans had no time for humility. Rock fans weren't having it either--although, to be fair, humility and rock `n' roll go together like oil and water. Even people who aren't fans of Dolly's music said that surely she was worthy of any honor bestowed by an organization whose mission is to ``engage, teach, and inspire through the power of rock & roll.'' By my estimation, this may have been the first time in history that a debate over a nominee to the Rock Hall has not devolved into a debate over what rock and roll is and who should and should not attempt to create it. I will not attempt to define it here today, but suffice it to say that, in six decades and over the course of more than 50 studio albums and 3,000 songs, Dolly discovered the genre's secrets and mastered them all. Twenty years ago, Dolly famously mused, ``If somebody said, `You're going to have to do one or the other. You're going to have to give up your music or you're going to go back to being poor,' I would go poor, totally broke, and start over and do my music. That's how much I love it.'' On behalf of all Tennesseans, I thank you, Dolly, for giving so much of yourself to us. The world is a better and richer place because of your music, and we love you for it.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, December is always a time of transitions here on Capitol Hill, and it is time for Team Blackburn to recognize the transition of our defense fellow, GySgt Martin Aleman, away from the Senate and toward a bright future rising in the ranks of the Marine Corps. On the Armed Services Committee, we spend a great deal of time considering how the decisions we make in this building will affect budgets and workload and our overall national security; but paramount to me is the effect it will have on servicemembers and their families at home and abroad. Since day one of his fellowship, Martin has been a bottomless well of information about what it is like to actually serve in the military. His stories from his service--sometimes entertaining, sometimes sobering--helped us remember that when all is said and done, each line item in a bill, dollar authorized, and penny spent will change the lives of the brave men and women who put on the uniform. Martin, we will miss you, but I am sure Casondra is more than ready to reclaim the time our hectic schedule stole from you this past year. I wish you the best of luck as you take the next step in your already impressive career.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, this past February, the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed 20 to 2 to pass the Open App Markets Act. This is a piece of legislation I put together with Senator Blumenthal to stop tech giants from stifling competition in the app store marketplace. Through their control of the app stores on consumer devices as well as the device operating systems themselves, Apple and Google have become the gatekeepers of information. They do this by physically locking down the devices they control, making it near impossible to access competing content. Apple fully prevents consumers from accessing third-party apps and app stores on their mobile devices. Google allows more access to outside apps but makes the process so difficult that they might as well lock down their devices the way Apple is locking down the iPhone. These companies claim that these restrictions make your devices more secure, but they don't apply the same policies to their laptops and other similar consumer devices; it is only on the iPhone and on the Android. Why would that be? Now, I don't know for sure, but I do know this: By locking down their mobile devices, Apple and Google can force app developers to abide by their terms no matter how harsh those terms may be. Recently, Daniel Eck, who is the founder and CEO of Spotify, said: ``Over and over again, Apple gives itself every advantage while at the same time stifling innovation and hurting consumers.'' Elon Musk, now the CEO of Twitter, has criticized the 30-percent ``tax'' that Apple and Google take from developers. What is more, app creators can't go to consumers themselves to offer them a better deal because that kind of contact is forbidden by Apple and Google in their terms of service. Think about it. You can't even reach out to the people who have your app because Apple and Google forbid you, the developer, from contacting the consumer who is using your app. Consider the positions startup developers are placed in. Imagine trying to get your business off the ground in a market where two major players control access to your potential customers. There is no other market, and you can't negotiate with them, so you are forced to play by the rules the gatekeepers are forcing on you. Under those rules, the gatekeepers control your access to your customers. They use your confidential business information against you and block you from using the features on your customers' device to give them a better experience. I heard just this story from a Tennessean named Karen Thomas, who is the CEO of Agrin Health in Nashville. Listen to the way she describes how Apple held her company's app hostage. I am quoting her story. They demanded changes that would eliminate Agrin's paid functions in its web app and stopped Karen from updating her mobile app--which was free--until she began charging consumers through Apple's in-app payment system. This, again, would let Apple take a 30% cut of every subscription Agrin received. That is the ``Apple tax'' in action. Karen said: Our app and our mission was set to die at the hands of Apple unless our infant company came up with hundreds of thousands of dollars to reconfigure our service delivery while losing 30% of associated revenue--and we are not alone. It doesn't matter if you are a startup or an established company: When it comes to the digital economy, you depend on Apple and Google to stay alive because they control your access to your customers. They are the gatekeepers of your information. Now, the Open App Markets Act made it out of committee and almost unanimously received that vote--as I said, 20 to 2. Republicans and Democrats agree that this is not the way a healthy marketplace should be working. That is why we got that near-unanimous vote. This bill needs a vote because it will set the fair, clear, and enforceable rules needed to protect the competition. It will force Big Tech to allow third-party apps and app stores on their devices. App store owners won't be able to lock developers into in-app payment arrangements anymore, which opens the door to competitive pricing. Developers will also be able to keep their confidential business information private. Imagine having to share your information--somebody else controls it--and they use your business information to compete against you. Most importantly, the developers will be able to communicate with their customers, which for any business owner is key to creating a strong product or service. I think it has become clear that the American people know how much Big Tech is controlling their lives, but they are no longer content to sit by and let these companies consolidate power, especially at the expense of freedom and basic human rights. Over the past few weeks, we have watched the Chinese people revolt against Xi Jinping's ``zero-COVID'' lockdowns. Much of the coverage has come to us via apps we have downloaded on our phone. But for the protesters in China, their use of tech is a double-edged sword. We know the Chinese Communist Party is using apps and other forms of technology to identify and surveil and ultimately punish the protesters in China. People are being tracked via their virtual private networks and through apps like Signal and Telegram. For activists with iPhones, their options are now even more limited. Before the protests boiled over, Apple made the unforgivable choice to disable the AirDrop feature in China only. That is right--the only place on the face of the Earth that Apple decided to disable AirDrop was in China, just prior to the protests. This feature was an activist's best friend because it allowed one person to share files with an entire local network with no way for the government to come in and monitor what they were sending. It was a game changer, and Apple decided to flip the switch. When reporters asked Apple's CEO Tim Cook last week if he supported the protesters in China, he refused to answer. Now, I agree, this is incomprehensible--until you remember that China is Apple's largest market outside of the United States, and it is a major source for Apple's supply chain. In fact, both Apple and Google have a long history of giving authoritarian governments everything that they ask for. Last fall, both companies acted on Moscow's orders and removed an app designed to coordinate protest voting in the Russian elections. My colleagues may remember the scandal that was the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic's app. The Chinese Communist Party forced all the athletes and coaches and spectators to use this app. They didn't have a choice. Both Apple and Google listed it on their phones even though they knew the CCP was using it to spy on their customers. This isn't mere gatekeeping; this is picking winners and losers in an environment where the losers could end up dead because of the decisions these companies are making. When I first started working on this bill with Senator Blumenthal, I received letters from several human rights organizations thanking me for paying attention to how these companies were using their power. We know that Apple has plans to move some of their production out of China, so perhaps some day, the Chinese Communist Party will have less of a stranglehold on free communication around the world. But I would remind my colleagues that moving the chess pieces of production, while vitally important, does not fully address the problem we are trying to solve with the Open App Markets Act. Think of everything that happened before Apple decided to speed up this transition. We don't have time to put this bill on a shelf while China and Big Tech work out their differences. The digital marketplace is no longer a novelty; it is an essential service that billions of people rely on. In 2020, U.S. consumers spent nearly $33 billion in mobile app stores and downloaded more than 13.4 billion apps. Two companies exclusively dictate the terms of that market. They have certainly made it clear that their power comes first, their profits are more important, and the customers are at the end of the list. They are last on the list of concerns. Every day, I hear from Tennesseans who have realized just how little control they have over their mobile device. They live half of their lives on their device, and they are no longer comfortable letting Apple and Google dictate the terms of their interactions with the rest of the world. We shouldn't be comfortable with allowing that to continue. I would encourage my colleagues to join with Senator Blumenthal and with me and support this legislation. Let's get it passed and to the President's desk. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, on behalf of myself and Mr. Hagerty, I ask unanimous consent that the following remarks be printed in the Congressional Record to honor our fellow Tennessean, Amy Grant. Each year, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts selects a handful of cultural luminaries to receive the Kennedy Center Honors for their lifetime artistic achievements. On behalf of the entire Tennessee congressional delegation and all Tennesseans, we want to congratulate contemporary Christian and pop singer- songwriter Amy Grant on her inclusion in the 45th annual honoree class. A quick glance at Amy's more than 40 years in the spotlight reveals an iconic popstar, songwriter, television personality, and philanthropist who never forgot her gospel roots. The thing that makes Amy special, though, isn't her long list of accolades, but how she used her personal faith in Christ to build bridges between the welcoming contemporary Christian genre and the secular confines of popular music. All artist-songwriters find success when they strike at the very center of what makes the human heart ache, whether it be for a love found, a life lost, or the infinite potential of what could be. These emotions are humanity's great equalizers. But for gospel artist- songwriters, faith, and not emotion, is the touchstone. For these brave and gifted individuals, assurance comes not from an endless cycle of love, hurt, and healing, but from a far more enduring source of hope. We could not be more pleased to see the Kennedy Center recognize the importance of Amy's work in helping new generations embrace that hope, and we join the artistic community in thanking her for sharing her gifts with the world.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, every year, Music City luminaries gather to celebrate entertainers and other giants in the arts with the Cecil Scaife Visionary Award. While statuettes do have their charms, this award highlights true champions of creativity whose life and work have made it possible for future generations to realize careers in the music industry. This year, I have the privilege of congratulating the oft imitated, never duplicated, positively incomparable Brenda Lee as she accepts this special honor. Even in today's strange world of social media sensations and cross- discipline collaborations, success in the entertainment industry is hard to come by. And if mainstream popularity is a pipe dream, it is safe to consider crossover success on a global scale almost impossible to achieve. Still, for many of Nashville's rising stars, this pinnacle of artistic achievement is the only measure of professional success worth striving for. But who is to mentor these dreamers? Who sets the standard? If you ask them, they will surely point to Brenda Lee. Brenda Lee's stunning vocal talent put her on stage at 6, in the studio at 12, and on the international tour circuit by her early teens. Her third single climbed both the pop and country charts, and over the next 20 years, she achieved pop stardom, pop-to-country crossover success, and international fame. That she did this at all is remarkable; but how she did it is what makes Brenda Lee a phenomenon. Her career was not the product of clever gimmicks, but the manifestation of her own personal tastes, desires, and instincts in song. In a world of mimics, Brenda Lee dismissed convention and created something new. I have always believed that there is no secret sauce that separates the successful from the legendary, but if there is, its main ingredient is surely the spark of captivating individualism that Brenda embraced over the course of her more than 60 years in the spotlight. And while young artists could never hope to replicate her career, her legacy serves as a reminder that, yes, you can conquer this industry, if only you have the courage to do it on your own terms.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, today I rise to honor a true Music City legend. For more than 50 years, Ray Stevens has delighted audiences with his talents as a comedian, an actor, a musician, and a songwriter. His unique vision for the future of entertainment allowed him to blaze trails no other artists would dare tread alone. As a fellow Tennessean, and one of Ray's biggest fans, you can believe me when I say that you have never seen anything like Ray Stevens. It would have been easy for him to justify resting on his laurels while Music City grew around him, but if you know Ray, you know that was never a possibility. Although he achieved fame for his work in the creative arts, he is best known for leading with laughter, kindness, and an unfailing desire to encourage fellow artists. In 1971, Ray and a group of fellow Music Row luminaries led by Cecil Scaife came together to create a music business program at Belmont University, where aspiring entertainers could exercise both their talents and their business acumen. This tremendous effort changed the industry for the better and set an example for the city's rising stars. Today, the Cecil Scaife Visionary Award is given annually to those whose life and work have made it possible for future generations to realize careers in the music industry, and I could not have been happier when I learned that Ray is one of this year's recipients. Ray, on behalf of all Tennesseans, I thank you for your devotion to the arts, your zest for life, and for going above and beyond on behalf all who hope to walk in your footsteps.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, for the past 2 years, the COVID pandemic dominated every news cycle, and if the mainstream media is to be believed, it was the leading topic of conversation at every dinner table, whether it was Washington or Nashville or San Francisco. As the months wore on, it became glaringly obvious that, while the pandemic was a concern, people were less worried about the virus itself and more worried about how the Democrats were using it to justify one power grab after another. Even in the face of catastrophic inflation, the employment crisis, the failure of public education, and the slow creep of lethal opioids into rural communities, the Democrats chose power over progress every single time and, in doing so, abandoned their duty to the American people. And now, as this year draws to a close, my Democratic colleagues have declared that now it is time for everybody to just move on, move on from the pandemic. When Dr. Fauci appeared for a final press conference before his conveniently timed retirement, the White House made sure he wouldn't have to answer any questions on the origins of COVID-19. The talking heads in the mainstream media have spun the harm done to students by virtual schooling as a tragedy rather than the completely predictable effects of forced isolation on our precious children, and the White House remains determined to blame inflation and shortages in the energy market on Vladimir Putin. They want us to ignore their own self-proclaimed war on American energy independence. I suppose they think that if they just erase the mess that they have made from the daily talking points, the American people will just forget about it and move on. I hate to spoil their ending, but the American people are not ready for that. They want some answers. They will never ever forget the damage that these policies have done to their families and to their communities. Now, the left tried their best to frame the debates over lockdowns and mask mandates and vaccine mandates as conspiracy fodder, but we all found out, no, it was not; it was personal, especially after it became clear that control was the Democrats' end game. Yes, control over you, over your life, over your children, over their education, over student loans. Control is what they want. Now, the science changed but the narrative never did, and Tennesseans have noticed this. They have caught on to this. The ongoing fight over the military's vaccine mandate is particularly raw for Tennesseans because it is proof that the Democrats are willing to jeopardize our national security to score points against political rivals. This desire for power and control is in direct opposition to the Federal Government's sworn mission to provide for the defense of our Nation. This isn't a matter of opinion; it is a fact, confirmed by President Biden's chosen military commanders. This year, the number of new servicemembers joining the ranks has hit an alltime low; so did academy applications for our Nation's prestigious military academies. The Army fell 15,000 soldiers short of their recruitment goal for 2022. The other services and the National Guard are also struggling. The Pentagon doesn't expect the situation to improve even for the next few years. The Army predicts they will be down 21,000 troops in 2023, and the National Guard says they are going to lose 14,000 soldiers by the end of 2024. The strongest, fastest, and most lethal fighting force on the planet is moving backward. Meanwhile, the new axis of evil, they are marching forward. We know for a fact that Tehran is sending drones and military equipment to Moscow to support Putin's war in Ukraine. North Korea is conducting ballistic missile tests that threaten South Korean sovereignty. And the Chinese Communist Party is doing the exact opposite of what the Pentagon is doing: They are focusing on readiness and building up their military. In June, they christened their first-ever aircraft carrier to be completely designed and developed in China. Their goal is to increase their fleet by 40 percent by the end of 2040 and quadruple their nuclear stockpile by the end of the decade. This is all consistent with Beijing's broader goal of becoming a military superpower. They are focused on global domination. They are focused on readiness. They are focused on defeating us. Meanwhile, our Pentagon is focused on a vaccine mandate. The strong men in control of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea--that axis of evil--are notorious for their aggression, and none of them have bothered to keep their hatred of the United States of America a secret. The wolves are at the door, Mr. President, yet here we are, debating a military vaccine mandate that has zero--zero--basis in science or common sense. It will gut the ranks of the military and make us more vulnerable to the rising threat from the new axis of evil. This isn't just my opinion; it is another fact confirmed by the people President Biden trusts to lead our Nation's military. The Army confirmed in a November 4 press release that the vaccine mandate has already separated 1,796 Active-Duty soldiers from their service. Bear in mind, they raised their hand; they took an oath. They did this because they want to serve, protect, defend. And what has happened? What has happened to that service, to that loyalty? Look at what has happened. They are getting a slap across the face. As I said, 1,796 were shown the door because they would not take a COVID shot. They wouldn't take a shot. For the soldiers who remain, the Army has approved less than 4 percent of medical exemptions and just over 1 percent of religious exemptions. The Guard has only approved 15 percent of the medical exemptions and--get this--0.0047 percent of religious exemptions. And the Reserves, they have approved little more than 5 percent of their medical exemptions and 0.0044 percent of religious exemptions. Leader Schumer left Washington for the Thanksgiving holiday without acknowledging this manpower crisis in our military and without offering a clear answer on when we will take up the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. Now that we are back in session, I would hope that he has a plan to stop dangling this bill over the heads of our servicemembers and their families. But while we are waiting, I would like to offer a small improvement to what is already a very strong and bipartisan piece of legislation. Mr. President, as you know, the Senate Armed Services Committee finished their work on this bill back in June. When we were debating the NDAA in the Armed Services Committee, I introduced two amendments that would have protected servicemembers from the arbitrary effects of the vaccine mandate. The first would prohibit the involuntary separation of any servicemember for refusing the COVID-19 shot until each service achieves its authorized end strength--good common sense. It is not saying you can't implement your mandate, just saying you can't do it until you have reached your goal, your recruitment and your retention goals. The Second Amendment would make sure that members of the National Guard or Reserve maintain access to both pay and benefits while their request for a medical or religious accommodation is pending. My Democratic colleagues on the Armed Services Committee killed these amendments, but I do hope they will change their mind and support them now that they have had the opportunity to hear from folks back home, to hear from our military, our Guard, our Reserves. I hope they will give this another look; but if they don't, they will have another opportunity to fix this mistake. I have combined the amendments into a single bill called the Preserving the Readiness of Our Armed Forces Act, and I would be happy to add each and every one of them as a cosponsor. As we begin what I am sure will be a mad dash to the end of the year, I want to encourage my Democratic colleagues to keep preserving readiness at the front of their mind. When the Pentagon first revealed this vaccine mandate, veterans, military experts, and Active-Duty servicemembers up and down the ranks told us exactly what would happen if the Biden administration went through with this. And do you know what? They were accurate in their assessment. Because of the Democratic actions, this White House's actions, they have fired thousands of servicemembers, and tens of thousands more are in jeopardy. Bear in mind, these are people who have chosen to serve. This chaos has prompted thousands of potential soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines to decide against entering the service, and who knows how many will choose not to enter the National Guard. The Biden administration is digging in their heels at the worst possible time. The new axis of evil--they are on the rise, and they are counting on the rest of the world to remain complacent. Over the past few years, each of these nations has been exposed on the international stage as factories of repression, violence, and misery, but in the aftermath, nothing changed. Just last week, the CCP reminded us how little value they place on human life. Ten people in Xinjiang burned to death when their apartment building caught fire. The firefighters couldn't get to them in time because of the barricades CCP officials had constructed to enforce their zero-COVID policy. Protesters took to the streets and forced the international press to pay attention. In response, the CCP brutalized journalists, censored videos shot the night of the fire, and claimed that the residents who died were too weak to save themselves. I would remind my colleagues that these are the same officials who claimed that the Uighur Muslims are comfortable in their concentration camps, that the Tibetans welcomed ethnic cleansing, and that firing missiles at Taiwan is part of normal military operations. Exposure will not stop them. Outrage will not give them pause because they are on a quest for global domination, and they are not going to take a timeout because the Democrats in control of our government decided to prioritize a shot over our Nation's security. Let that sink in. They are going full steam ahead. They are increasing their military rights. They are building their navy. They are working to develop new missiles. And we are focused on removing military members because they will not take a shot. By the way, you can get vaccinated and boosted, and it doesn't keep you from getting COVID. Unfortunately, our adversaries have decided to take advantage of weak leaders in the White House and in Congress and to exploit our vulnerabilities until we force them to stop. Our military is not the only tool we use to keep this country safe, but it certainly has the power to be the most decisive, and I cannot think of anything more foolish than to sabotage it while the enemy watches and says: Look at America's priority. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I have spoken repeatedly about the many ways my Democratic colleagues' crusade for power has been disastrous for the American people. We have recordbreaking inflation, a chaotic southern border, and the collapsing energy industry. This is the world that the Democrats created in just 2 short years. What is worse, this Democrat-led government has ignored the ripple effects of their reckless agenda in favor of maintaining a political narrative about progress. But to Tennesseans and to so many Americans, it feels like the country is not moving forward; it is moving backward. I have come to the floor again today to talk about the ripple effects of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate that threatens to gut the ranks of the U.S. military. This body has had multiple chances to avert disaster, and each time the Democrats have decided to take the wrong path. I introduced two amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have kept politics out of the military's use of vaccines. They are simple. Each amendment is about one page long. The first of these would have prohibited involuntary separation of any servicemember for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine until each service achieves its authorized end strength. You see, it makes absolutely no sense that we would be removing people from military service simply because they do not get a shot--a shot, by the way, that does not prevent you from getting COVID. Now, the second amendment would make sure that members of the National Guard or Reserve maintain access to both pay and benefits while their request for an accommodation--a medical accommodation or religious beliefs accommodation--is pending. But, of course, my Democratic colleagues have blocked these two amendments. They are common sense. They protect our men and women in the military. But it is my plan to offer them another opportunity to do the right thing. I have combined these amendments into a bill. That bill is called the Preserving the Readiness of our Armed Forces Act. It is filed. It is ready for more cosponsors. I am also going to give them another opportunity. When the NDAA finally comes to the floor, they are going to have the opportunity to consider these two amendments, and I am asking my colleagues to support me in this. I stand by my call to Leader Schumer to bring the NDAA to the floor for a vote and hope that my Democratic colleagues will change course and support these two amendments to protect our men and women in uniform. But, right now, the ripple effect is seen as another reckless power play by this administration and their Department of Defense. I went into detail earlier this week about how this would hamper the readiness of the U.S. military, and I want to focus on the death blow today that this has dealt to our recruitment. Keep in mind that this is information that is available to each and every Member of this Chamber. My Democratic colleagues have this information. Here is what we have to consider: the number of new servicemembers who are joining the military is, right now--right now--at an all-time low. Academy applications for our military academies are also at an all-time low. See, even high school students know something is wrong with this picture. So they are not sitting there thinking: ``I want to go to West Point'' or ``I want to go to Annapolis'' or ``I want to go to the Air Force.'' They are not thinking that. What they are saying is, Why is the military focused on all this other stuff other than on their core mission--keeping this country safe? Now, again, statistics prove the point. The Army has fallen 15,000 soldiers short of their goal for 2022, and they don't expect this situation to improve. In 2023, they think they are going to be 21,000 troops short. I want you to think about this. Think about what we are facing, whether it is attacks from the axis of evil--Russia, China, Iran, North Korea--or whether it is China's aggressiveness. Think about this. Think about the difference that 10,000 troops, 15,000 troops, 21,000 troops make, and then ask yourself, why is it that men and women, citizens of this country, are not wanting to raise their hand and take the oath to protect and defend? If you are honest with yourself, you know that a big part of the problem is the way the military has been treated over the last couple of years. We didn't have this problem previously. This is a problem that has been made for our military, for this Nation's security. It has been made by this administration. The National Guard is missing their recruitment goals. Why is that? Could it be that having to take a shot--and bear in mind, it is not a vaccine like a polio vaccine or other vaccines; it is a shot for a certain strain of COVID. What you have is a Department of Defense that is willing to say ``You are fired'' to people who have volunteered to serve this country, and they are going to do it over a shot. They don't expect anybody running over the southern border illegally, I might add, to have the shot, but they expect members of the U.S. military, students at our academies, those who are on Active Duty, those who are reservists, those who are in the National Guard to get this even though President Biden has said the pandemic is over--it is over. So you have to ask, why is it that they are continuing to beat down on the military? Why are they willing to pummel them over a shot? Why are they not willing to put the NDAA on the floor? We have done it for 61 years. Are we going to miss on year 62? Why is it not a priority? Could it possibly be that the NDAA is not a priority for my Democratic colleagues, that the men and women in uniform protecting them and their families are not a priority? Could it be it is not at the top of their to-do list? The choice to enter military service is a serious choice. It is a choice that people do not make lightly. But this hesitancy to serve should raise alarm bells in this Chamber. Looking at these numbers that are falling so far short of our recruitment goals, our retention goals, should ring some alarm bells. It is symptomatic of a much larger problem. The past few years haven't been easy for anyone, but we all have the benefit of hindsight. We all have the benefit of lessons learned. But it appears that some people are just not willing to learn from those lessons, and anyone willing to be honest about how the Democrats have handled this can see two things pretty clearly: First, turning the debate over the COVID vaccine into political warfare--that is a choice that the Democrats in this Chamber, the Democrats in Washington, DC, and this administration--that is a choice that they have made. Let's take this vaccine mandate, and let's turn it into political warfare. Secondly, getting political about this particular vaccine or shot, as it is, in the context of military readiness--that was a choice; I might add, a very bad, a very inappropriate choice. The military is supposed to be apolitical. Servicemembers count on that when they sign up to serve, when they raise their hand, when they take that oath, but now punditry drives policy at the Pentagon, and this has eroded trust between the military, the servicemembers, and their families. The Democrats are in charge of the Senate. If they had allowed it, we could have had an honest debate about my two amendments. As I said, they are each about one page long. They are there specifically to protect our men and women in uniform, to say we have to have them serve. We lost 5,700 to this COVID mandate. We are short--I have given you the numbers--15,000 this year and 21,000 for next year. That is what we are short. Recruitment is low. We are not hitting our marks there. Signing up for our military academies--the numbers are the lowest ever. We are not hitting the mark there. Why is it? Be honest with yourself and ask yourself, what has caused this change in attitude? You know, if you are honest with yourself, if the President were honest with himself, he could rescind that mandate. That would be a very good thing. But to ignore reality and pretend that these low recruitment numbers, these firings, these retention numbers are all OK--it is unconscionable. It is time for my colleagues--my Democratic colleagues--to stop ignoring the reality, stop ignoring the ripple effects of their political agenda before it puts our Nation and our military in danger. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following interns and fellows in my office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of this Congress: Jackson Hoppe, David Park, Martin Aleman, and Srdjan Simunovic.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I want to begin by welcoming the Tennessee National Guard's 268th Military Police Company home after a 305-day deployment to Africa. We are so incredibly grateful for their service and for the service and sacrifice that their families make during these times of deployment, and I know I speak for every Tennessean when I say to them: Welcome home. Job well done.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, over the years, country music has evolved from its humble roots into a celebration of extremes. Most modern artists like to draw their listeners into one of two states: perfect happiness or pure agony. But country music's legacy lies somewhere in the middle, where life tests our mettle and deals both joy and sorrow, all too often in unequal measure. It is the realm of the courageously unlucky and the quietly brokenhearted and the source of the world's most complex and affecting storytelling. It is that world that Loretta Lynn invited us to experience from the time she was a young woman until the day she died. Her resume is one of the most impressive in all entertainment: 46 solo studio albums, more than 50 Top Ten hits, member of the Grand Ole Opry, Country Music Hall of Famer, and the Country Music Association's first female Entertainer of the Year. But Loretta was much more than the sum of her accolades. She grew up poor and uneducated in the coal-mining hills of Kentucky. She was a wife at 15, a mother at 16, and moved thousands of miles away from home at an age when most teenagers today would just start dreaming about escaping from their parents. When she wasn't busy raising her children, she sang and played songs on a $17 Sears guitar. If Nashville is a 10-year town, then I suppose Loretta Lynn must have considered herself lucky at last, she only had to wait 7 months from the time of her first record pressing to the moment she first stepped onstage at the Grand Ole Opry. Still, at 28, she had seen more than enough to know that there was no hiding in a spotlight, so she sang about her life and found a voice that was once assertive and disruptive. She blazed trails in music and television by being herself, using humor to blunt the edge that hard living and having little agency well into womanhood had given her writing. On October 4 of this year, we lost our coal miner's daughter to a far better place. I will be forever grateful to her for her absolute belief in the power of storytelling. I hope her memory will inspire future generations of young women in music to do the bravest thing an artist can do and share their joy, pain, confusion, and hope in its most authentic form.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, on behalf of myself and Mr. Hagerty, I ask unanimous consent that the following remarks be printed in the Congressional Record to honor Ms. Ruth Skidmore of Oak Ridge, TN. By the end of the Second World War, there were almost 30,000 Army nurses on Active Duty. These brave healers served on the home front and across oceans, caring for the wounded, and bringing hope to thousands of American and Allied servicemembers. On November 2, 1943, a young lady named Ruth Skidmore joined their ranks and helped guide her compatriots on the frontlines through one of the darkest and most violent periods in American history. On October 13, 2022, Ruth celebrated her 100th birthday, and it felt appropriate that we should in turn celebrate not only her service to this country but her enduring legacy of service to her community. Ruth Skidmore was born 100 years ago in Fort Wayne, IN, the sixth of seven children. She held an afterschool job at the one-room schoolhouse across the street from her home, cleaning chalkboards and erasers for 10 cents a day. Following her father's advice, Ruth deposited her earnings in a savings account--a responsible decision indeed. Unfortunately, she lost all $13 of her savings in the crash of `29. To this day, Ruth is still mad at Herbert Hoover. She is a graduate of Hanover College, where she was crowned May Queen in her senior year. After college, Ruth contracted an eye infection and moved in with her uncle, who was an Army doctor. He suggested that she move to Arizona, believing that the dry air would aid in her healing. As it turns out, this piece of advice would change the course of Ruth's life. She moved to Tucson and signed up for Army Cadet School. The war was on, and everyone had a role to play. After the war Ruth moved to Oak Ridge, TN; after a short stint in Fort Lauderdale, FL, she returned to the Volunteer State to work as an industrial nurse at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Over the years Ruth took on the duties of a wife and a mother, but she never stopped serving her community. While raising her family, Ruth worked part-time as a nurse and especially enjoyed her 2 years working in Appalachia. Today, Ruth lives in Oak Ridge, where she indulges her green thumb and a love of music. She has always had a large garden and, as she puts it, was growing organic vegetables before it was cool. At the age of 60, Ruth threw herself into music lessons and developed no small talent on both the guitar and the piano. She regularly dazzles her friends and neighbors as part of a veterans' band. Ruth, what a life you have lived. On behalf of all Tennesseans and our colleagues in the U.S. Senate, we wish you a very happy birthday and as much joy and love as one person could hope for in the coming year.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, last evening, I had the opportunity to get on the phone in a telephone townhall with citizens from Davidson and Shelby Counties in Tennessee, and crime was the No. 1 issue that people were talking about. And one of the points that came up several times was, Why is it that some of our colleagues across the aisle have stuck with this prepackaged, zero consequences crime narrative that they are still trying to sell to the American people? Crime is an issue. And Tennesseans aren't buying the message. I don't think the American people are buying it because they are living with the real-world consequences of the Democrats' refusal to work to get crime under control. Now, a few days ago, I was watching the news, and I could not believe what I was seeing. Young people were ransacking a convenience store. They were doing this in full view of the cameras, continuing to talk to one another, just going through ransacking that store. Now, I know I would like to say that was an isolated incident, but we all know that this is not an isolated incident. What is happening is, this has become a trend in many of our cities. The numbers aren't working in our favor when we talk about this trend, whether you are talking about theft or vandalism or something much worse. Here are some stats. Since 2019, homicide rates in our largest cities are up 50 percent. That is since 2019. Aggravated assaults are up 36 percent. Last year, 108,000 Americans died of a drug overdose; 4,000 of those were Tennesseans. Now, we can continue to engage in a cable news proxy war or we can do something about this. We, as lawmakers, cannot control what the pundits and the activists say, but we can do something to help the millions of Americans who have become or are at risk of becoming victims of violence. Back home in Tennessee, the sheriffs and other local officials whom I talk to as I have done my 95-county tour, visiting with every county, these sheriffs, these local officials, parents, principals--they are all telling me exactly why they are struggling to get this crimewave under control. Go talk to a police chief or a captain or go talk to a sheriff or a deputy, and they will tell you: lack of manpower, lack of funding, and the Democrats' soft-on-crime agenda. We can help with the first two things right now without spending an additional dime of taxpayer money. That lack of manpower, that lack of funding--yes, this is something that we could take action on today if we chose to. This month, Senator Hagerty and I filed a bill called the Restoring Law and Order Act that would establish a grant program to help State, local, and Tribal law enforcement officials do the work that obviously our President and the Democrats have chosen not to do. First and foremost, here is what the bill would do. Our local law enforcement officers would be able to use these grants to hire more officers and to train them to deal with violent criminals. They will also be able to pull in more resources to combat interstate child trafficking between the open border and the ease with which criminals are using technology to target kids. This was something we could not afford to leave out of the Restoring Law and Order Act. These grants would help communities prioritize tough sentencing for repeat offenders and use responsible bail practices and pretrial detention to keep dangerous offenders behind bars. If housing is a problem, they will be able to address it. If food items are a problem, then there would be a way to address that. We are also going to make these grants available to departments that need help targeting drug crime and getting fentanyl off the streets. Sheriffs in Tennessee tell me that around 80 percent of the drugs that they are seizing--80 percent--contain fentanyl, which means there are a lot of people out there who are ingesting fentanyl and dying without ever knowing that they were taking something laced with fentanyl. This is also putting law enforcement at considerable risk. At least one Tennessee officer is lucky to be alive after accidentally coming into contact with fentanyl. Last but not least, we are going to encourage law enforcement to make use of these grants to clear the investigatory backlog and get evidence processed as quickly as possible. So much of our focus has been on urban areas because cities like Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Memphis are struggling when it comes to controlling homicides, carjackings, and other crimes that are really frightening to people, but rural areas of my State are also seeing unprecedented levels of crime and drug overdose. So to help these communities rise to the challenge, this bill commits no less than 25 percent of its total grant allotment to rural and depressed counties. Now, as I said, this grant program won't spend an additional dime of taxpayer money. The big IRS payday my Democratic colleagues snuck into the so-called Inflation Reduction Act will be put to better use. Here is how you do it. Instead of using that money to hire more bureaucrats to attack small businesses and independent operators, we are going to use it to keep the communities where they work safe from violent criminals. We also found that Joe Biden and the Democrats have left a lot of their so-called emergency COVID funding lying around, so we are going to put those funds toward hiring more officers and forensic examiners and clearing the rape kit backlogs. Tennesseans are spending $616 more per month now than they were last year just to keep themselves fed and their cars running. They can't afford to maintain a slush fund for far- left priorities when that money could be put to use actually helping clean up our streets, helping keep our communities safe, and helping to apprehend drug dealers and keep them in jail. That is where these dollars should be used. The final element of this bill would help us get to the root causes of the rape kit backlogs. In 2021, the U.S. Government spent $251,975,000 through six separate programs to help law enforcement conduct rape and sexual assault investigations. Here is that breakdown. And yes, indeed, Mr. President, $251 million is a lot of money--you are right. More than $24 million was spent on advocacy programs; almost $34 million to train forensic examiners and their staff to collect and preserve DNA evidence, analyze it, and present it in the courtroom; $4 million to train and provide resources to medical personnel who treat victims of sexual assault; almost $90 million to get first responders and forensic testing capabilities in rural areas up on par with urban areas; and $158 million just to address the backlog. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested, and still it seems we cannot get these rape kits processed. Sometimes it takes a full year to get these results. I want to use one grant program as a case study to demonstrate the problem that we are seeing. An audit of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative found that between 2015 and 2021, we sent $266 million to 75 grantees in 40 States and DC to process these kits, to process and obtain this evidence. In that time, they only managed to clear a little over half of a 136,000-kit backlog. Now, bear in mind, these kits are the kits that contain the DNA evidence of violent offenders. These are individuals who have committed violent sexual assaults. Every one of these should be processed as a rush order--but no. From 2015 to 2021, with $266 million being sent to 75 grantees in 40 different States and the District of Columbia, they managed to clear a little over half of a 136,000-case backlog. So you still have tens of thousands of kits that are gathering dust, and that is just the ones in the custody of grantees from one single program. This represents over 50,000 violations of trust and bodily autonomy, 50,000 worst night of an innocent man or woman's life, and 50,000 times the scum of the Earth thought they committed a crime and they got away with it, but they also represent 50,000 opportunities for us to take that rapist or that violent offender and put them in jail for the rest of their life. The Restoring Law and Order Act will give the GAO a year to conduct a study and prepare a report to explain why we haven't been able to clear the backlog. Why is it we cannot get these kits processed? They are going to look for deficiencies in processing and also let us know where and to what extent rape kits aren't available at all. This month, Tennesseans--especially the people of Memphis--have been stuck in a vicious cycle of grieving and asking: What more could have been done to spare the victims of two of the most notorious killers in recent memory? We already know that at least one brutal murder could have been prevented if the crime lab had been able to reduce their processing time for rape kits. Three more may have been prevented if the people responsible for keeping criminals in jail had done their jobs and forced a repeat violent offender to serve out a full sentence. That didn't happen. Four innocent people in Memphis are dead. The community is heartbroken, and they are grieving. Last night, on our telephone townhall, they talked a lot about this. They talked about how it has affected them and their community. Now, the left has spent 2 years screaming at Congress to defund the police, pull law enforcement out of neighborhoods, and eliminate consequences for violent behavior, and it is just plain frightening to see so many of my colleagues continue to go along with that rhetoric. Tennesseans agree, and I think the American people agree also. They don't want an unfair system. They don't want innocent people to be behind bars. They want a system that works. They are tired of hearing that they are the problem--at least according to the Democrats' zero- consequences narrative. That narrative has turned criminals into victims and innocent people into villains and has left true victims wondering who was there for them. There is nothing just or equitable about that. I would ask my Democratic colleagues to abandon the echo chamber and get on the phone. Go see and visit and listen to and hear from your sheriffs and your mayors and other law enforcement officials back home. Listen to what they have to say. They need your help. Senator Hagerty and I would love to have their help and support in passing the Restoring Law and Order Act. We need to move this legislation. We need to vote on it now before the crimewave gets even worse. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. As I have talked on this floor through the past few years, I have talked about visiting each of the 95 counties in our great State of Tennessee every year. And when I am there, I spend much of the time talking with local leaders, small business owners, families, citizens who call Tennessee home. And I have seen firsthand what the Biden agenda has done to them over these past 2 years. The out-of-control spending that started almost immediately after Democrats took power and the inflation it caused has made life too expensive to afford for many individuals. The open border policy that did indeed start on day 1 of this administration overwhelmed Border Patrol and turned every Tennessee town, just like towns all across this country, into a border town. The Democrats' obsession with environmental radicalism and the Green New Deal destroyed thousands of jobs, and as a bonus, this has sent gas and energy prices soaring. They ignored our broken-down supply chains, and now economic development in rural and depressed areas has stalled out. I wish I could chalk all this up to gross incompetence, but after 2 years, I know and Tennesseans know there is a lot more to that story. Joe Biden and the Democrats know what they are doing. They know it is wrong, and they are doing it anyway. One of the most frightening consequences of Joe Biden's reckless abuse of power is the rise in violent crime. The left's ``defund the police'' movement gained traction before Biden and his Democratic allies took power here in Washington, DC, but it was their decision to let it fester and undermine local law enforcement. Instead of abiding by their duty to keep Americans safe, they have made heroes out of criminals and turned police officers into villains. The results have been disastrous. Compared to mid-2019, America's largest cities have seen a 50-percent increase in homicides and a 36- percent increase in aggravated assaults. Cities that caved to the radical left's demands to gut the police department have seen crime rates rise even higher. The people of Memphis have had a front-row seat to this violence. I would implore my colleagues to listen to them, rather than to the anti- police activists making their phones ring, because they--they--are the ones who are paying the price for this little experiment. Ask them how they felt as they watched a shooting spree play out live on social media. I won't use the perpetrator's name here on the floor of the Senate, but he is accused of murdering three people, wounding three others, and committing not one but two carjackings. Ask them how they felt when they found out what happened to the wife, mother, and teacher who never came back from her morning run. A monster with a long criminal record--again, whose name I will not use here--is charged with her brutal abduction and murder. And then ask them how they would feel about living in a world without law enforcement officers. There are thousands of examples, unfortunately, that I could list, but the point is that the Democrats and their reckless anti-cop, anti- law enforcement agenda destroyed the concept of law and order in this country to service a narrative about how evil America is, but in the end, all they did was to empower the real evildoers. Joe Biden and the Democrats have squandered their time in power, wasting our money and throwing cops under the bus, and now, just as they have with every other disastrous choice they have made, they are determined to, unfortunately, ignore the consequences. The Democrats did not take power with a mandate to defund the police, but if they listened to the American people, they would have known we do have a mandate to undo the damage that caused and support ``Back the Blue'' and make our communities safe again. Last week, Senator Hagerty and I introduced the Restoring Law and Order Act, and I am hopeful that my Democratic colleagues will see reason and help us move this through Congress and to the President's desk as soon as possible. The bill addresses two key priorities we should all share: One, hiring more police officers with experience handling violent crime and, two, cutting down the processing time that it is taking for processing rape kits. Sheriffs in Tennessee have confirmed for me, time and again, that manpower is, indeed, a problem. They don't have enough people to keep up with the crimewave that we are seeing. We need to change that. We are also going to give them the resources they need to target drug crime, clean all that cartel fentanyl off the streets, and keep criminals locked up behind bars. I want to devote the time I have left to the issue of the rape kit backlog because this is something that we have talked about for years but haven't been able to get to the bottom of, even with the help of hundreds of millions of dollars. Simply throwing money at the problem is no longer enough. I want to use one program as an example of why we know this is the case. Between 2015 and 2021, $266 million in grants has flowed out the door to 40 States and the District of Columbia as part of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. These jurisdictions have identified about 136,000 unsubmitted kits and tested more than 81,000 of them. Let that number sink in. As I said, they have identified 136,000 kits. They have tested more than 81,000 of them. This has led to 13,000 CODIS hits, 189 convictions, and 795 guilty pleas. Good results but not good enough. Those grantees still have 50,000 kits gathering dust on the shelves of their evidence lockers-- 50,000--50,000 kits, aggravated assaults, rapes, incidences reported, but they have not been processed even yet. So what is going on here? That is a question that is truly in need of an answer, and this administration, the Democrats, all of us in this Chamber, owe it to the women in this country to help local law enforcement officers get an answer. Why are these kits not being processed in a timely manner? As I said, we have put hundreds of millions of dollars into this. We have made certain kits are there. We have money that has been put forward to push these through the system, but they are languishing. We are not getting those results in a timely manner in order to lock up violent criminals. The Restoring Law and Order Act will direct some funds to State and local agencies to specifically address the backlog. It also will require the GAO to study the availability of and deficiencies in processing rape kits. Congress has let this go on long enough. When I speak to women at home in Tennessee, they are terrified about how far this has been willing to let go. This President's anti-justice agenda has destroyed trust in our system. It is astonishing to me that in 2022, we are still having to debate the merits--the merits--of maintaining law and order, especially considering we can see the consequences of undermining it live and on camera every single night. Turn on the local news here in DC, you will get a taste of what it looks like when local leadership turns their backs on victims and empowers criminals. The Restoring Law and Order Act is an important bill that the Senate should pass as soon as possible, but that is just one step. If you listen to the outcry from Memphis or L.A. or New York and other cities around the country and especially on the border, it is so clear this President and the Democrats have a mandate from the American people to fight crime, to empower law enforcement, and to seek justice for victims of violence. This means embracing a simple mantra: If you do the crime, you have to pay the time. It also means hiring and electing tough prosecutors and district attorneys and eliminating soft-on-crime policies that allow violent offenders to roam free. If the powers that be had been a little tougher on the violent criminal who live-streamed his shooting spree, the streets of Memphis would have been a little bit safer. He only served 11 months of a previous 3-year sentence for aggravated assault. But they let him out early, and now three individuals have lost their lives. If they had really taken their time with the other criminal I mentioned just a few moments ago, who had a past record of rape and aggravated assault, they may not have let him out of prison before his 24-year sentence was up. If the crime lab had secured the resources to clear their rape kit backlog, they may have discovered the year-old kit containing his DNA and stopped his release. The monster would still be in jail; a wife and mother would still be alive; and one less family would be in mourning. The time for politicizing this has come to an end. Tennesseans aren't worried about the midterms. They are not worried about a legislative timeline. What matters to them is restoring law and order. I would venture to guess that this President's administration and my Democratic colleagues probably know this, and if they block this bill, if they stand between victims of violent crime and the justice they deserve, they do so with the knowledge that more people will die; more violent offenders will walk free; and more families will suffer. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, on November 11, 2001--exactly 2 months after the September 11 attacks--President Bush spoke to the United Nations General Assembly about the universal threat of terrorism. I want to share just a few lines from that speech: The suffering of September the 11th was inflicted on people of many faiths and many nations. All of the victims, including Muslims, were killed with equal indifference and equal satisfaction by the terrorist leaders. Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children. And the people of my country will remember those who have plotted against us. We are learning their names. We are coming to know their faces. There is no corner of the Earth distant or dark enough to protect them. However long it takes, their hour of justice will come. Every nation has a stake in this cause. As we meet, the terrorists are planning more murder--perhaps in my country, or perhaps in yours. They kill because they aspire to dominate. Now, 21 years later, I fear that President Biden and many of my Democratic colleagues have forgotten the lessons they learned from that day and in the years that have followed. What I recall most about the weeks and months following the attacks is that everyone I talked with, no matter their politics, believed that we were facing a battle of good versus evil. There was a real clarity of conviction that demanded we all choose a side. Would we stand with freedom or with the enemies of freedom? You can dither and dally all you want on national security policy, but there was not much dithering to be done on that point, at least not in 2001. But now, in the mainstream media and at the highest levels of the Democratic Party, we see that clarity of conviction ceding ground to moral relativism. It infected this weekend's remembrance. It infected the debate surrounding Joe Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. And it has all but derailed any serious discussion about emerging threats, not just from terrorist organizations but from hostile regimes that the Biden administration seems determined to appease. During this past August work period, I had the opportunity to visit two of the hot spots. Working with our counterparts in Taiwan and Israel was illuminating for many reasons. I wish every single one of my colleagues would get off their computers, get on a plane, and go talk to them about what it is like to spend every day on the frontlines in this battle against the new ``axis of evil.'' Here in the United States, we are blessed by the benefit of physical distance from the hot spots. And it is no guarantee of protection, and I believe it has lulled many of my colleagues into a false sense of security concerning the threats we face. Our friends in Taipei and Jerusalem don't share this benefit. They spend their days watching missiles fly closer to their homes and listening to authoritarian propaganda from Beijing and Iran that threatens innocent families with extinction for the crime of simply existing. In Israel, they are gravely concerned about the Biden administration's desire to enter into a new nuclear deal with Tehran. They worry that this will move Iran closer to a nuclear warhead. They are concerned about what would happen with the billions of dollars that would flow into Iran's coffers. What would happen with sanctions relief? How will they use this money? Overall, their fears are dominated by the knowledge that, yes, indeed, Iran is the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism. How will they use the money to finance the work of their proxies? They are particularly concerned how this will instigate growth and expansion of terrorism in Palestine. In Taiwan, they are concerned about the growing intensity of Chinese Communist Party aggression. I have also heard grave concerns from other island nations that if China overruns Taiwan, they could be the next to fall. But above all, they conveyed a strong desire to continue working with the United States. Yes, we are their preferred partner. They need our foreign military sales. They want to be able to defend themselves. It means they have to increase their defense capabilities. Taiwan and Israel aren't the only hot spots that should concern us, but they both represent the first line of defense against the growing influence of the new ``axis of evil.'' The one thing I heard, over and over again when I was overseas, is that if we allow these nations to become overrun, it will start a domino effect in the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East that will be difficult, if not impossible, to stop. And as we have seen before, when we give nations like China and Iran an inch, what do they do? They take a mile. So it is incomprehensible to me that Joe Biden and the Democrats are not doing everything--everything--in their power to stop this from happening. Over the past few years, I have watched the President and his allies treat the threat posed by the new ``axis of evil'' like an academic problem, rather than what it is, a true threat to our freedoms. There is no excuse for this. They all have access to television and the internet. They know exactly who is in charge in Tehran and Beijing and what they are willing to do to expand their power. So why have we made so little progress repatriating our supply chains and protecting our economy from the Chinese Communist Party? Why is Joe Biden trying to force the American people into another failed nuclear deal with Iran? Why are they not listening to our closest allies and partners in these regions? Why is this administration having Russia negotiate a new Iran nuclear deal? If this country continues to treat China and Iran like difficult neighbors instead of a threat to our freedoms, eventually the balance of power will shift in their favor. Nations like Taiwan and Israel will fall. The United States could suffer another devastating attack. Joe Biden and the Democrats have wasted time rejecting reality in favor of appeasement. They believe that they can negotiate the upper hand and settle things diplomatically. But this isn't diplomacy; this is a hostage situation. If it weren't, images of missiles flying towards civilians would have reignited the same clarity of conviction we all felt after the towers fell and the people in charge of our government would be shouting warnings from the rooftops rather than negotiating away our security behind closed doors. I would remind my Democratic colleagues that U.N. human rights reports and strongly worded statements and all the other trappings of your current brand of diplomacy mean nothing if you are not willing to put lives and livelihoods on the line to defend them. So it is time to decide: Will you stand with freedom or with the enemies of freedom? I want to reiterate President Bush's assessment of the terrorists who attacked our country 21 years ago this week because it is an apt comparison to be made. ``They kill because they aspire to dominate.'' Think about that one. ``They kill because they aspire to dominate.'' What the regimes in Tehran and Beijing are doing right now to our friends in Israel and Taiwan looks different from what al-Qaida did to us on 9/11, but their goals are the same. They seek global domination, and they are growing impatient. We can either wait to see what they will do next or we can stand with our allies and partners and demonstrate our resolve to ensure that the new axis of evil fails. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Claire Gute and Ashley Martin, interns in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the Congress.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, the attacks of September 11, 2001, exposed the American people to a level of vulnerability we had not encountered since the Second World War. While the terrorists failed in their objective of breaking us, they were successful in forcing the rest of the world to decide if they would give in to fear and remain silent or take a stand against the violent hatred that motivated the murders of almost 3,000 innocents. For me, the memory of 9/11 is and always will be dominated by fear for the safety of my own children. The hours that passed without hearing from them were among the loneliest of my life, and indeed, that loneliness was shared by every American who spent the next few terrible days waiting for the phone to ring. Our sense of isolation was compounded by a growing chorus of voices that blamed Americans for the bloodshed in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. When Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II broke with centuries of tradition and directed the band of the Coldstream Guards to play the ``Star- Spangled Banner'' outside Buckingham Palace just 2 days after the attacks, she did much more than make a political statement. Her small act of rebellion confirmed that the special kinship between our nations will unite us forever under a common cause of freedom. While some chose cowardice in the wake of the attacks, she recognized the anguish of a friend and offered a gesture meant only to assure us that we were not, and never would be, alone. For more than 70 years, the Queen ruled with the same grace and dignity she afforded the American people in our darkest hour. On behalf of all Tennesseans, I offer my gratitude for her long life of service, my condolences to the royal family, and my assurances to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth that, should great need arise, there will be no need to ask for our help, for we are already standing beside you.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I think we all enjoyed being in our States during August. And during the time I was there, I wrapped up what I do each year, which is to visit with each of our 95 counties. And this is truly a listening tour for me, being able to talk with our citizens, to talk with our elected leaders. And I would leave those meetings so encouraged and think, I could not be more impressed with the things that are being done in these communities. I would go to the next community and again would be just as impressed. Tennesseans are working hard. And this year has been a difficult year for everyone. But I want to focus on our local leaders today because they are the ones who are keeping these communities afloat. And they have done it in spite of everything that Washington, DC, and the Democrats are doing to them. I thought it was interesting that yesterday the majority leader opened the Senate by reciting a laundry list of the Democratic Party's accomplishments. Now, he put quite a spin on this. Back home in Tennessee, the people that I work with every single day are seeing this laundry list for what it is and how it affects them. There is hundreds of billions of dollars for the Green New Deal giveaways, and there are Big Government power grabs; there is crippling regulatory overreach; billions more have been spent on this student loan forgiveness program. Indeed, it could end up being a trillion dollars. And there are attacks on our fundamental constitutional rights. Yes, indeed, the way Tennesseans see it is that Joe Biden and the Democrats are putting together the pieces for what they call their transformation, their great socialist experiment. But in Tennessee, local leaders are really working around the clock to keep that vision from coming to be and to keep their communities from falling apart. And as I visited with these 95 counties, they gave to me one message that came through time and again, repeatedly. They don't like what they are seeing from this socialist agenda that is being pushed forward here in DC. Indeed, they would talk about their worries and their fears. They would talk about the impact of 9 percent inflation and $5-a-gallon gas. Now, that may be Chuck Schumer's version of success, which he really helpfully laid out yesterday as to what he thinks are successes and achievements, and that depends entirely upon his ability to spend somebody else's money on things that the American people have repeatedly said they do not want and they do not need. That message came through every one of our 95 counties. Now, in Tennessee, when we talk about success, you hear about something different. You hear about growth. You hear about investments that companies are making in our State. And we have earned this the hard way. And, indeed, the rest of the country is noticing. Tennessee is one of the most well-managed States. It has no State income tax. And you have got Ford Motor Company and SK Innovation that have seen the potential in our State, specifically in Haywood County. And they have invested billions of dollars. When I was in West Tennessee last month, I visited their Blue Oval City project site where, in just a few years, they will have a brandnew manufacturing hub that will create thousands of jobs and grow the local economy by millions and millions of dollars. The people at Lone Oaks Farms in Hardeman County are working to make certain that there is a great workforce. And they are developing STEM education programs. When I visited them, they were hard at work planning for the new 4-H Development Center, where students will learn how to be good stewards of Tennessee's natural resources. Across the State in Blount County, I was so happy to officially welcome Smith & Wesson to Tennessee. Now, see, they have moved their headquarters and their manufacturing facility down from their old home in Massachusetts. And they are certainly pleased with the Southern hospitality and the good business working environment that they are seeing in Tennessee. The largest Buc-ee's in the Nation is coming to Kodak, TN. Also, over on the east end of the State, the Techstars Accelerator Program is thriving in Knoxville. Red Stag set up a new logistics hub in Sweetwater. And we have a brandnew emergency clinic in the Upper Cumberland. This is the sort of laundry list that I would hope and wish that my Democratic colleagues would be proud of. From one end of the State to the other, Tennessee is drawing investment, no thanks to this White House, to President Biden, and the Democrats that run the House and the Senate. It is our local leaders that are doing the heavy lift, in spite of what Washington, DC, is throwing at them every day. But with that said, these local leaders deserve the respect and support from the Democratic Party. Even a bare minimum promise to not sabotage their hard work would be welcomed by them. But across all 95 counties, the message I received, as I said, was pretty much the same: They are worried. They are very worried. They are fearful. But they are not letting themselves get caught up in what the Democrats are doing. Yes, they know the Democrats have a socialist-style agenda that they are pushing. That is the Democrats' vision for the future. In Tennessee, our counties are not going to let the Democrats destroy their hope for a better future. They know that since the day the Democrats took power, Joe Biden and the Democrats have done everything they could do to seize control and remake a vision for this country into their image, where the elites, the select few--the Democrats--control the power on all the levers, and they can dictate to the States how they are going to live, what they are going to accomplish, what they are going to do. Tennesseans are suffering the consequences of these policies in the form of record-breaking inflation, obscene fuel and energy costs, rising crime and drug use, and the overall sense that they have been abandoned by the Federal Government. That is how they see it. The overwhelming issue right now is inflation, inflation, inflation. It is the top concern in all 95 counties. It affects every county budget, and it affects small business. In Fayette County, I got to speak to Joey Hays of Dyer Foods and some of the truly resilient workers at one of his local grocery stores. We should all be grateful for people like the workers at Dyer Foods. They didn't have it easy during the pandemic, and it hasn't gotten any easier now than it was during the pandemic because more of their paychecks are being eaten up by inflation. Interesting, isn't it? Inflation is outpacing any wage growth. Many Tennessee counties that have managed to pull themselves out of distress status lost all traction when inflation skyrocketed. And now, guess what? They feel like they are back at square one because of decisions that had been made in Washington, DC. No fault of their own, mind you, decisions that are made here. Dayton City Manager Tommy Solomon told me he saw the price of pipe go up 200 percent. They had to stop some of their water projects because they couldn't afford to buy the supplies. That is right. The pipe was up 200 percent. Hamilton County Mayor Coppinger told me the worker shortage has made the inflation-driven problems even worse. They have raised salaries, and they still can't fill critical roles, especially in public health. In Rhea, Bledsoe, McMinn, Marion, and Grundy Counties, inflation and supply chain issues are wiping out farmers. Most small farms in these counties only planted about half their normal crop due to fuel and fertilizer prices. Their businesses--these small businesses--are drying up. Many other businesses, including large manufacturers, are being stonewalled by regulators from the EPA with no explanation as to why they are making the decisions that they make. Do you know what? Unfortunately for small business manufacturers, there is no end in sight to what these regulators in this administration will do. Meanwhile, while all of this is happening, the border is open by order of the White House. The drug mules are streaming in, and drug use is spiking. Every single sheriff--every one of them--that I spoke to in Southeast Tennessee, told me that fentanyl is their No. 1 issue, and I can tell you that it is an issue in other areas of the State as well. In Grundy County, Sheriff Shrum told me about what happened to one of his deputies who accidentally came into contact with a dangerous amount of fentanyl. He started the day trying to save a life, but by the end of that day, it was his colleagues from the sheriff's department who were saving his life and giving him a dose of Narcan. This is what our first responders and our local law enforcement are facing because Joe Biden and the Democrats and this DHS are refusing to secure the southern border. Two million plus and counting, about three quarters of a million known got-aways, but they will stand up there and tell you: Oh, the border is closed. Law enforcement in our State does not believe that, and I don't either. This is a shame. Crime is on the rise, but rather than supporting police officers, Joe Biden and the Democrats are obsessed with undermining, defunding, and disbanding police departments. In Tipton County, I was truly blessed to meet Deputy Gene Molder and his family. Deputy Molder was shot in the line of duty last March while he was trying to help a group of people escape a violent hostage situation. Thank God, he is all right now, but people are outraged at the leftist rhetoric that is clearly designed to increase violence against law enforcement. Tennesseans aren't asking for much. They don't want a Federal Government to make their decisions for them. They don't want a handout. They don't want centralized control. Honestly, they wish that they could just be left alone when it comes to Washington, DC, and what they are doling out. They want you, the Federal Government, to get out of the way so that they can fulfill their vision for the future-- prosperous, safe, secure. This President's socialist agenda won't help them do that because prosperity, freedom, independence, liberty, equal treatment under the law, equal justice for all is not what is at the top of their to-do list. It won't help Hamilton County hire workers or the Dayton Public Works Department buy pipe. It certainly won't help farmers in Rhea County grow the food you eat, and it won't help police officers keep their communities safe and secure. These local leaders in the great state of Tennessee know better than anyone here in Washington what they need us to do in order to help them get things done, and that message came through clear as a bell in 95 counties. What did they tell me--that message I heard all across 95 counties? Please secure the border and support law enforcement, repair and secure our supply chains, keep taxes low, and develop a business- friendly attitude, and, above all else, stop the out-of-control Federal spending. I know this administration has made a name for itself telling people what they can and cannot do. But I will tell you that this is a power struggle that you are not going to win, at least where Tennesseans are concerned. The Democrats have an agenda, but in Tennessee I have met with some of the most wonderful people in this country. They have a vision for what they want the future to be. They want it to be focused on hope, on opportunity for all, and I want to thank every single Tennessee leader, law enforcement officer, business owner, and citizens who gave me their time, who talked with me and who offered their advice this past year. Their wisdom is what guides my decisions here in Washington. I only wish that my Democratic colleagues would take their words to heart as well. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, as I was reading through this reckless spending spree that my Democratic colleagues are in such a rush to get this thing passed so that they can get it signed into law--I was reading it, and I thought, you know, we have been through this exercise before. We have before us a bill that is too expensive to afford. It has been thrown together behind closed doors, in secret, perfectly branded to prey on the struggles, the fears of the American people because after all, fearful people are easier to control. And what do we know? The Democratic Party, they are all about control and they are all about power. Now, I remembered that this isn't the first time in the Schumer Senate that the Democratic colleagues have tried to turn a crisis into an opportunity. A little over a year ago, they pulled the exact same bait-and-switch with a $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Senator Graham talked about this before. It was to bring, oh, so much prosperity. It was to solve all of your problems, help was on the way. But it was a big government blowout in the form of $350 billion in the slush fund for blue cities, a State tax cut ban, a $60 billion tax hike, subsidized government healthcare, and a union pension bailout. Now, it is pretty clear who the Democrats were trying to rescue with that bill. And it was not hard-working American taxpayers. They got the shaft on that. And they know it. And then, of course, we considered the infrastructure package that had almost nothing to do with infrastructure, but it served as a very useful vehicle for a lot of the Green New Deal. Remember, Build Back Better--they couldn't get it across. They had to break it into parts. So you have seen parts of it in different bills. Part of it was in that infrastructure package. To Tennesseans, this was a missed opportunity because they desperately need meaningful improvements to broadband infrastructure and access to high-speed internet connections. It was a missed opportunity for all Americans seeing crime and drugs that are in their communities because of that open border. And it was a missed opportunity for the Keystone XL Pipeline and for support for American energy. Missed opportunities continue to be their thing. Just a few short days ago, we passed a CHIPS and Science bill. Sounds really good and constructive. But over the course of a few years, this ballooned from an emergency investment in semiconductors into an almost $300 billion gateway to industrial planning and, of course, more of the Green New Deal. My Democratic colleagues took an opportunity to unravel our dangerous relationship with the Chinese Communist Party and squandered it on a tee-up to seizing more control over the manufacturing and upstream suppliers we should be empowering. Fast forward to this month, and here we go again, sifting through a package that costs nearly a trillion dollars, yet is somehow still marketed as the Inflation Reduction Act. And I will say to my Democratic colleagues and Senator Schumer and Senator Manchin, the American people are laughing at the name of this bill. They are laughing at this. They know better than this. They can see right through what you have done. They know what is going on. And they know that your priorities do not line up with their priorities and their concerns. In reality, this bill provides no pathway to reduce our current inflation. It will, however, put pressure on the economy, raise taxes on just about everyone, kills jobs, stifles innovation, weaponizes the regulatory state against small businesses and private enterprise. Now, all these things have the potential to devastate the economy and make life harder for hard-working taxpayers. I want to focus on how Joe Biden and the Democrats are using regulators to overrule the will of the people and to seize more control over the country because this tactic has truly been a favorite of the Democrats. They expand the regulatory state. They issue mandates. They institute lockdowns. And, there is that word again: ``control.'' They are after the control. If you need an example, look no further than the dozens of newly arrived rules and regulations that they have used to gut American energy. Radical climate activists in the environmental lobby won big when those went into effect. But everyone else lost. If you were an energy consumer, a truckdriver, someone who was traveling, and workers who had their jobs just regulated out of existence, that is what the Democrats did for you. Here is another. In April, the Biden Border Patrol announced that they were holding up construction on the border wall so that they could do an environmental assessment. Now, if you recall, this is one regulatory barrier that President Trump eliminated when he took office because he understood the danger posed by our lack of border security. He was listening to the American people and the Border Patrol and people that lived there. He knew what was happening. Well, under President Biden, the open borders advocates won. But the ranchers, the border communities, small-town law enforcement--they lost. The Biden administration loves to use the regulatory hammer so that they can pick winners and losers that they want. They will punish you. They will punish you. It is what they are doing with the bill that we are considering tonight in the middle of the night, on the weekend, when people are at the lake, when people are out with their children, having fun, enjoying the summer. Here we are. It is so interesting that they have married the strategy they used last March by catering to--you guessed it--blue States, unions, and climate justice warriors. Here is just one example of one of the regulatory schemes contained in the bill that will benefit the usual Democratic allies but wreak havoc on everyone else. Right now, manufacturers that burn fossil fuels can earn a $35 tax credit for every ton of carbon dioxide they capture and store. The bill cuts that tax credit down to $17. But there is a catch. A business can earn an $85 tax credit if they comply with labor standards that are laid out in the bill. This, of course, means that in order to survive, manufacturers and fossil fuel companies will be mandated to use union labor. Nuclear power plants will have a similar hit. If this legislation passes, they will earn $12 more per ton in tax credits if they go to the unions instead of letting the free market determine who they hire. Now, the problem here doesn't only have to do with unions versus right-to-work policies. The problem is that the base tax credit reductions in this bill were designed to kill companies that don't want to play along with the left's green crusade and funnel money to Chuck Schumer's political allies. Hear me out. If, for example, you are running a utility in a right- to-work State and you want to keep taking advantage of tax credits, you are going to be in a very tight spot. When this bill becomes law, you will be stripped of your practical ability to hire right-to-work employees and mandated to use union labor instead. The kowtowing to union demands is also part of a pattern. Just a few days ago, my Democratic colleagues killed my amendment to the PACT Act that would have given toxic-exposed veterans expedited access to community care. Now, why did they do that? To protect union employees in VA facilities, of course. We can't take a step like that; it might privatize VA, they seem to think. Now, instead of the healthcare that they deserve, these veterans are left with nothing but false hope--access to the queue but no access to the care. Over and over again, it never stops here in the Schumer Senate. The Democrats say one thing; they turn around and do another thing. The bill also increases renewable tax credits but only for projects located in the so-called environmental justice communities, wherever they are. That is a very creative way for my Democratic colleagues to tell us they are using this increase to funnel money to the cities and States they deem worthy of support. The measure is simple: You comply or you go bankrupt. Then, again, you might go bankrupt if you do comply. Doing so will increase project costs and labor costs, which will, in turn, increase costs on everything. Everyone loses except the Democrats and their political allies. Joe Biden and the Democrats have become famous for saying one thing and doing another. They promise inflation reduction, then raise manufacturing costs. They promise economic relief but then raise your utility costs and your grocery bills. They assure the American people, time and again, that Big Government can solve your problems, and then they use Big Government to absolutely beat the living stew out of private enterprise. My Democratic colleagues have touted this latest disastrous version of their ``Build Back Broke'' agenda as progressive. And I do hope the American people are figuring out what ``progressive'' means: tax increases, massive transfers of wealth, ideological conformity backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. If you want to be broke and grovel to the government, this bill is for you. These hundreds of billions of dollars will serve a purpose but not to reduce inflation or bring relief. Blue States, unions, radical activists will once again come out on top. Meanwhile, families working hard to make ends meet, workers, business owners, local leaders are still on the verge of losing everything. I think my Democratic colleagues know this, but they have decided that the pain and the suffering is worth it. After all, they continue to tell us we need to be transitioning. We need to be transitioning. I don't think people like what they are going to have to transition to. When I am home in Tennessee, they certainly don't like it. I will be back Monday doing meetings across the State, and I will have to tell them that, once again, the Democrats have taken advantage of their desperation and their exhaustion with what is going on. And, once again, the Democrats have sold them a bill of goods that ignores our current crisis, prioritizes the pet projects the Democrats have, and the American people are once again getting the shaft. I will tell them that, for the Democrats, this isn't about service; it is about control. It is about power. And to Tennesseans, this is all frightening. They think that this is a reckless, manipulative, dangerous abuse of power. There is very little, if anything at all, that is pro ``we the people'' in this bill. I yield the floor.