Marsha Blackburn

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I find it so interesting how people are watching so closely to see what this administration does, and I have been so pleased to see that the polling shows, by an overwhelming amount, 70 percent of the American people agree with how President Donald Trump is carrying out his job, getting things done for the American people, things that they voted to see done, and he is keeping those promises. Now, when we look at the issue of illegal immigration, we see that in his first weeks back in office, what he has done at the top of his to- do list has been to take action to secure this border. The numbers that we are seeing, how they have dropped with the number of encounters, with the number of ``got-aways,'' this is encouraging. The message is out there. The United States is going to protect and defend its sovereignty. We are going to protect and defend our people. That is important, and we are seeing it. Now, the President has taken some Executive actions that have yielded results. By Executive order, he restored the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy. He restarted the border wall construction--which, by the way, this is something the Border Patrol has told us not for just a few years, but for decades: We need a border wall. That is where the phrase ``build the wall'' came from; it came from people that are down there every day protecting this country from harm. The President has also ended catch-and-release. Now, that is that practice where somebody comes across, and then they get their paper that they are claiming asylum, and they are told that they can go on into the country and go wherever. And there are nonprofits down there on the border, and they give them a plane ticket and food and a phone and off they go to their desired destination at taxpayer expense. So that has ended. The President has also sent troops to the southern border and, thank goodness, we are seeing these deportations of criminal illegal aliens taking place. Yesterday in Nashville, we had eight that were apprehended in a human trafficking ring--eight. Two of them are linked to Tren de Aragua. They were Tren de Aragua gang members. Now, these are all things that the President is doing to make this country safe, and we have security moms all across this country--and certainly across Tennessee--who are reaching out to us and saying: Keep it going. Deport those who are criminally in this country. Let's carry this out. We are seeing such good results. In operations across the country, ICE, which is Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has arrested 11,000 criminal illegal aliens, including many violent offenders and gang members. Since inauguration day, migrant encounters at the southern border have reportedly dropped 87 percent. As I said, we are seeing results. We know that for years, former President Biden allowed more than 10 million illegal aliens to enter the country, including tens of thousands of convicted criminals and more than 1.7 million known ``got- aways.'' And for 4 years, Tennesseans and Americans across the country have suffered the tragic consequences, including rampant migrant crime. Recently, our Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference released a report documenting the widespread migrant crime in our State during the final months of the Biden administration. Now, the report confirms what we already know, that during the Biden years, every town was a border town; every State was a border State. So our Tennessee District Attorneys General took the last 3 months of 2024 and they said: Let's look at what is happening in these last 3 months and see how this has escalated. Now, of course, we know that under Joe Biden violent crime rose 43 percent his first year that he was in office. And what we saw from the District Attorneys' General report is that there were, in 3 months--now this is a 3-month number--there were 2,719 reports of illegal aliens being charged or convicted of 3,854 offenses in the State of Tennessee. Among them, the most common offense was driving under the influence. There were 654 arrests of those illegally in the country driving under the influence. These offenses accounted for more than 13 percent of all DUI arrests across the entire State. And this problem is a big reason why, last year, my Republican colleagues and I introduced the Protect Our Communities From DUIs Act. This bill would automatically deport any illegal alien who is charged with driving under the influence. As I have gone across our State, in each of our 95 counties--which I visit every year--in each of these counties, I have heard from law enforcement, from police chiefs, from sheriffs that these DUIs are such an incredible problem, and the number that are committed by those illegally in the country. Now, over this same 3-month period, illegal aliens committed hundreds of violent, heinous crimes: 154 instances of domestic assault, 80 of aggravated assault, 21--21--convicted of child abuse, 9 of statutory rape, 8 of sexual exploitation of a minor, 7 of vehicular homicide, 4 of murder, 3 of rape of a child. And the list goes on and on. As I said, over 2,700 illegally in the country that were convicted of more than 3,800 crimes. Disturbingly, these numbers are likely an undercount. Only 73 of Tennessee's 95 counties reported data to the District Attorneys General Conference under Biden. National data showed illegal aliens were pouring in from countries all over the world, and the Tennessee Migrant Crime Report also reflects this. There were 92 unique countries of origin--from Mexico and Guatemala, Jamaica, Romania. Here is the bottom line: Because of Joe Biden's open border policy that was supported by far too many of my Democratic colleagues, thousands of crimes were committed by thousands of criminal illegal aliens in the State of Tennessee over just a 3-month span. And this, my colleagues, is just one State. This is my State, but we know this is happening in communities all across this country. More than anything, the report underscores the importance of President Trump's mass deportations which are underway. There are many ways that Congress can support these efforts. My CLEAR Act, which I have talked about many times on the floor, would ensure State and local law enforcement officials have the tools to help the Federal Government deport criminal illegal aliens. This is crucial, especially when you have got far-left leaders like the Chicago mayor refusing to turn over criminal illegal aliens to Federal custody. Now, General Bondi is suing these sanctuary cities for allowing criminal illegal aliens who have no right to be in our great Nation to harm Americans. And thank goodness, she is being tough on crime. I have also introduced the Preventing Violence Against Women By Illegal Aliens Act, which would allow the deportation of illegal aliens convicted of sexual offenses or domestic violence. Any illegal aliens who commit these heinous crimes should be removed from the country immediately, and I encourage all of my colleagues on each side of the aisle, support this. And my CONTAINER Act would ensure that border States like Texas have the legal authority to place temporary barriers on Federal land to help stop the flow of traffickers, drugs, and criminals coming across the border. There are thousands of criminal illegal aliens residing in Tennessee and across the country. We should be using every resource at our disposal to remove them from our country. In many ways, the bills that I have mentioned would help President Trump to get the job done. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

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

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, today is National Girls and Women in Sports Day. It is a holiday that celebrates women's many accomplishments in athletics. To be certain, we do have a lot for our athletic women and girls to celebrate, and soon after I leave the floor and these remarks, I will be heading to the White House to join President Trump as he signs an Executive order to keep biological men out of women's sports. This move is a triumph for the more than 3 million high school and college female athletes who deserve safety, fair play, and equal opportunity to succeed. In many ways, it is disturbing that this action is even necessary. Since title IX's enactment in 1972, which required equal resources for women's sports, the lives of millions of young women and girls have been improved with the benefits of fitness, teamwork, and leadership experience. Yet despite these advances for women, for 4 years the Biden-Harris administration waged a war on women's sports. Instead of empowering young women, they denied biological reality and blurred the difference between men and women. In 2022, Biden's Education Department announced new rules that would allow biological males to participate in women's groups and activities, essentially forcing schools to accept men into their women's athletic programs. Following up last year, the administration extended the rulemaking to private spaces, such as locker rooms and bathrooms, further jeopardizing the safety of women. Thankfully, in November, the American people rejected this radical agenda. Instead, they gave President Trump a mandate to protect women, restore fairness, and bring common sense back to government rulemaking. That is why, on Inauguration Day, President Trump issued an Executive order that affirms the Federal Government's position that there are only two sexes--male and female--that are grounded in biology, not gender ideology. In effect, this means no more forcing schools to allow biological men into women's spaces. For so many female athletes in Tennessee and across the country, President Trump's Executive orders are welcome news. But to ensure that every single one of them receives the safety, opportunity, and fairness they deserve, there is much more that Congress can and should do. At the top of the list: ensuring the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the NCAA, prohibits biological men from competing in women's sports. The NCAA is the Nation's largest governing body of college athletics. So it wields tremendous power over hundreds of thousands of student athletes all across the country. That is why it is so troubling that since 2010, the organization has allowed men to compete in female-only events. Time and again, we have seen this policy endanger women's safety and deprive them of hard- earned records, medals, and accomplishments. Just 3 years ago, at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, Tennessee's Riley Gaines competed against and shared a locker room with a biological male who ultimately took home the trophy that she had rightfully won. And, in recent months, five NCAA women's volleyball teams were forced to forfeit their matches to avoid the danger of playing against a biological male on a competing team. To bring this unfairness and inequity to an end, I recently introduced a resolution calling on the NCAA to protect women in sports, including by revoking its policy that allows biological males to compete against women. This move would bring the organization in line with other leading athletic associations, including the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and more than 20 States that have taken action to preserve fair play in women's sports. To support young women and girls in sports, I also introduced the Fair Play for Girls Act. Among its provisions, this crucial legislation would require the U.S. Attorney General to submit a report to Congress on the harms, lost opportunities, and harassment women have faced in athletics, as well as the effectiveness of State and Federal laws to prevent this abuse. At the same time, it is imperative that we celebrate the accomplishments of the young women who practice, train, and compete every day to achieve athletic success. That is why I introduced a resolution to designate October 10--that would be Roman numerals X and X, like the female sex chromosome--as American Girls in Sports Day. Specifically, the resolution calls on sports governing bodies to protect women and girls in sports. Young women across the country have suffered injuries, faced sexual harassment, and lost accolades because they were forced to share spaces designed for women with men. Together, President Trump and Republicans in Congress are working together to put an end to this assault on women, once and for all.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

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

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, nothing is more important than our national security and this Nation's sovereignty, and that means we must control our borders. That is why, in November, the American people gave President Trump an overwhelming mandate to finally go secure these borders. It was a major issue. They were tired of 4 years of Biden- Harris failures. Thankfully, in just his first week in office, the President has already taken steps to do just this. On Inauguration Day, for example, President Trump restored many of the successful policies from his first administration that former President Biden had ended, including the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy, border wall construction, and enhanced vetting of all aliens trying to come into this country. At the same time that President Trump did those reinstatements, he terminated Biden's disastrous open border measures, including ending catch-and-release, thank goodness. That CBP One app, where he was trying to make illegal entry legal, the Trump administration ended that. They ended migrant flights that brought more than 500,000 illegal aliens to cities all across the country--ended those flights. He also took new action to strengthen our border and end illegal immigration, including Executive orders to prohibit birth tourism. This is a practice where you have companies or cartels and they sell you passage to the United States to come here for the express purpose of having a child on U.S. soil. It is a practice called ``birth tourism.'' President Trump ended that. He designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and he chose to send troops to the border. And among these troops are Tennessee soldiers from Fort Campbell's 101st Airborne Division who are doing incredible work to help make this Nation safe. Perhaps, most importantly, the President ordered mass deportations, something the American people have demanded after the Biden administration allowed more than 10 million illegal aliens to enter this country. And that does not count the ``got-aways''--the ``got- aways''--known and unknown ``got-aways'' that are here--the worst of the worst, most likely, people that were trying to evade detection and people that have seeped into our communities. To no one's surprise, these strong Executive actions are already yielding positive results for our Nation, our Nation's sovereignty and security, and the safety and security of communities all across this country, because on Joe Biden's watch, what did we see happen? We saw every town become a border town and every State become a border State. People went to the polls in November and voted saying: Enough is enough. We have to restore law and order. And in the last week--I want you to think about these numbers. I encourage all of our colleagues: Look at these numbers from the last week. In this last week, ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arrested more than 2,600 illegal aliens. Now, these are criminal illegal aliens. They are including gang members, convicted sex offenders, and murder suspects--2,600 in 1 week. This tells you they knew where these people were. It is just that their hands were tied by the Biden administration. They could not go get these people that were making our communities less safe. Just on Thursday alone, ICE arrested two people in Nashville, TN. What we found out is they were both members of the gang Tren de Aragua, right in Nashville. Both of these illegal aliens have a criminal history of promoting prostitution and entered the country last year after being processed by the Biden administration. While migrant encounters at the border have plummeted over the past week, the Trump administration has also conducted deportation flights to send illegal aliens back to their home countries. Make no mistake, if any country refuses to take in their own citizens, President Trump has made clear that there will be consequences brought to bear. In just the last 24 hours, the Government of Colombia learned that lesson, completely reversing its blockade of deportation flights after the President said he would impose tariffs and sanctions. For so many in Tennessee and across the country, this is welcome news. This is what they wanted to see. They were tired of talk. They were tired of appeasement. What they wanted was action to get these criminals out of their communities, to get them behind bars. We can only have national security and know that this country is safe if we have border security. And for too long, Tennesseans and, I think, all Americans have suffered the consequences of this open border--the migrant crime, the fentanyl overdoses, human trafficking, strained public resources, and the list goes on and on. While President Trump will continue to lead the way in securing our border, Congress should play a crucial role in supporting his efforts and make certain that no President can surrender our national sovereignty ever again. That is why, in the Senate, I have introduced a slate of bills that promote securing our border. Here is an example, the CONTAINER Act. This is something that I have had for a while. This would empower communities along our border to construct barriers that would prohibit illegal aliens from crossing into their communities and stop the flow of traffickers and drugs and criminals that have been coming through these communities. When you are on the southern border, you visit ranchers and farmers and communities where they say: If we could just put a barrier up. The CONTAINER Act would give them that opportunity to put up a barrier and protect their areas. The CLEAR Act, meanwhile, would reaffirm the authority of State and local governments to enforce Federal immigration laws by apprehending, detaining, and transferring illegal aliens to Federal custody. It also says that the Federal Government has to reimburse that local law enforcement agency for the money that they have spent. And while President Trump reinstated by Executive order ``Remain in Mexico,'' which requires asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while awaiting their court date, I also introduced legislation that would make this crucial policy the law of the land, requiring future administrations to support it. You see, that is the importance of Congress taking action on what the President has done by Executive order. It is putting it in law, putting it in Federal statute so that future administrations have to abide by the law and implement it. In addition, I have recently introduced the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, which allows the deportation of illegal aliens convicted of sexual offenses or domestic abuse. What we have learned is that under the Biden administration, hundreds of criminal illegal aliens convicted of sexual offenses entered our country. This legislation would ensure that every single one of them can be removed from this country. To end the surge of human trafficking at the border and bring this modern-day slavery to an end, I also have brought forward a comprehensive package of bills. The PRINTS Act would give Border Patrol the authority to fingerprint noncitizens under the age of 14 so that we can combat this horrific practice of child recycling. This is something that the cartels do. They take a child, they place them with an adult, they bring them to the border, and then, once they are across, they turn the child loose. Many of these children have a name, address, and phone number written in indelible ink on their backs, on their arms. This needs to stop. So the PRINTS Act would give the Border Patrol the authority to use these fingerprints. And we have the End Child Trafficking Now Act, which would require a DNA test to determine the relationship between illegal aliens coming across the border with children with them. Both bills are crucial for ending child trafficking. And we know that between 30 and 40 percent of the children that presented at that border when we were doing DNA testing were found to be children being trafficked. Think about that. The Biden administration ended the practice of DNA testing. When I inquired as to why they did it, the answer I got was because of the amount of time it took to do the DNA test. Well, it took 45 minutes--45 minutes. But to the Biden administration, pushing people across the border and into the country was more important. And now we know that HHS has lost track of over 300,000 children. It is imperative that we find these children. It is imperative that we end this cross-border human trafficking of children. I also have the SAVE Girls Act. It is bipartisan. Senator Klobuchar has joined me on that bill. It would provide States and local governments and nonprofits with the vital resources they need in order to help combat this trafficking of girls and women. I also have a bipartisan bill, the National Human Trafficking Database Act. It would establish a national human trafficking database at the Department of Justice and incentivize State law enforcement agencies to report crucial data. You know, as we fight human trafficking, one of the things that we have learned from local and State law enforcement--by the way, this is a job that landed in their lap, to do this because there was not Federal enforcement. What we learned is there was no single repository for information about the traffickers, individuals that were being apprehended. So this would establish that database. So we have had a busy week. The President has had a busy week, and we are grateful to President Trump and Vice President Vance for how quickly they have moved on these issues of national security and the response they have given to the American people that, yes, they have been heard, and they are taking action that the American people have wanted to see. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I have four requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I concur with the remarks of my colleague from Alabama. We are looking forward to confirming Pete Hegseth. We are looking forward to working every single day until we get this Cabinet completed. And Brooke Rollins over at Agriculture, we know that she is going to do a stellar job. And I do commend the Senator for his FARM Act. I have joined him in cosponsorship on that bill to protect our Nation's farmers and our farmland owners and producers. This has been an exciting week. On Monday, we started with the inauguration of President Trump, and I will tell you for so many of us in Tennessee and, indeed, across the country, this has been a reason to absolutely rejoice. It is so interesting to me. So many people say they survived the Biden-Harris administration. Isn't that an interesting way to think about it? The inflation, the border, all the issues--it was like survival to get through those 4 years. Because of this, the American people have really given the Trump administration and those of us in Congress a mandate. I refer to it as a to-do list because at the Blackburn household, when there is something that has to be addressed, Chuck and I put it on a to-do list, meaning you don't stop until you get it done. Well, the good thing is, one of the top things is the southern border and securing that, and indeed we know President Trump has taken Executive action to address this. He cut off that CBP One app and ended these migrant flights from other countries. He has ended catch-and- release. He restored the successful ``Remain in Mexico'' program. Importantly, he is designating the cartels as ``foreign terrorist organizations.'' Now, there are other things he is doing. We all know that ICE is conducting raids and doing deportations, and we know that Congress is going to have to work with the Trump administration to make certain that these Executive actions that he is taking--that we pass laws so that this is in Federal statute. Now, one of those is the CLEAR Act, which is legislation I have had for years, and it ensures that State and local law enforcement officials can help the Federal Government with deporting these criminal illegal aliens. By the way, that legislation requires ICE to reimburse those local law enforcement agencies. Of course, my CONTAINER Act, which, again, has been here for a while, would empower the border communities, those communities that are right there on that border--farmers, ranchers, communities--those crossing illegally are running through their property. It would allow them to place barriers on Federal land in order to protect their communities. My Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act would require illegals convicted of sexual offenses or domestic violence to be deported. These are individuals who have absolutely no business being in this country. Of course, we are going to have to do more than secure our border, and that means doing mass deportations, and here is the reason why: Under former President Biden, more than 10 million illegal aliens came into this country. Now, those are the ones we know about. On top of this, you have a classification that is called the ``got-aways.'' The ``got-aways'' are those that the Border Patrol could see on the camera, but they could not get to them to apprehend them. We know that in this number, you have tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens. These are not people that are coming for a better way of life; these are people that have committed crimes in their home countries and are looking to come here. Now, we know this open border has caused far too many tragedies to begin to count, and this is the reason that this body voted in a bipartisan manner for the Laken Riley Act, and that is going to be one of the very first bills that President Trump signs into law. Because of the American public's overwhelming support for a secure border, for an end to illegal immigration, we are on our way to making this country and making our communities safe again. Now, we all know that border security is a critical part of national security. Indeed, that southern border is where national security and our foreign affairs actually meet because that border is being overrun by people from about 150 different countries every single year. Now, we also know that when it comes to national security and how the world views us, President Trump is showing that strong leadership that is needed, and he was able to secure the release of two Americans that were held by the Taliban within hours of taking office. I think the American people are realizing that President Trump means business when it comes to our foreign policy and putting the interests of the American people in front of everything else. Another issue we are focused on for the American people is getting the cost of living back under control. We all know that for the 4 years of the Biden administration, we saw record inflation, we saw reckless spending, and Tennesseans and indeed our citizens all across the country are still reeling from inflation. You know, to me, it is just so interesting. When people talk about the rate of inflation, they know it is not 2.9 percent, which the Biden administration was touting as they left office. If you go back and look at where prices were in January of 2021, when Joe Biden took office and inflation was at 1.4 percent, and then you look at what has happened month by month, the true rate of inflation and price escalation--the true rate of inflation is north of 20 percent. Indeed, I looked up what it is costing Tennessee families, and the numbers were astounding. If you look at a basket of goods and services that a Tennessee family would buy in January 2021--if they took that basket of goods and services and bought that same basket of goods and services today, their cost would be $1,060 more for the exact same basket of goods and services. Think about that--$1,060 per month. Now, maybe that is a house payment or the equivalent of a car payment. That is a lot of money. This is why Americans are saying: We want life to be affordable again. It is why President Trump has already signed Executive orders to roll back regulations. It is why he is moving forward with DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, which will bring forward ideas of how we root out waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal Government. It is why he has frozen Federal hiring, done that hiring freeze, which is so essential to being able to cap what the Federal employment rolls are and get going on DOGEing all of these Agencies. Well, to support these efforts, I filed a series of bills called the DOGE Acts. You know, these are not things that are new; these are bills that I have been pushing for a long time because it is important that we hold government accountable for how they are spending the taxpayers' money. And President Trump is pushing forward with these concepts. Another area where we are going to see attention in order to get the cost of living down is extending President Trump's tax cuts to ensure that the American people are going to have more money in their pockets at the end of the month. You know, there is a gentleman in Tennessee that I ran into one day earlier in the Biden administration, and I asked how he was doing. He said, well, he had been fussing a little bit. What he was fussing about was the high price at the pump and the high prices at the grocery store. He said: You know, under President Trump, I had some money left at the end of the month, and under Joe Biden, I have too much month left at the end of my money. People are tired of being broke. They are tired of it, so they are ready to move forward. Another area where they are wanting to see some action and they are so pleased with the steps President Trump has taken is protecting young women in sports. It is amazing to me how the left has abandoned our high school and college female athletes. You know, we have over 3 million young women who participate in sports every single day. They are competing. Mr. President, you have two beautiful daughters. They are competitive athletes. These girls work hard, and they deserve to be able to compete and win, but it is as if the Biden-Harris administration waged a war on these incredible young female athletes by destroying fair play and forcing them to compete against biological men, and the results are tragic. Young women who often dedicate their entire lives to becoming so proficient and skilled at a sport are missing out on scholarships, on career opportunities, and on hard-earned records that they deserve to hold. This harm, abuse, and unfairness is coming to an end. On Monday, President Trump signed an Executive order that requires the Federal Government to recognize the biological reality of two sexes: male and female. Last week, I reintroduced legislation that helps to stand up for women and girls in sports. Now, there are two resolutions. One is calling on the NCAA to protect women in sports. They need to rescind their rule that allows biological men to compete against women in NCAA sports. The other is to take October 10 of each and every year and designate this as ``American Girls in Sports Day'' and celebrate the accomplishments of our female athletes. I also have the Fair Play for Girls Act. It will require the U.S. Attorney General to submit an analysis of violence against women in athletics, to submit that to Congress as well as policy recommendations to support these young women. Well, as you can see, the to-do list is long, and I have barely scratched the surface. The American people are looking forward to Republicans delivering on the mandate that they have issued, and they certainly are looking forward to what will be the golden age of America. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

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

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I have to say, I think the remarks I planned today are so pertinent to what is taking place in our world as we are hearing about the Trump effect actually bringing forward a deal with Israel, Hamas, and the hostages because my remarks today are centered on UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Now, this has been one of the biggest obstacles to peace in the Middle East. To the world, UNRWA presents itself as an aid group for Palestinians. But, in reality, this agency--this U.N. agency that has been the recipient of 7.1 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars--is nothing more than a terror group that works to undermine Israel's security and safety. We have known this for years, but in the aftermath of the Hamas barbaric October 7 attack on the Jewish State, we have learned much more about UNRWA's terror ties. Early last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that 10 percent of UNRWA's staff have ties to Islamist militant groups. Among them, 6 took part in the October 7 assault that left 1,200 Israelis dead and hundreds more in captivity. After reports emerged that an UNRWA teacher held an Israeli hostage in his attic, I pressed the agency to investigate that employee. Instead of taking action, the group dismissed this request and this claim as ``unsubstantiated'' and called on the Israeli journalist who reported the news to ``immediately delete the post.'' We also know that UNRWA has indoctrinated Palestinian children with schools that glorify terrorism and promote violent hatred of Jews, allowed Hamas to store weapons in their buildings, and provided support and aid to the terror group. Now, a new report from UN Watch, the top watchdog for holding the U.N. accountable, shows that UNRWA works with Hamas, as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, at the highest level of the agency. To quote the report, ``this secret relationship allows the terrorist organizations to significantly influence the policies and practices of a UN agency with 30,000 employees, and $1.5 billion annual budget that is funded primarily by Western states. The evidence is overwhelming. In 2017, UNRWA's then-Commissioner General met with leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to strengthen--in his words--``a spirit of partnership.'' To protect the agency's credibility, however, the Commissioner General urged the terror leaders to ensure that ``discussions not be made public.'' Of course, open collaboration with U.S.-designated terror groups could jeopardize the millions it receives from Western countries every year. So they tried to cover it up so that they could keep getting these millions and billions of dollars--as I said, U.S. taxpayers, 7.1 billion that has gone into this group. In the years since, UNRWA leaders have repeatedly pledged support for Palestinian terrorists. That same year, the agency's Lebanon director told terror leaders that UNRWA hoped to have a strong partnership with them. A year later, their program director in Lebanon met with a Hamas official to discuss ``ongoing cooperation and coordination.'' Also in 2018, a former UNRWA official appeared at a rally alongside Hamas terror leaders who urged support for UNRWA ``until we return to Palestine''--meaning the end of Israel as a Jewish State. The UNRWA official, of course, thanked the terrorist ``for their understanding.'' In 2021, the former Deputy Commissioner General of UNRWA met with Sinwar--now, that is the Hamas leader who later planned the October 7 attack--after one of her employees admitted on TV that Israel's strikes on Hamas are ``very precise.'' In response, the Deputy Commissioner General removed the employee from his position and thanked Sinwar for ``his positivity and desire to continue cooperation in facilitating the agency's work in the Gaza Strip.'' You see there is a pattern here of participation between UNRWA and between Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. This is just a sample of the high-level meetings between leaders of UNRWA and these groups. The list could go on and on and on. What this report makes very clear is that UNRWA's support for terror groups is not something that happens at the agency's fringes. Instead, supporting and enabling terrorism against Israel is UNRWA's main purpose. I want to say that again: UNRWA's support for these terrorist groups is not just at the fringes. It is with their leadership. They are supporting and enabling terrorism against Israel, and we need to realize this. This is why President Trump canceled U.S. funding to the agency during his first administration, and it is why President Biden's decision in 2021 to restore that funding--over $730 million that year-- was a huge mistake. After the October 7 attack, I led the charge in introducing legislation to defund UNRWA, and, in March of last year, President Biden finally signed into law a 1-year ban on that funding. With all we know about UNRWA, though, we need to make this ban permanent, which is why I am working on legislation that will do just that once we get a new President and once we begin to say no to these organizations who take taxpayer dollars and turn around and use it against the American people, use it for pro-terror, pro-violence organizations and groups. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, 100 years ago this November, the world of American music changed forever: Nashville's Grand Ole Opry hit the airwaves for the very first time. Ever since, ``Country's Most Famous Stage'' has hosted the music tradition's biggest stars, from Hank Williams and Dolly Parton to Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash. Along the way, the Opry has become the longest running radio show in U.S. history, reaching millions of listeners in America and across the world with its weekly broadcasts. Today, the Grand Ole Opry is Nashville's most cherished institution, preserving country music's history while minting new stars who join the remarkable group of musicians who have stepped into its famous wooden circle. Earlier this month, the Opry kicked off its 100th anniversary celebrations with performances that brought together Country Music Hall of Fame members like Charlie McCoy, Don Schlitz, Connie Smith, and Bill Anderson--the Opry's longest serving cast member after joining in 1961. On behalf of all Tennesseans, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the Grand Ole Opry as it celebrates 100 years of incredible music, legendary performances, and musical heritage. Here is to 100 more.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, last week I joined one-third of this Chamber in taking the oath of office so that we could start a new term of Congress and celebrate what it means to be able to say: This is our new start. We have got 2 years. Let's see what we are going to do with this Congress. While taking that oath to support and to defend the Constitution and to defend our freedoms, I really felt and thought about what an honor it is to represent the people of the great State of Tennessee. Over the last 6 years, I have fought vigorously to bring the voice of the people of Tennessee to this Chamber to make certain that their thoughts and their wishes and their values were brought forward and that we made the effort to defend faith, family, freedom, hope, and opportunity, not only for Tennesseans but for all Americans. I will tell you, we were able to get so much done over the last 6 years. Much of it was done by working with colleagues across the aisle, by taking these great ideas from Tennessee, bringing them here, and saying: How do we distill this so that it becomes a policy that is going to positively impact and make better the lives of Tennesseans and all Americans? In Tennessee, we have a lot of veterans, and there are two provisions that I was able to shepherd through and get signed into law. One is the VA Veteran Caregivers Act. And, of course, as our veterans have returned from wars, as caregivers from their families have stepped up to assist them, there were some--basically, some gaps that needed to be filled in. We did that. We also passed legislation, Strengthening VA Cybersecurity Act. I was so pleased that that got signed into law to make certain that the identities and the healthcare information, the benefit information of our veterans, is going to be protected. In Tennessee, we have a big military presence. Fort Campbell primarily sits in Tennessee. We have the Naval station over in Millington, right outside of Memphis. We have Oak Ridge National Lab. The Air Force has the Arnold Engineering Development in Tullahoma. And I was successful in pushing forward to end President Biden's COVID mandate--COVID vaccine mandate--on our military communities. In addition to achieving that, every year, Mr. President, you and I have worked tirelessly together to make certain that our military assets--our National Guard, our Active Duty--were well covered in the NDAA. There has also been a foreign policy issue, a couple of them, that I have paid attention to. One is strengthening our ties with Israel and standing with our allies like Taiwan and assisting them as we stand up to what I call the ``axis of evil''--Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. One of the bipartisan measures that I brought forward after China took control of Hong Kong was to make certain that we supported internet freedom and that we blocked the export of crowd-control equipment to China and China-controlled Hong Kong and barred the FAA from buying drones from the U.S. adversaries. These provisions became law, and they strengthened our national security. We also fought to end the modern-day slavery of human trafficking, especially with my bipartisan REPORT Act and the Project Safe Childhood Act. Both of those were signed into law last year; and standing up for women with the Speak Out Act--Senator Gillibrand and I worked diligently on that--and the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin Act. And also, Senator Baldwin and I just got across the finish line the Women's Suffrage National Monument Location Act. I will tell you, so many people were absolutely shocked to find out that there has never been a monument in this city that recognized women's suffrage. We have also worked to confirm judges to the Federal bench, including Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Of course, we all know that that led to the overturning of the Roe decision and the Chevron decision--two decisions that will impact our Nation. We worked with the first Trump administration to protect life and to bar Federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood. And, Mr. President, you and I have put endless hours into making certain that we secured relief for communities in Tennessee and across the southeast that have been adversely impacted by Hurricane Helene. There is so much more that we have done. But we have turned the page now, and we are looking at how do we use these 2 years, this 119th Congress that is in front of us. We know that the American people have spoken. At the very top of their list is securing that southern border--getting that border under control, ending illegal entry into this country. The American people know, you cannot have--you will never have--national security without a secure border. Every law enforcement officer I talk with in Tennessee says we can't get our arms around gangs, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and crime in our communities until that southern border is secured. So legislation that I am working diligently on to get passed is my CLEAR Act, which many of our colleagues in this Chamber have heard me talk about for years. Basically, this codifies the 287(g) Program. It would ensure that our State and local law enforcement officials can apprehend and detain criminal illegal aliens and make certain that ICE deports them and that ICE reimburses that local law enforcement agency. With all the harm that has been caused by sanctuary cities, this legislation would end Federal funds going into those entities. It should be a top priority of this Congress. We also need to lower costs and make life more affordable. We all know about the economy, taxes, inflation, affordability--another of the top issues for the American people. And they want us to hold this government accountable for what they have done to push inflation forward. It means that we need to make permanent the 2017 Trump tax cuts. That created the strongest economy in decades, and it truly spurred new investment in Tennessee and across the country. It also means slashing this out-of-control spending and making certain that we rein in this lawless bureaucracy that makes life worse for so many Tennesseans and Americans. President Trump is tackling this problem. He is doing it with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which will be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. With my DOGE Acts, Congress can play a crucial role in ensuring their reforms last beyond the Trump administration. You know, the American people want us to change how the Federal Government does business, get the spending under control, and get rid of the bloat that is in the Federal Government. I think we should concentrate on this to the point that we ``DOGE'' every single Federal Agency and turn ``DOGE'' into a verb, a term of action. Another goal at the top of the agenda--and this is a goal that Senator Blumenthal and I share. We have now worked 4 years on holding Big Tech accountable with the Kids Online Safety Act and ensuring that parents have the tools they need to protect their children in the virtual space. This is just a sample of all the work that is in front of us. But the list of things we can do to empower American workers and taxpayers and businesses and families and farmers goes on and on. I am looking forward to a new administration as we aggressively tackle these issues: expanding access to quality healthcare, especially for our vets and especially in rural America; defending female athletes in women sports from the radical left's agenda and celebrating the accomplishment of female athletes. We should pass my American Girls in Sports Day on October 10 of each and every year and celebrate our female athletes; we should end the surge of violent crime in cities across this country; and when it comes to supporting Tennessee's creative community with the American Music Tourism Act, the No FAKES Act, which is AI protections, and the HITS Act for our recording artists. Each and every one of these have a place on our agenda for the 119th Congress. Before we can do any of this, we need to make certain that we confirm each of President Trump's nominees, make certain that he has his team in place, and that his Cabinet is in place so that they can carry out the mandate that was sent by the American people, which is: No more business as usual; secure the border; make certain that we get the cost of living down, we get inflation down; expand and extend those tax cuts; and be certain that, once again, our allies know they are an ally and our enemies fear us on the global stage. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I thank my colleague for her wonderful work on this issue. Since 2020, we have worked to recognize that 100-year celebration of women achieving the right to vote and to tell these stories. As she said, her State was the first. Tennessee was the 36th State. Our colleagues who have read about the War of the Roses and that summer of 1920, when suffragists descended on the capital in Nashville. Those who were for suffrage wore a yellow rose. Those who were antis-- as they were called--wore a red rose. Carrie Chapman Catt, Anne Dallas Dudley, and Ida B. Wells led this fight. And what a fight it was. And, finally, they pushed forward with the 36th State granting ratification. The histories in our States are rich on this issue, and we want all Americans to appreciate the work that went into women gaining that right to vote. My colleague mentioned that there are 40 monuments, memorials, statues, and historic sites on the Mall. Not a single one of these 40 are specific to women; while 22 are dedicated to individual men, 10 to military history and veterans, 3 to foreign relations, 2 to private organizations, 1 to U.S. postal history, 1 to the history of the U.S. canals, and 1 to the history of horses. All of these have found their way onto the mall. What we have done is to work with the Park Service, find a place that would be perfect: The Mall's Constitution Gardens. It is a 50-acre space dedicated during our Nation's bicentennial as a living memorial to the founding of the Republic. In this garden, it is appropriate that we recognize the work of women to help preserve the freedoms and the liberties that we have here in this Nation. I thank my colleagues for passing this legislation. The House passed it unanimously last year, so it is appropriate as we finish and complete this 118th Congress, that we set aside time and that we pass this legislation to recognize the work--the powerful work--of women who gave so much of their life to support freedom, liberty, and voting rights.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

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

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, in recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk and a lot of optimism about President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and, of course, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's plan to eliminate government waste, fraud, and abuse, and there is a reason for this. I think we have pretty much hit a tipping point with the American people. They have looked at this big, bloated government. They have looked at this $36 trillion in debt--which is growing every day--and they truly see this as a threat to our Nation's stability, to our children's futures, and for us to be able to protect ourselves from our enemies. And what they have noticed is that, as this debt grows, then more of their taxpayer dollars are being spent to pay the interest on the debt. That is money that is not going to national security. It is money that is not going to disaster relief. It is going to the debt. And here is a great example of that. In just the first half of fiscal year 2024, our country spent--get this--$440 billion to service the debt. Now, interestingly enough, that was more than what we spent on our military in the same time. So the American people are smart. They are seeing this and they are saying it is a problem and this has got to be brought under control. Now, I think it is important for us to look at how we have gotten to where we were, and I went back and looked at where we were when George W. Bush left office and President Obama came into office. As George W. Bush left, our debt was at $10.6 trillion, and we all remember that. We remember 2008, 2009. That is not that long ago. But think about that number, $10.6 trillion. Now, I will remind everybody that was after the Gulf war; that was after that period of time, 9/11, when our economy shut down for a full quarter. And the total debt at that point was $10.6 trillion. Now, when Obama left office, after 8 years in office, that debt had nearly doubled. It was just shy of $20 trillion. Think about that. Now, President Trump came into office. 4 years later, he leaves, and our debt was north of $27 trillion with all the COVID spending that was done in 2020. And instead of restoring spending to stable levels and going back to those pre-COVID levels, what did President Biden do? Since his inauguration, he has piled more than $8 trillion on our debt. And the deficit for this year alone--fiscal 2024 alone--is at $1.8 trillion. And these are the numbers. Anyone who wants to look at this can go to any number of government websites. You can pull up these numbers through OMB, through Treasury. But what the American people have seen is a recklessness and a disregard for them, the taxpayer. Since this Nation's founding, people have believed we are a government of, by, and for the people. And, quite frankly, I think that this year the people decided to be ``We the people.'' And what they have seen is, over the last 4 years, during the Biden- Harris administration, there has been a government that wasn't really accountable to anybody. If they wanted to do something, they just did it. And they have watched this wasteful, out-of-control spending. They have seen a growing bureaucracy with people who don't even show up to work. Less than 10 percent of the Federal workforce is showing up 5 days a week in person. This is why the people have said: We the people are going to take charge of this. Speaking of that workforce, the Federal Government today is employing 2.2 million bureaucrats. Just to put context on this, that is a number larger than the population of 15 of our States. And you have people, less than 10 percent, showing up every day in person to do their job. And when you look at the amount of office space that is being used, only 12 percent of our Federal office space is occupied. Now, to make matters worse, for most Federal employees, pay increases and promotions are completely disconnected from their job performance. They are paid the longer they stay on the job. They get automatic pay increases that are tied to the amount of time they spend employed by the Federal Government, not how well they are doing their jobs. I think that, as you look at this, this is why the American people have said: We support the Department of Government Efficiency. And it is why they are excited about this and why Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy are going to have the American people standing with them to make these cuts. Now, last week, I introduced the DOGE Acts, and it is a package of bills that will hold the government accountable for how they manage and use taxpayer dollars. Among the measures, the DOGE Acts will address out-of-control spending with 1, 2, and 5 percent across-the-board cuts to discretionary spending, excluding Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs. In addition to the spending cuts, this legislation will freeze salaries for Federal bureaucrats and order Agency heads to shrink their workforce by 5 percent over 3 years. To drain the swamp, the legislation will establish a commission to study how the incoming administration can relocate Agencies from Washington, DC, to States across the country. Who can seriously claim that it is good for beltway bureaucrats to be siloed away from most of the American people? If anything, they should be closer to the people who are suffering from their burdensome rules and regulations. To ensure that Federal bureaucrats are actually working while living on the taxpayer dime, the DOGE Acts would require government employees to return to their office by ending pandemic-era telework policies. And to reward merit, they would implement a pilot program for Agencies to pay employees based on productivity, not seniority. In just a few short weeks, Republicans here in Congress and the Trump administration will work together to put our country back on track, including rightsizing the Federal Government, and we look forward to pushing forward our DOGE Acts and helping make that happen.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, for almost a century, the U.S. Armed Forces' Distinguished Flying Cross has honored airmen who have demonstrated heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight. Earlier this month, 11 members of the Tennessee Air National Guard's 134th Air Refueling Wing joined this distinguished group of honorees for their courageous actions in defense of Israel. After Iran fired more than 300 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles toward the Jewish state on April 13, 2024, the aircrews of the 134th jumped into action to help defend our cherished ally, supplying tens of thousands of pounds of fuel for U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles that worked to intercept the threats. To accomplish this feat, the aircrews flew into dangerous airspace without onboard defensive systems or advanced situational awareness tools, facing great risk while ensuring the fighters could remain focused on their mission. With the 134th's support, U.S. Forces joined our coalition partners and Israeli defenses in eliminating nearly 99 percent of inbound drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles, saving countless lives. On behalf of all Tennesseans, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the 134th Air Refueling Wing on this well-deserved honor. Through their skill, determination, and valor, these 11 Airmen served our Nation admirably while helping defend our ally in a moment of great danger.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, last week, I spoke in this Chamber about President Trump's excellent picks to lead our Nation's Federal law enforcement Agencies. Those were Pam Bondi as Attorney General and Kash Patel at the FBI. And, today, I would like to take a moment to discuss President Trump's picks to oversee our Nation's national security. Across the board, these selections prove that President Trump is prepared to restore American strength after 4 years of the Biden-Harris failures in our Nation's national security. Look no further than the President's outstanding choice for Defense Secretary. That is Tennessean Pete Hegseth. As a Bronze Star recipient who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr. Hegseth knows exactly what our servicemembers need to defend our freedoms. He knows what the men and women in uniform need to carry out their mission. Under President Biden, this administration has demoralized our soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen--from anti-American DEI programs to weakness and appeasement abroad. Under Mr. Hegseth, this assault on our military will come to an end as he works to restore the Defense Department to its core mission: securing peace through strength. Joining him in this fight are three talented congressional colleagues: our colleague here in the Senate, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, as Secretary of State; Congressman Mike Waltz as the National Security Advisor; and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. All three are proven leaders who have stood up to our adversaries, strengthened relationships with our allies, and defended U.S. interests. To restore American strength, we also need intelligence Agencies that are focused on protecting the American people, not targeting them. Thankfully, President Trump's pick for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has demonstrated the leadership needed to restore accountability at the DNI. As a lieutenant colonel for over 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserves, she has seen firsthand the critical role of intelligence in national security. She handled highly classified information, led troops on deployments, and understands the gravity of safeguarding American lives. But what sets Ms. Gabbard apart is her willingness to challenge the status quo. For years, she has been an outspoken critic of abuses within the intel community, especially under the Biden-Harris administration. Under her leadership, though, the intel community will return to its rightful purpose: defending the American people and upholding our constitutional freedoms. America shines as a beacon of freedom in our dangerous world because of the powerful sacrifices our Active-Duty servicemembers and veterans have made to preserve freedom. Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting with our next VA Secretary, former Congressman and Air Force veteran Doug Collins, who will ensure that no veteran is left behind and that all veterans receive the benefits and timely access to quality care that they deserve. With all of President Trump's picks, he is making one thing clear, and it is this: Starting in January, his administration is committed to supporting our troops, restoring military readiness, and making America stronger than ever before. Kids Online Safety Act Mr. President, I am so pleased to spend a few minutes on the floor and just really so honored that my colleague Senator Blumenthal is joining me on the floor, because we are at crunch time for the Kids Online Safety Act. As the Presiding Officer knows, this is a piece of legislation that Senator Blumenthal and I have worked on for about 4 years. And we are so honored that 72 Members of this Chamber stand as cosponsors of this legislation, and it passed out of this Chamber in July on a vote that was 91 to 3. So it is time to hold that final vote on this legislation in the House. Now, there is a lot of misinformation that is out there about the Kids Online Safety Act. And if we can get this passed in the remaining few days, what you will have is, for the first time since 1998, there will be legislation passed to protect our children in the virtual space and provide safeguards for minors. You know, when you look at product design and product safety, nearly every product--every product--that is sold in this country has some kind of safety design attached; that is, every product except what you are seeing in the virtual space. And, of course, while we have laws in the physical space that protect children from the harms of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms and protect them from cyber bullying and protect them from exposure to sexual exploitation or pornography, in the virtual space, we do not have those laws. KOSA has been in the House, as I said, since July, and it has stalled over there because there are blatant falsehoods that are being peddled by the Big Tech lobbyists about this legislation, including one that they have made up--a falsehood. They keep saying: Well, KOSA would lead to censorship. Nothing is further from the truth because this is not a content bill; it is a product design bill. So to put this false narrative to rest, Senator Blumenthal and I worked with Elon Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino to update the bill's text to make clear that KOSA will safeguard free speech while protecting children online. To be clear, no one is probably more qualified to speak on the issue of free speech than Elon Musk. Among the changes is language that reaffirms that KOSA does not permit the government to penalize platforms based on users' viewpoints or alter existing protections for third-party content under section 230. These are protections that have been put in place. With the new changes, both Elon Musk and Donald Trump, Jr., are now publicly calling on the House to immediately pass the bill, which is also supported by tech companies like Microsoft and Pinterest--and for good reason. Every day--every day--that goes by without passing the Kids Online Safety Act, more children are being put at risk, more children are losing their lives. And for years, my colleagues and I on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Commerce Committee have heard heartbreaking stories from parents across the country who have lost their children to social media harms. I could read through these stories today. They are heartbreaking. We know from working with these parents, from listening to these parents, and also listening to young people, listening to pediatricians and principals--we know what is happening in the virtual space. We know that Big Tech looks at these children as the product. We know that they are so invested in keeping kids endlessly scrolling. Meta has even assigned a dollar value to what a child in the virtual space is worth to them as they look at profits. That is $270 of profit per kid. That is what they consider. Children, grandchildren are important to each and every one of us, and it is disgusting that you have corporate executives who have done so much work and so much surveying and so much review of how their platform is used, they can tell you what that user is worth. These companies should be better than that. They should agree that in the physical space, we have those laws to protect children, to protect them from exposure. They do not exist in the virtual space. And for the naysayers and the falsehood spreaders that are out there saying this would compromise free speech, as I said, we have addressed this; we have amended language; we have brought it forth; and you now have X CEO Linda Yaccarino, you have Elon Musk, and others who are tweeting in support and are saying to the House Republicans: It is time to pass this legislation.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, if there is one thing we have learned from last month's election, it is that President Trump has a clear mandate from the American people to get this country back on track, and one of the things that Tennesseans talk to me most about is the need to restore law and order all across this country. I am so encouraged by President Trump's nominees who are going to take the lead in reforming our Federal law enforcement Agencies, and, today, I want to touch on two of those who are reforming law enforcement Agencies. I will tell the Presiding Officer, next week, I am going to come and talk about the nominees for our military and national security. I want to talk about the qualifications of Pete Hegseth, who is going to be a great Secretary of Defense; but, today, we are going to talk about Kash Patel at the FBI and Pam Bondi at the Justice Department. Now, these two Agencies--I think everybody agrees--are in desperate need of a course correction. Under the Biden-Harris administration, they have repeatedly undermined the rule of law with a two-tiered justice system. Its rules are simple: If you break the law and you are a Democrat, then you are off the hook--that is the way they have operated--but if you are a conservative or you dissent from the left's radical agenda, the government will end up targeting you for your beliefs. What we know is that, under Mr. Patel and Ms. Bondi, this abuse of power will come to an end, and few people are better qualified to get this job done and enforce the rule of law than Ms. Bondi and Mr. Patel. As a former prosecutor for the Justice Department--and, by the way, he worked under Democrats and Republicans--Mr. Patel led the successful prosecutions of criminals that were tied to terrorist organizations like al-Qaida and ISIS. On the House Intel Committee, he worked with Congressman Devin Nunes, the chair of that committee, to expose the FBI and the Justice Department's abuses during Russiagate, or the Russia hoax, as it became known. In the first Trump administration, he served as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence. He served at the Security Council and the Defense Department as Chief of Staff. This is a varied background. It is a credible background for the job in front of him of restoring law and order in our cities across this country, in countering terror threats, and in ending human trafficking, and that is the job of the FBI. I will say this on the human trafficking: I am especially encouraged by his support for releasing the Jeffrey Epstein flight logs and black book. We know the abuse spanned decades from Mr. Epstein, and it harmed many vulnerable young girls, and we know a large network of high- profile, high-dollar predators participated in this horrific abuse on a global level. So, by releasing the flight logs, we can start to break apart the sex trafficking rings and ensure that the predators are put in jail where they belong. This effort will go a long way in restoring public confidence in the FBI and in ending the left's two-tiered justice system. On this front, he will work closely with Pam Bondi, who is President Trump's excellent choice for Attorney General. Earlier this week, I had my official meeting with Ms. Bondi, whom I have known and worked with for over the past decade. Our meeting only reaffirmed my conviction that she will be fearless in rooting out corruption, taking on the deep state, and restoring the Justice Department to its core mission: enforcing equal justice under the law. To be certain, her accomplishments speak for themselves. With more than 18 years of experience as a prosecutor, she became the first woman to serve as the attorney general of Florida in 2011. While there, she worked to protect the most vulnerable among us by taking on drug dealers and human traffickers. During the first Trump administration, she also worked to end our Nation's drug epidemic as a member of the Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission. This experience will be invaluable to her as she leads this top law enforcement Agency. Kash Patel and Pam Bondi are just two of Trump's incredible picks, but they are representative of the talent, experience, and determination shown by his Cabinet selections and nominees. As we head into the new year, I will look forward to supporting them and ensuring that they can get to work as soon as possible for the American people. Kids Online Safety Act Madam President, although we have a busy end of year ahead of us, there is at least one thing Congress must do before the end of the year, and that is to pass the very bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act. Back in July, this Chamber passed KOSA by an overwhelming bipartisan majority. The vote was 91 to 3. The reason is very simple: Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle recognize that Big Tech must be held accountable for putting our children's safety at risk. They have put profit ahead of our children's safety, and they want to continue to do that. KOSA puts the priority on safety by providing parents and kids with tools, safeguards, and the transparency that they need to protect against online harms. Among its provisions, the legislation would create a duty of care for online platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, including the promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, and sexual exploitation. Since KOSA's passage in the Senate, more and more evidence has emerged showing that this legislation is desperately needed. In October, for example, reports emerged showing that Chinese-owned TikTok purposefully developed algorithms to keep children scrolling as long as they could. Of course, the more time a child spends on the platform the more data TikTok can collect, then the more valuable that platform becomes. While this happens, TikTok executives privately acknowledge that such addiction does lead to mental health issues, including a loss of memory and cognition. But do you know what? They don't care. When your child is online, they are the profit. They are a profit center for these platforms. Now, other platforms, from Facebook to Instagram, have also developed addictive algorithms that expose children to unthinkable harms, including sexual abuse and lethal drugs. But, again, these platforms don't care. They do not give a ripping flip about your child. This tragedy has got to come to an end, but for months, KOSA has been held up in the House because of blatant falsehoods that are being pushed by Big Tech lobbyists. We know who they are, and we know what they are saying. Let me just read some of these falsehoods to you. They say that KOSA would censor free speech, and it will not. KOSA is a product design bill. It is not a contact bill. There are some out there who say: Well, it is going to give all of this authority to the FTC. It does not. It does not increase the authority of the FTC. It is important to note that there is no new rulemaking power for the FTC in KOSA or any ability to create rules about content. So they are lying. The lobbyists and some of these House staffers who are listening to these lobbyists are spreading falsehoods. It should come to a stop. Our children deserve better. We know that what KOSA will do is put in place tools for parents, and, of course, Big Tech is out here spreading lies and having their lobbyists spread lies because they want to evade accountability on this. I have even heard this: I have heard of staffers in the House and lobbyists bragging that they have been able to kill KOSA, that they are going to keep this profit center going, that they have been able to kill this bill. It is absolutely disgusting that they would agree with Big Tech and put that number--that dollar figure--on our kids' heads. Do you know, when we were doing the hearings on this, what did we hear from kid after kid who came in? They came in wearing a T-shirt, ``270,'' saying: I am worth more than $270. That is the value that some of these platforms have assigned to the amount of time a child spends on their platform. That is the profit they make. You know, if you listen to some of these staffers and some of these lobbyists, you would think, my goodness, if we don't need to have some kind of protections in the virtual space, why do we have laws in the physical space to protect kids? Minors can't enter into a contract. Minors can't go buy alcohol and tobacco. If you have got a store that sells liquor and you sell to a kid, they will come, put the chains on your store, and close you down. It is the same thing with alcohol and the same thing with pornography. The Presiding Officer and I are parents. I am a grandparent. We see what is happening to these precious children, and they are being subjected to drugs, to alcohol; they are being subjected to pornography; they are being subjected to sexual exploitation, and it is done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year, and yet Big Tech--they don't care. They do not care about protecting your children. So the only thing we are left to surmise is, if they don't protect them in the virtual space, they are, for sure, not going to support protecting them in the physical space. I would surmise that people who are against KOSA would do away with all of these laws that protect children. Society has decided our precious children are worth the fight, that they are worth the protection. And it is disgusting--disgusting--when you hear these Big Tech platforms say there is a value to keeping that child scrolling, that there is a value to holding their eyes online-- and when you hear it repeated by people in our Chambers--staffers--it is sickening. This is not a political game. Protecting our children is something that we in the Senate have agreed to do on a bipartisan basis. This bill has been stuck in the House since July. We know why it has been stuck, and we know that falsehoods are being spread. This is a bill that deserves a vote on the House floor because what we do know is this: By an overwhelming bipartisan majority, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives support this bill. It is time for those who are standing in the way of passing this bill to put aside--to put aside-- their objections and to allow protections for our children to take place in the virtual space. Since 1998, there has not been any additional protection placed in the virtual space. Why is that? It is because Big Tech sees our kids as a product. They make a lot of money--a whole lot of money--when those kids are scrolling. It is killing our kids. Just as in the physical world we put in place laws to protect them, they deserve the same protections in that virtual space. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, after 4 years of Biden-Harris failures, our country is set to make an incredible comeback with Republican control of Congress and the White House starting next year. At the top of our agenda will be securing the southern border. Until then, though, the Biden-Harris open border remains a threat to our families, our communities, and our country. Congress should waste no time in taking action to protect this Nation. Since taking office, the Biden-Harris administration has apprehended--get this number--nearly 400 suspected terrorists at the southern border. Now, that is a 3,000-percent increase compared with all 4 years of the Trump administration. They also released nearly 100 individuals on the Terrorist Watchlist into the country. Unfortunately, these are just the terror suspects that we know about. Under this administration, there have been more than 2 million known ``got-aways,'' illegal aliens who have entered this country. They evaded apprehension by law enforcement. We do not know who they are, we do not know where they have gone, but we know that they are here from the Border Patrol accounts. Now, on top of all of this--400 suspected terrorists, a 3,000-percent increase over the Trump years, nearly 100 that are on the Terrorist Watchlist, and the 2 million ``got-aways''--there are more than 1.7 million what are called special-interest aliens who have come from countries that pose a national security threat to our Nation, including Iran. Of course, this is the same regime that helped plan the horrific October 7 terrorist attack on Israel that claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people, including 46 American citizens. Iran-backed Hamas terrorists also took more than 250 people hostage, including a dozen American citizens, 4 of whom remain in captivity. No one connected to these barbaric attacks should be allowed in this country. Yet, under President Biden and Vice President Harris, that risk remains sky high. Earlier this year, Canada began issuing visas to Gazans with little to no vetting, meaning aliens with potential ties to Hamas could enter our country not only from the southern border but also the northern border. Instead of addressing the threat, however, President Biden issued an Executive order earlier this year that prevents many illegal aliens from Hamas-controlled Gaza from being deported. A growing terror threat would be bad enough, but under this administration, we have also seen tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens reach our border. These are people who have committed crimes, some of the worst imaginable--homicide, sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, and more. As a result of this influx, we are seeing a surge in violent gang activity across America, including in my State of Tennessee. Just last week, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation warned that the violent Venezuelan gang we are all hearing about, Tren de Aragua, is ramping up its human trafficking operations in Tennessee's largest cities. This is the same gang that has taken over entire apartment complexes from San Antonio to Colorado for drug dealing, sex trafficking, and other violent crimes. Make no mistake, our country cannot afford 2 more months of this administration's broken immigration policy. By the way, that is why you are seeing all this influx, all the numbers we have talked about: the 400 suspected terrorists, the nearly 100 that have been released into this country, 55,000 criminal illegal aliens, people that are convicted of these crimes, 2,200 gang members. Why does it happen? Because this administration's border policy is an open border. That is their policy. Last week, reports emerged that human traffickers and these human trafficking cartels in Mexico are telling everybody: You better be running to that border right now and get in before Biden leaves office. (Ms. ROSEN assumed the Chair.) Thankfully, the Senate can pass legislation today that would secure our border and protect our country from terrorists and criminals. Here are some pieces of legislation I have: The PRINTS Act, which I introduced last year, would combat trafficking by giving Border Patrol the authority to fingerprint noncitizens under the age of 14 so we can protect them from being trafficked. The CONTAINER Act, which I introduced in January, would empower border States like Texas to place temporary barriers on Federal land in order to protect their communities. The CLEAR Act, which I introduced in March, would ensure that State and local law enforcement officials have the tools they need to help the Federal Government deport criminal illegal aliens. The bipartisan No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act, which I recently introduced alongside Senator Rosen, who is currently serving as the Presiding Officer, would ensure that no migrant tied to Hamas and the horrific terrorist attack on October 7 is ever allowed to set foot in this country. The bipartisan Border Smuggling Crackdown Act, which I introduced last week alongside Senator Ossoff, would ensure human smugglers are held accountable for every life they endanger. With the growing threat of an illegal immigration surge ahead of Inauguration Day, the Senate should pass these bills immediately and send them to President Biden's desk.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I rise today to honor an incredible Tennessean: Dr. Mildred Thornton Stahlman, whose research and innovations transformed how generations of physicians have saved newborn lives. In 1961, Dr. Stahlman established one of the first intensive care units for newborns in the country at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. There, Dr. Stahlman pioneered the use of miniature iron lung machines--typically used for children with polio--to treat premature babies suffering from respiratory lung disease. By helping the newborns draw air into their lungs, Dr. Stahlman's innovation significantly improved outcomes for babies who otherwise faced little chance of surviving. As head of the hospital's neonatology unit from 1961 to 1989, Dr. Stahlman led lifesaving medical research, including on pulmonary function and respiratory distress syndrome. At the same time, she developed an emergency response system that brought premature babies to VUMC for treatment from community hospitals across 30 counties in Tennessee, a groundbreaking endeavor that saved countless lives. After a life full of care, generosity, and courage, earlier this year Dr. Stahlman passed away at the age of 101. We join all Tennesseans in mourning the loss of this truly remarkable woman, whose legacy will live on for generations to come.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I rise today to honor an exemplary community leader, public servant, and Tennessean: Judge Duane Slone, who tragically passed away at the age of 61. For 26 years, Judge Slone served on Tennessee's 4th Judicial District Court, where he pioneered innovative efforts to combat drug addiction and the opioid crisis. In 2009, he founded his district's first drug recovery court, which provides many east Tennesseans the resources and support they need to end their substance abuse and become law-abiding citizens. Four years later, Judge Slone built on this effort by founding the Tennessee Recovery Oriented Compliance Strategy, which provides similar support to those struggling with addiction but who do not qualify for recovery court. Judge Slone's work has been credited with decreasing crime and substance abuse while keeping vulnerable Tennesseans, including countless pregnant women and single mothers, out of jail. Replicating his success, 14 Tennessee counties now use Judge Slone's Tennessee Recovery Oriented Compliance Strategy, which has helped more than 1,000 people. In recognition of his work, Judge Slone in 2019 received the National Center for State Courts William H. Rehnquist Judicial Excellence Award, the Nation's highest honor for State court judges. We join all Tennesseans in mourning the loss of this incredible leader, who had such a profound impact on our State and every person who passed through his courtroom.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, this year, Tennessee lost a great leader, public servant, and American: Judge A. Andrew ``Andy'' Jackson. For 33 years, Judge Jackson served as judge of the juvenile and probate Court of Dickson County, where he worked to safeguard the interests of his community while putting the juvenile offenders in his courtroom on the path to becoming responsible, law-abiding citizens. While on the court, Judge Jackson became a leading figure in our State's juvenile justice system, helping author Tennessee's first rules of juvenile procedure and serving as president of the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Beyond his legal career, Judge Jackson was an exemplary friend and neighbor whose generosity, patriotism, and passion for life inspired so many who knew him. From his early days as an Eagle Scout to pursuing his love for deep-sea fishing, hunting, marksmanship, aviation, cattle rearing, agriculture, or just telling jokes, Judge Jackson lived a life in full. On behalf of all Tennesseans, I extend my heartfelt condolences to Judge Jackson's family, including his beloved wife Elaine, daughters Kelly and Sally, and grandchildren Evelyn, Michael, and Catherine. While our State has lost a great man, Judge Jackson's legacy will endure in Dickson County and across Tennessee for many years to come.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, with last week's election results, the American people have given Republicans an incredible mandate: Secure the border, strengthen the economy, restore law and order, and do so much more that is going to put this country back on the right track. It is pretty amazing--70 percent of the American people feel like this country is on the wrong track, and we are going to need to wait until the new year to start fully enacting the strong, conservative agenda; and we are still going to have a lot to do here in this Congress before we are sworn in. Now, I have got something to put at the top of that to-do list, and that is ensuring that our hurricane survivors in Tennessee and across the southeast receive the disaster assistance that they desperately need. No one ever thought that such a storm would end up in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, but it did. And the damage assessments show what Tennessee is facing in our affected counties to restore our communities so that people are able to live; to work; to rear their families; so that the kids are able to go to school. And we know that it is going to have quite a cost to it. The estimate for repairing roads, bridges, and infrastructure from Hurricane Helene tops $510 million. Think about that. You have got an area in upper East Tennessee--7 counties--and you are looking at over a half billion dollars to repair the infrastructure. Now, on top of this, we have got more than 1,500 homes that are not livable--503 of those homes were completely destroyed. And being on the ground in Tennessee, you have heard stories of how people saw their homes just being washed away. And we know that this is going to take a while. Our Tennessee Emergency Management Agency has been on the ground from day one; and they are working with these homes, with these communities, and with the 209 businesses that have been impacted--and 36 of those companies were completely destroyed. The total economic losses to Tennessee's agriculture and forest industries, meanwhile, have been estimated at $1.3 billion, and that is according to the UT Institute of Agriculture. So you can see devastating loss--devastating loss--from one area of Tennessee in these counties that border North Carolina and sit there along the Nolichucky River and the Doe River and the devastation that has been unprecedented. I have found it really quite amazing that when you look at what happened in Southwest Virginia and North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, that the estimates are about $50 billion in damages. Now, as I mentioned, being on the ground really tells a story that is much more pointed and explicit than what you see in pictures or in video. And once you are on the ground, you can truly understand the devastation and the depth and breadth of this devastation. I have been in upper East Tennessee and in every one of these affected counties five times, and I have visited communities that have been isolated because of road closures, because bridges have been completely washed out. I have talked with business owners that have lost it all, just have lost everything that they have worked for, and I have met with families whose entire homes have been washed away. One family that I was visiting with in Johnson County, they were staying right there at the disaster relief agency because that is where they could find a place to lay their head, get a hot meal. The devastation is just unprecedented. And in the middle of all of this, I have seen what makes Tennessee so unique. We are known as the Volunteer State. And, indeed, we do have that volunteer spirit. And seeing the way that neighbors have stood up and helped their neighbors and have come to their aid--food, shelter, clothing, cleaning supplies--indeed, if you were to go to the Bristol Motor Speedway--somewhere that people go to watch the races--what you would see is an entire building that has been turned into a command center and also a disaster relief center with pallets of water and food and cleaning supplies and linens and furniture and clothing, everything that is needed to get people back on the right track. Now, I will say this: Our Governor--Governor Bill Lee--our State emergency management agency, and our local mayors deserve a lot of credit. These local elected officials are the first ones on the ground, and they were on the ground immediately--all of our local law enforcement, our first responders, our county emergency management agencies--and they stepped up. They went into action, and they moved forward immediately to start to come around individuals who were losing it all, who were fighting to find people that they feared had lost their lives. But we know that Federal support is going to prove vital to these communities being able to stand up. They are not asking for handouts. They are asking for help and a hand up so that they can rebuild. And, unfortunately, what we are seeing is Tennesseans are struggling to get access to these Federal programs. Just 2 weeks after Hurricane Helene struck, we had the Small Business Administration announce that it had run out of funds for its disaster loan program. Now, the fiscal year started October 1; this storm happened on September 27, and you have the SBA saying 2 weeks into the fiscal year they have used every penny of their disaster loan program. And we know this is an essential lifeline for businesses to help them to stay in operation and to keep employees on the payroll. And after spending almost half of its disaster budget in the first week of October, FEMA also warned that it may have to restrict funding for rebuilding efforts--that includes repairs for infrastructure and water treatment facilities. This shortfall is absolutely inexcusable. The mismanagement is inexcusable. Just days after Hurricane Helene struck Tennessee, I joined my Senate colleagues who represent the States impacted by the storm in calling for a Federal disaster relief package to aid rescue, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. We need to address the needs of our farmers whose crop fields face devastating flooding. I have joined the entire Tennessee delegation in urging House and Senate leadership to pass agricultural disaster assistance. So with Congress back in session, we should waste no time. And before we get to next year's agenda, we should put at the top of the to-do list: addressing the needs of those who have been so devastated--their lives, their businesses, their homes--everything devastated by these floods. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank my colleague from Utah. Madam President, thank you for the time and recognition. I want to say thank you to him for bringing this issue forward. As I am out and about in Tennessee, I hear a lot about this. People are concerned about what would happen if those who are illegally in the country get a vote, if they exercise the rights of citizenship, because so many people in Tennessee talk about that, in America, there is nothing more fundamental than guarding our God-given freedoms, approaching the ballot boxes as equal citizens for fair and open elections. And they are quite disturbed because, for the last more than 3 years, what they have seen is that the Biden-Harris administration has waged a war on this sacred institution by working overtime to make illegal immigration legal. Now, you have heard reference to the numbers of illegal aliens--and, by the way, that is the statutory term that is used--and about the numbers that have come into this country. We know it is north of 10 million illegal aliens. The Senator from Kansas referenced this. And the size is larger--the number, the population number--larger than 36 of our States, and the impact that that can have. And as my colleague from Utah pointed out, when someone comes here illegally, and they go into a State like Minnesota that gives those that are illegally in the country a driver's license, and then that individual goes to another State, through the motor voter law, they can check that box, and they can register to vote. They can get that driver's license. They can register to vote. And we know that this has occurred, and we have seen it occur in voter rolls all across this country--from Massachusetts to Arizona and everywhere in between. Now, recently, the State of Virginia went through their voter rolls, and they discovered that they had more than 6,000 that were on their voter rolls who had entered the country illegally. And this becomes such a problem when you look at the number of States that do not require voter ID when they vote. We have got 14 States across this country where you do not have to show an ID when you go to vote at the polls. You show up, and you vote. Now, one thing is clear. While it is against the law for illegal aliens to vote in Federal elections, many States and jurisdictions lack the proper safeguards to enforce this law. It is already illegal. It is already illegal. But they broke the law coming into the country illegally. They have broken the law by checking that box and registering to vote. And the risk is higher than ever because of what has transpired at the open border, but the SAVE Act, which the gentleman from Utah has brought to the floor today, would solve this problem because it would require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in an election, and you would have to provide that proof in person. I will tell you, there are many people that are surprised that we don't require that proof--that you prove that you are who you say you are. The SAVE Act also has provisions to restore our election integrity. It would require States to establish a program to remove those that are illegally in the country from the voter rolls, and it would also allow citizens to sue election officials who fail to uphold requirements for proof of citizenship. Now, the House did pass this in July, and it had been sitting over here for the last couple of months. And so I would ask my Democratic colleagues: What in this bill do you oppose? What do you oppose? Why is it that you would want to open the door to allow individuals that have illegally entered the country to actually vote in a Federal election? Do you want to encourage them to vote in our elections? This is why we need to protect the integrity of each citizen, each person--one person, one vote. Now, my colleague from North Carolina has also come to the floor, and I want to say a word about his Promoting Free and Fair Elections Act, which would also be helpful. His bill, which I support, would block President Biden's Executive order that forces--not allows, but commands--it forces Federal Agencies to work with outside partisan groups to mobilize voters. And guess what. The taxpayers got to pay for this. Talk about wanting to federalize elections. Talk about the Federal Government wanting to throw their weight. This is it. And, of course, the Executive order excludes any information about how the Biden-Harris administration would go about approving or selecting groups. So I commend my colleague from North Carolina for the Promoting Free and Fair Elections Act. I commend my colleague from Utah for the SAVE Act. I yield the floor to my colleague from Utah.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, here is a number for everyone to think about today: $35.3 trillion--$35.3 trillion. That is our Nation's debt number. As you can see, we have gotten there because of years of deficit spending. Right now, this massive sum, which is our national debt, represents more than $100,000 of indebtedness for every man, woman, and child in this country. While this number is almost impossible to comprehend, it poses one of the greatest threats to our Nation's stability, security, and survival. To put this issue in perspective, our debt-to-GDP ratio is 121 percent, meaning our Nation's debt is one-fifth larger than our Nation's annual economic output. Think about that. The debt is larger than our output. By comparison, our debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of World War II was 106 percent. That was the record high before we got to the COVID-19 pandemic. As our debt balloons, the annual cost of interest payments on the debt continues to rise, and this crowds out vital services that ought to be going to people who need them. In fact, through the first 6 months of fiscal year 2024, our country spent more taxpayer money servicing the debt than we spent on our military. We spent $440 billion on interest payments on our debt. When faced with this reality, Tennesseans and Americans will probably wonder: Well, how did we get on this path to fiscal disaster? Of course, $35.3 trillion in debt didn't just appear overnight. Each year, the Federal deficit--and I have got a chart here that goes back to 2005 and shows you what the deficit was every year--which is the annual difference between government spending and taxpayer money that is collected and coming into the Federal Government, all gets tacked on to our national debt, and under the Biden-Harris administration, this deficit spending has exploded. You can see these numbers. Last fiscal year, the Federal deficit was nearly $1.7 trillion. It was up more than 21 percent from $1.4 trillion in 2022. If you will recall, the Biden-Harris's Inflation Reduction Act--the Green New Deal giveaway that Vice President Harris sat right up there and cast the tie-breaking vote for--was supposed to somehow, miraculously, reduce the debt. Still, so many Tennesseans say: How can you say you are going to spend more and that is going to reduce what you spend? It is void of common sense. In fiscal year 2021, meanwhile, the Federal deficit reached more than $2.7 trillion. Now, we know some of that overlapped with the final couple of months of the Trump administration, but the spending occurred primarily under the Biden administration and under that $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. It was the driving force of this administration's four-decade-high inflation rate. Indeed, if you go back and you look at inflation, it was 1.4 percent the day that President Biden and Vice President Harris took office. Today, the latest number is 20.3 percent. In fact, excluding the emergency COVID spending in 2020, deficit spending under the Biden- Harris administration is at its highest point in American history--as I said, 121 percent of GDP. Previously, after World War II, it was at 106 percent. The only other administration that has come even close to these numbers under Biden-Harris is the Obama-Biden administration. Before congressional Republicans fought for and secured serious spending cuts, that administration ran annual deficits as high as $1.4 trillion between fiscal years 2009 and 2012. With the deficit soaring again, our country needs another serious course correction. Yet, under their 2025 budget proposal, the Biden- Harris administration has called for--and I want you to get this number. Their 2025 budget proposal calls for $86 trillion in spending over the next 10 years--$86 trillion. It would increase our national debt--that $35.3 trillion number--it would increase it by $18 trillion. Now, bear in mind, this is spending they are putting on the books. They are claiming it. They are out here shouting for it. Bidenomics, it is working. But, again, we look at this and say: How can you spend more and then say you are reducing the deficit? It is void of common sense. Instead of fiscal recklessness, our country needs fiscal responsibility. Every year, I have legislation that would slash Federal spending--and I do these bills every year--by 1 percent, 2 percent, 5 percent for discretionary spending, excluding Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs. I fully believe anybody can find a way to save one penny, two pennies, or a nickel out of what they are given to spend. At a time when growth in government hiring is now outpacing growth in private sector hiring, Congress must also address the ballooning size of the Federal Government, which now employs nearly 2.4 million bureaucrats. It is time to start freezing salaries and freezing Federal hiring. While there are many more steps that need to be taken to put America on a better fiscal trajectory, these moves would begin to tackle the threat that is posed to our Nation and to our freedoms because of overspending. If we don't get busy with this and find some ways to wrestle with this debt and with this out-of-control spending, it is our children and grandchildren who will suffer by having to pay that bill.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

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