Marsha Blackburn

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, many artists and entertainers have staked their claim to fame by bending the rules and changing the conventional wisdom that defines their craft. But not many can claim to have made an impact on American culture that is at once musical, political, and spiritual. This month, my friend and fellow Tennessean Lee Greenwood is enjoying some well-deserved recognition for doing just that. Next week, he will celebrate the 40th year of one of the most significant and successful careers in country music history. On behalf of the entire Tennessee delegation, I want to thank Lee for his artistry, his patriotism, and his belief in the power of a song to heal our deepest wounds. We thank him for his friendship, for his commitment to our great State of Tennessee, and we wish him even greater successes in his career. Government Funding Madam President, over the weekend, my Democratic colleagues put on a terrific show for the American people, arguing over which multitrillion-dollar spending bill they wanted to pass first--not if they were going to pass one, but which one they wanted to pass first. And from what I am hearing in Tennessee, they are saying: We don't want either of these. None of this should ever be passed and signed into law. Those that I spoke with also wanted me to pass on a message. It doesn't matter if they were Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian. They said what happened here in Washington over the weekend was just about the most tone-deaf and disrespectful thing that they had seen take place in Washington in a long time. All year, Tennesseans have been asking themselves why is it that the Democrats are pushing so hard to spend more than a trillion dollars on a so-called infrastructure package that really isn't about infrastructure? Why are they fighting so hard for a multitrillion- dollar social spending package that prioritizes all the wrong things? Tennesseans have caught on to this insanity. They know with absolute certainty that every time Joe Biden's government steps in to take control over an aspect of their lives, the goal is not to make their lives easier. The goal is to complicate their lives. The goal is to take away some of their individual freedom, some of their choice. There is no other explanation as to why they would do this in the face of some of the issues that we have, like serious supply chain vulnerabilities, unsustainable inflation--no, it is not temporary--and levels of divisiveness and mistrust that have made even the most unplugged, apolitical people that I know sit up and speak out. The fact that more people are paying attention is really a problem for my Democratic colleagues. They know that there is no chance that the majority of the American people will just go along with what it is that they are proposing. As I said, it doesn't matter if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian. They are looking at this and they are saying: Hey, wait a minute. These guys that are over there, every one of them-- what are they trying to do? They are trying to drive this socialist agenda, tear down our institutions, and build it back as a socialist state--which is exactly why the Democrats are opting for a power grab rather than an honest debate. By seizing that control and taking away that freedom, they are slowly but surely setting themselves up to redefine the relationship between the people and the government. Eventually, this will allow the Democrats to destroy our most important institutions and remake them in the image of the grand socialist future that they are so desperate to build. If you can't beat them--and the Democrats haven't been able to beat the people--then what do you do? They go about--the Democrats--and they just move the goalpost. They have shown this intent time and again over the course of decades, but let's start with more recent events. The Federal healthcare takeover destroyed the concept of the doctor-patient relationship and replaced it with layers of bureaucracy and, now, rationing. Over the past 3 years, my Democratic colleagues have tried multiple times to force through an election takeover bill that would federalize voting. That is right--not local control like we have had but federalizing elections, intentionally exposing conservative voters to an unhinged and violent opposition and making the ballot box vulnerable to fraud. That is what they are trying to do. Earlier this year, we discovered that the Democrats thought that opening up everyone's pocketbook for scrutiny by the IRS would be an acceptable way to pay for their so-called infrastructure package. It is a neat trick. It is also completely and utterly despicable, and people are not buying what the Democrats are selling. They do not want socialism ruling their life. They do not want the United States of America to be a socialist nation. The majority in this Chamber have accused the Republicans in this Chamber of many things, and most of them untrue. But what is true is that we are indeed getting in the way of this reckless, destructive agenda. That is because it is our duty to protect this country and to protect our freedoms. Joe Biden and the Democratic Party control the entire U.S. Government. That is right. We had an election, and you are in charge. That government has already made it clear that--mandate or no mandate-- they have their eye on the prize. And that prize is to take away your freedom, give that over to the government, and leave you living in a socialist nation. All it would cost is all of your money, all of your principles, all of your freedom. That is right. That is the future that they, the Democratic Party, envision for you and your family--they, the Democratic Party, making all the decisions; they, the Democratic Party, winning all the elections because they federalize them and they let the Federal Government decide who wins, with them in charge. If the Democrats wish to make those sacrifices, they are more than welcome to go about trying to do it, because the American people are not buying the agenda that they are pushing. Every day I talk to Tennesseans. What do they want? Freedom--balanced freedom that allows them to experience their version of the American dream, that allows their children to dream big dreams and then live in a country where they can work to make those dreams come true. Preserving that is a worthy fight. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, it is with a heavy heart that I take these next few moments to honor the life and legacy of and my personal friendship with Justice Cornelia A. ``Connie'' Clark. We lost Connie last month to a short battle with cancer. Justice Clark was a trailblazer in the Tennessee judiciary. Her public service spanned more than four decades and culminated in a long and happy tenure on the Tennessee Supreme Court, where she served as chief justice from 2010-2012. In the days since we lost Connie, her friends on the bench have shared fond memories of a woman who was cheerful, humble, diligent, and strong in her faith, and who approached her role as a jurist with grace and equanimity. Over the course of her distinguished career, Justice Clark prioritized ensuring access to justice. As a result of her compassionate advocacy, the once-cluttered path to the courthouse is clear for the thousands of men and women who climb its steps each year. She was an early and fierce advocate for women in the legal profession, throwing open doors for her peers and serving as a powerful role model for young women and girls. In 2005, she helped usher in a new era for the bench when she became the fourth woman to serve on the Tennessee Supreme Court. Since 2008, the Court has boasted a female-majority bench. On behalf of the entire Tennessee congressional delegation, I offer prayers and condolences to Connie's family and friends. Rest in peace, Connie, and thank you for dedicating your life to the relentless pursuit of justice for all Tennesseans.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

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

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, by now we are all very familiar with the toll that COVID-19 has taken on the American people. If there is cause for encouragement coming from all of this, it is that our collective experience has helped to destigmatize mental health problems. The down side is that now we tend to look at everything through the lens of the pandemic. But the fact of the matter is that for millions of Americans, their private battles with mental health began well before March of 2020. It is from that perspective that I want to examine the Wall Street Journal's truly excellent ongoing investigation into Facebook's refusal to address the serious, and at times threatening, failings of their platforms. On September 14, the Journal published an article revealing that Facebook, Inc., executives know that their popular Instagram photo- sharing program is toxic--toxic--especially for young women and girls. They know for a fact that 32 percent of teen girls said that, when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel even worse. They knew that Instagram makes body image issues worse for one in three girls. They knew that teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression. How did they know all of this? Because they, Facebook, had done their own research. In 2019 and 2020, Facebook's in-house analysts performed a series of deep dives into teen use of Instagram that reveals that ``aspects of Instagram exacerbate each other to create a perfect storm.'' This is their awareness. That ``perfect storm'' that they mention manifests itself in the minds of teenagers in the form of intense social pressure, addiction, body image issues, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. This multibillion-dollar company is dragging their young users to Hell, and they are doing it on behalf of a fantasy. Much of the problem has to do with the fact that, by its very nature, Instagram forces its users to confront the unattainable. Facebook's researchers found that young users who spend their day scrolling past filtered faces and lavish lifestyles can spiral into a so-called ``social comparison journey'' that mimics the grief cycle. Sixty-eight percent of teen girls and 40 percent of boys experience this when they use Instagram. This is their research--their research. Sixty-eight percent of teen girls and 40 percent of teen boys experience that grief cycle. Yes. Heartbreaking, infuriating, and guess what--it gets even worse. The internal research also shows that Facebook execs at the highest levels were in on the scheme to use these traumatized young users to pull members of their households into Instagram. Younger family members were of particular interest. This reporting is sunshine on a particularly disgusting aspect of Facebook's strategy to shape the world in their image. Facebook often touts their compliance with COPPA and other child protection standards as proof of their commitment to online safety. Oh, but if it were only so. But the Wall Street Journal reports show that Facebook has actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information online from kids under 13 years of age. These are children. They are suffering. But in the eyes of Facebook, they are the product. They are the product. They are the product that Facebook is using to get data so that they make more money. It is sickening. All of this and more was revealed to me and my staff by a very brave and well-informed whistleblower from within Facebook. I have been working closely with my colleague Senator Blumenthal to bring this information to light, and I thank him and his staff for being excellent advocates on behalf of young people and teenagers. On October 5, Senator Blumenthal--Chairman Blumenthal--and I will host a hearing in the Commerce Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security Subcommittee where the whistleblower will offer an insider account of Facebook's total lack of governance and the growth- focused tunnel vision that has caused the company's leadership to ignore everything they know about the real world. At this point, I want to emphasize a few important points we can extrapolate from what we know thus far. Facebook's internal research revealed at the very least a strong correlation between use of their platforms and some forms of deteriorating mental health in kids and teens. But here is the larger issue: Even if Facebook didn't find proof of a causal link, it is unreasonable to assume that a company as large and successful as Facebook would ignore the social environment in which their young users live and scroll. If you accept this general assertion, which I hold is reasonable, then you must also accept that Mark Zuckerberg and the rest of Facebook's top executives were very well aware of the real-world context behind all of that research, and the context will make you sick. Between 2009 and 2019, the percentage of high school students who experienced ``persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness'' increased by more than 10 percent. The percentage of high school students who seriously considered attempting suicide increased by 5 percent. Numbers regarding suicide plans and suicide attempts also trended in the wrong direction. And even less severe mental health crises can lead to risky sexual behavior, drug use, truancy, delinquency. This is all no secret. It is publicly available information compiled by the CDC, accessible by anyone capable of executing a Google search. It is getting harder for our kids and grandkids to make it through the day. They haven't even had a chance to live yet, and already they are experiencing hopelessness and despair. They feel so terribly about themselves that they would rather die than live another day. Facebook has evidence that their platform facilitates these mental health spirals for young users. Yet they focused on how to trick them into thinking that scrolling through content that makes them miserable is somehow healthy and normal behavior. Our children are not all right, and I am willing to state for the record that the people pushing success buttons at Facebook--they really do not care. On September 21, the New York Times published an expose on the company's frankly shocking efforts to rehabilitate its image by promoting pro-Facebook content into user news feeds. By all accounts, this reporting backed the company into a corner. They were caught redhanded manipulating the flow of information, which is a charge that in other contexts has drawn fire from activists, politicians, and even Facebook itself. In response to the well-earned backlash that Facebook received, Mark Zuckerberg chose to avoid accountability and instead made a joke about an anecdote the Times reporters included regarding a video he had posted of himself cruising around on a glorified surfboard. That is the sort of reaction you see from a person who feels that they are invincible. When they feel like they are so rich and powerful and so totally in control of their own destiny that they are the master of the universe, that no one can touch them, that is what you get. In light of all we have seen in the past from this company and all that we have learned so far from the whistleblower, I think it is time to adjust Mr. Zuckerberg's thinking. Accountability--yes, indeed. There is bipartisan agreement that it is time for accountability to come, and I sincerely hope that Mr. Zuckerberg and the rest of his Facebook colleagues are prepared for what is coming. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I have noticed over the past few months that my Democratic colleagues have developed a habit of explaining away the anger of the citizens of this country. There is anger, and there is frustration. And what they do is to do a little turn in the conversation and make it the cause of the citizens. It is kind of blaming it on them instead of looking at themselves as Members of the Senate and saying, ``You know, what could we do better?'' What I have seen is my colleagues on the other side of the aisle demand to know what is wrong with the American people; how could they not be on board with President Biden's so-called transformative agenda--change it all? Why won't they stand by and let us spend the country into economic oblivion while businesses fail, Main Streets see shuttered businesses, and once-safe border communities are being turned into war zones? You see, what they are really doing is trying to force the American people to adjust and abandon their principles--things that they have long believed, the founding first principles of this country. They want them to abandon that--abandon their expectations, and then accommodate the miserable failure that is Joe Biden's first few months in office. He has been wrong about most all of it. I honestly believe that many of the Democratic leaders have it wrong on this. The people aren't the ones who need to adjust. That burden belongs to the Democratic leadership--in the Senate, in the House, in the White House. No matter how they try to dress it up or change it or smile, they are fast-tracking the road to socialism. The anger bubbling to the surface didn't come from out of nowhere. Contrary to popular belief, outrage is not our natural state, no. What you are seeing is beyond buyer's remorse or even buyer's fear. It is buyer's anger, righteous anger, at what they see happening; and it is the culmination of almost a year's worth of confusion, fear, frustration at the Biden administration for how they have failed to lead--weak leadership. You see, the American people aren't accustomed to watching their leaders intentionally--intentionally--jeopardize our security and prosperity on such a fundamental level. They are looking at all that has fallen apart and realizing that things are the way they are because President Biden and the Democratic leadership wants it to be this way. This is intentional. On day one, President Biden halted construction of the border wall and left those crossings wide open to drug traffickers, to sex traffickers, human traffickers, and gangs--basically hung out the ``y'all come, you're welcome'' sign, opening that southern border. They did this knowing that hundreds of thousands of migrants were already on their way from Mexico and Central America. One hundred fifty countries this year have crossed that border illegally, and that--the vast majority of them would pay the cartels for their passage north by serving as drug mules, as prostitutes. What is being done to women and children is really awful. It is a humanitarian crisis. If they wanted to, Biden and the Democrats could put themselves between us and that threat. They could support strong immigration policies that protect refugees and also secure the border. It is possible, but they have refused to do it. Instead, they are funneling crowds of unvetted migrants into American communities and enabling the cartels to traffic women and children across State lines with impunity. How dare they? How dare they traffic like they are trafficking? Ignoring this problem isn't humanitarianism. It is not anti-racism. It is dangerous and exposes an appalling lack of wisdom on the part of the President; the Vice President, who is supposed to be the border czar; and their advisers. This administration seems to believe that threats to our national security will evaporate if we ignore them: Just don't think about it; don't talk about it; what you are seeing, you are really not seeing. What they are doing is creating policy in a bubble, which works well for grad seminars but fails miserably when there are lives on the line. The Biden administration failed in Afghanistan. Now, we can argue for the next decade--and I am sure we will--about lessons learned, but here is what the American people see: The Biden administration gave a terrorist organization the benefit of the doubt. That is right. They trusted the words of the Taliban above the words of the commanders on the ground. The commanders on the ground warned that such an abrupt withdrawal would end in chaos and casualties. But you know what? They wanted to be out by September 11. They wanted that date circled on the calendar. Joe Biden wanted to be the President who ended the war, but all he has done is emboldened the terrorists. And the war on terror continues. It continues. He ended nothing with the war on terror. We came out of Afghanistan, but now the families of 13 American servicemembers are left to grieve, while State Department officials make absurd claims about the power of diplomacy and the Taliban's role in regional politics, all the while ignoring the allies and the partners they abandoned. They still don't know how many Americans, how many of our SIV holders, applicants, their families are left behind enemy lines. And the people? The people in Tennessee whom I talk with when I go home every weekend--they are watching this. They are astounded, and they cannot believe what they are seeing the Democratic Party do. There is no reason, no accountability, no incentive to trust that the self-proclaimed ``adults in the room'' know what is best. Especially when it comes to the economy, Tennesseans can see a socialist agenda pulling the strings. Right now, they are staring down the barrel of a $3.5 trillion budget that the Democrats have weaponized against personal responsibility and decentralized control. Just seeing that pricetag was bad enough, and now we are hearing the pricetag is growing. But, now, Tennesseans know that the Democrats don't even care how much this costs nor do they care that, if all goes to plan, American businesses will carry a heavier tax burden than communist China. That is correct. The American businesses will have a higher tax burden than those in communist China. Living life as we know it will be too expensive for most of us to afford. No serious person could stand here on the floor of the Senate and pretend to be shocked at the level of anger and frustration that we are seeing back home. I talk to people every single week who feel betrayed--betrayed--by this administration. They feel unsafe. Many of the Tennesseans I speak to every day who voted for President Biden wish they had made another choice in the voting booth because, yes, they voted for the President, but they did not vote for this. They did not vote for the Afghanistan withdrawal and the manner we came out. They did not vote to embolden the communist Chinese. They did not vote for open borders. They did not vote for inflation that is skyrocketing, taxes--$2 trillion of taxes coming their way. No, they did not vote for that, and this is what makes them angry. I hear their anger with every telephone townhall, with every conversation. I hear their frustration. They are angry at the White House officials who use the full force of the U.S. Government to cover up their mistakes and try to make it sound like it is the problem of the people, because they know they have messed up. And the people have every right to be angry. The things we do in this Chamber don't exist in a bubble. They have real world consequences for real people who have real lives that they are living every day, and they know that they are beginning to live these lives in a more dangerous setting: crime on the streets, crime on the rise, open borders, unvetted migrants coming to their communities, COVID, measles outbreaks. They are angry. They have ``buyer's anger.'' I like to say, as I talk to women: Security moms are back. They are back in full force. They are back because they don't like the crime in the streets. They want safe communities. They want their children safe. They want their children who are going to college this fall to be safe. They are upset with the Afghanistan withdrawal, with the continuation of the war on terror, and that their children are going to have to go refight this. They are angry, and we hear their anger, and we know it is time for Members in this Chamber to stop playing politics with how much spending you can force out the door and address these problems that moms and dads and Americans across this country are faced with each and every day. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, as I come to the floor today, I want to acknowledge that we have an active shooter situation in Collierville, TN, right outside of Memphis. We have spoken with authorities. We have worked with State and Federal authorities. We are aware that there are 13 individuals who have been shot. The shooter is dead. But we are very grateful for law enforcement that have stepped up in this situation and prayerful for those who have been adversely impacted and have been victims of this shooting situation. Mr. President, I ask that I have permission to complete my remarks before the scheduled vote.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, this week, we have heard from many of my Democratic colleagues about the various ways that Republicans have supposedly dragged this country to the brink of collapse. But what they have ignored in their manufactured hysteria and disgust in some part is the fact that it is, indeed, Democrats who have control of the entire U.S. Government at this point. It was the Democrats who chose to govern alone starting on day one of the Biden administration. Over the past 8 months, Joe Biden and his Democratic friends have indulged their worst instincts and taken unprecedented steps to bring every single aspect of American life under the control of the Federal Government. They are the ones who are now threatening the American people with shutdowns and default rather than using the tools at their disposal to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government. They are the ones who chose to squander the trust of the American people on a spending spree that would waste trillions of dollars on liberal pet projects and a rapidly expanding welfare state. The Democrats have repeatedly claimed that these programs will make us happier, healthier, wealthier, freer, but in reality, their agenda has done nothing but make things worse. Historic spending has given rise to historic inflation that is on track to stay with us until the end of Joe Biden's Presidency. In Tennessee, it is one of the things that I hear about most. Groceries are more expensive than ever. Gas prices are at a 7-year high. Rent has skyrocketed, along with natural gas prices, which are set to break a decade-old record just in time for colder weather to set in. It is bad for hard-working taxpayers. They are tired of it. According to the Wall Street Journal, not even a well-earned hourly raise will be enough to pull these workers out of the hole. Inflation is so bad, it has negated the budget padding these people should be enjoying from bigger paychecks. Pay adjusted for inflation actually fell. It fell half a percent in August. These aren't luxuries. The policies advocated by the Democrats have made life itself too expensive to afford. From the second they wake up in the morning to the moment their head hits their pillow at night, the American people are bleeding cash, paying higher taxes, and some are beginning to lose hope. Still, the Democrats insist that if we surrender even more control, all will be well. Well, that talking point might work when you are talking to the camera, but it is not going to work on the people. It is not working on Tennesseans because they understand that ceding control means surrendering freedom, and freedom is about all that we have left. When I talk to Tennesseans, they are not holding back how they feel about this so-called transformative agenda. For them, this isn't just a battle of ideas. They are fighting a war against the onslaught of radical socialism. They are afraid of Joe Biden's runaway White House because they have seen how destructive the administration's unilateral decisions can be. They have watched thousands of jobs evaporate and the southern border turned into a lawless war zone because the President wanted it this way. So here is what Tennesseans want to know. If they can't trust the Democrats to do the bare minimum, why should they trust that even more spending and more centralized control and more big government will work out in their favor? They have had 8 months' worth of proof that the exact opposite is true. This country might be hanging on by a thread. For my part, I will listen to my fellow Tennesseans and will play no role in facilitating the erosion of freedom and the dignity of American life. I implore my colleagues in the majority: Listen to the people. They have the right to live their lives on their own terms, not with lockdowns and mandates--on their terms. They don't want have to depend on a government check to feed themselves or get their children back to school. There is a reason that our Constitution is one of the enumerated Federal powers. It is not the place of Congress or the Executive to flip this concept on its head and force the American people to justify their right to live free from this destructive cycle of debt and dependency. Our rights come from God, and I assure you, no government body could ever improve upon them. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, since day one of this administration, President Biden has made it abundantly clear that he is not interested in the opinion of anyone who poses a threat to his so- called transformative political agenda. During his first 3 days in office, he signed 30 Executive orders and actions that embraced radical environmental policies, destroyed thousands of jobs associated with the Keystone Pipeline, and transformed our southern border into a war zone. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle jumped on board with a reckless plan to borrow and spend their way into economic oblivion. They made it clear that despite having no mandate from the American people and no meaningful buy-in from Republicans, they are willing to do whatever it takes to transform this country into a wasteland defined by debt, dependency, and total government control. They are alone in this; and for the past 9 months, that is the way the Democrats have really wanted it to be, at least until recently, when it became, oh, yes, politically inconvenient. Lately, my Democratic colleagues have burned a lot of political capital, insisting that Republicans must come back to the table to help them raise the debt limit and avoid a doomsday scenario. That is right. They are the party of party-line votes, and they can't find it within themselves to finance the cost of their very own reckless spending plan. Why this sudden shift in sentiment? The answer is simple. It is because they know that what they are doing is indefensible. They don't want to own this. They don't want to have to explain to their children and their grandchildren who are now stuck with the tab. What are they going to say when their grandchild says: Why does the Federal Government take most of my money? Well, it is because of their spending. I don't blame them. If the Democrats have it their way, the national debt will hit more than $40 trillion by the end of the decade. That is correct, $40 trillion. The American people can already feel the effects of this inflationary spending every time they go to the grocery store and every time they go to the gas pump. It looks like that inflation is going to be with us until the end of the Biden Presidency. They have also noticed that our supply chains are running thin. As we speak, Democrats are negotiating the largest package of tax increases in decades. And contrary to the spin from the White House, those tax increases will hit small businesses and hard-working taxpayers. Now, let's be clear. This all happened according to plan. It is intentional. But here is the problem: My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are realizing that all those persuadable voters they won in 2020 are having buyer's remorse. They realize this is intentional by the Democrats. They may have voted for President Biden, but, as they tell me, they did not vote for this. The Democrats have made a mess and, I'll tell you what, they did it in record time. The only option that they have left is to find a friend to try to share the blame. I will play no part in facilitating this radical socialist agenda. I would say to my Democratic colleagues: You have known for a long time that this day was coming, and yet you were content to squander your power on a unilateral, multitrillion-dollar agenda for which you have no mandate and you can't pay for. Leader McConnell did not do this to you. Donald Trump did not do this to you. This is, indeed, an emergency of your own creation. Elections have consequences. As such, you control the entire government, and there is no one standing in your way. You chose to govern alone, and, fortunately, you have all the tools you need to do your duty and address the debt limit right by yourselves. The time for manipulation and spin is over. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, it is my honor to pay tribute today to a fellow Tennessean who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. On August 26, 2021, at approximately 9:30 am Eastern Standard Time, an ISIS-K terrorist murdered 13 American servicemembers in a suicide attack on the Abbey Gate leading into Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Among the fallen was Corryton native SSG Ryan Knauss. Ryan served with the Army's 9th Battalion, 8th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne), which put him directly in the heart of Afghan communities. His job was to build relationships with the people he met there, and by all accounts, he succeeded with uncommon skill, empathy, and compassion. It was dangerous work, but Ryan understood its importance. As his widow Alena recently told a Knoxville newspaper, ``When he spoke of the people of Afghanistan, all he saw were people that needed help. They were below no one in his eyes, not even Americans. He told me that all he saw were people of a different culture who deserved to be OK.'' When the time came for the Army to support evacuations at the airport, Ryan volunteered for the mission. He knew that, by doing this, he would be putting himself in danger; but when he looked at the chaos unfolding there, all he saw were the thousands of women and children forced into the line of fire by the persistent, terrifying evil that was seizing control of Kabul. And so he went and faithfully executed his duty. He was born to be a soldier and died as the finest example of American heroism anyone could ask for. He was a loving husband, a loyal friend, and a light in the darkness. Ryan's unit, Detachment 10, offered a statement following his death that I believe deserves a place in the Record. They said, ``Ryan knew the dangerous situation he was going to, but protecting innocent civilians is one of the values that drove him. It has been said that life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives, and Ryan had an incredible impact on his family and friends. And thanks to his actions, thousands of children will have the joy of knowing a childhood free from danger and oppression.'' Ryan, we are in awe of you. Thank you for your service to this country and for your sacrifice on behalf of all those who seek refuge within the common cause of freedom. (At the request of Mr. Inhofe, the following statement was ordered to be printed in the Record.)

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, September 11, 2001, is a date that is seared in the memories of those of us who lived through that day and experienced the trauma and the fear of that day. What has always struck me about that day and the days following, even standing here 20 years later, is how the entire free world stood united against what we saw as a common threat. It came to us as naturally as breathing. We understood that as witnesses to mass murder, we shared a duty to avenge those who had died. It may have been fear that forced us together, but in the days that followed the attacks, we, as Americans, rediscovered the ties that have bound us for centuries and solidified our faith in the common cause of freedom. But the more time that passes between each September 11 and the September 11 attacks, the more obvious it becomes that history slips away from those who fail to heed its lessons. The defensive action we took as a nation in the wake of the attacks was among the most forceful and effective the world had ever seen, but still, even 20 years later, it is obvious that our work in Afghanistan and the Middle East is far from over. My colleague from Maine talked about the withdrawal from Afghanistan. I would say, as I talk to Tennesseans, it is not withdrawing from Afghanistan; it was the manner in which the Biden administration chose to end the military mission in Afghanistan that didn't seem to reflect the reality of what was going on on the ground. Last week, I sent a letter to Chairman Reed, with several of my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee, asking for formal hearings on the withdrawal. We need to know exactly what happened, how they were advised. Without sworn testimony from Secretary Austin, General Milley, General McKenzie, and General Miller, we will never be able to untangle the chaotic course of events that led to the deaths of 13 servicemembers in Kabul and the abandonment of an unknown number of American citizens and our Afghan partners. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the letter be printed in the Record.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Beyond the fact-finding mission, I plan to use these hearings to impress upon my Democratic colleagues the importance of the words that we use to describe our enemies, how we talk about them, how we frame their actions. Since day one--since day one of this administration--the Biden administration has used their words to rehabilitate the Taliban in the eyes of their radical base. The problem, of course, is that their diplomatic calls for inclusivity and equality, this supports a lie about who the Taliban actually is. The Taliban--like ISIS, like al- Qaida--is a terrorist organization. They rule by fear. They rule through public beheadings, rape, forced marriage, brutality against anyone who questions their regime, against anyone who disagrees with them. Look at the way women and children are treated. Now, in my opinion and from a lot of Tennesseans whom I have talked with as I have been home, they feel that expecting terrorists to behave like normal people is reckless and stupid. And they feel that some of the actions that have come from this administration and comments that they would have that expectation would reflect that reckless stupidity. These are terrorist organizations. If you need another example of this, just look at their approach to border security. Even before the transfer of power, massive migrant caravans had begun moving out of Central America and toward the southern border. They were eager to take advantage of then-Candidate Biden's promises of open borders and amnesty for all. Where did that get us? Well, this is what we have learned. The CBP reports that migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border reached a 20-year high in July. That is right, massive numbers. They heard those promises. So what did they do? They got to work contacting a cartel, and they made this journey after, of course, they paid the cartel. Most of the nearly 200,000 people our Border Patrol caught in July were traveling alone. Families might be holding back, but the international traffickers certainly are not holding back. On August 29, CBP officers in Memphis found three kilograms of ketamine in a shipment of furniture from France coming in because of the cartels. In the first week of September, CBP officers in Texas seized two separate stashes of cocaine with a combined street value of almost $300,000. In the month of July alone, cocaine seizures increased 91 percent, and meth seizures increased 20 percent. Why are they doing this? They know that the border is open. On September 8, Texas State Troopers and CBP officers stopped two human smuggling attempts running just hours apart from each other. Our CBP officers have made it standard procedure to scour remote terrain for migrants who have been abandoned and left to die by their cartel transporters. Why is this happening? Because it is obvious to everyone, from the migrants, the cartels to the foreign officials who refuse to police their own borders, that the Biden administration won't do anything to stop it. Tennesseans see this as reckless. It makes no sense. I talked to some local law enforcement officers this week. They are seeing an uptick in meth, fentanyl, and heroin on the streets--all coming out of Mexico. They repeatedly say: Secure the border. We live in the greatest Nation on Earth. We are still the world's best example for freedom, and we are the last hope for millions of people suffering under authoritarian rule. It is important to understand that it doesn't have to be the way it has been when you look at this withdrawal from Afghanistan, when you look at this open border, when you look at the fact that, yes, this year, the border patrol has apprehended terrorists at the southern border. That is right. It doesn't have to be that way, but when you have weak leadership-- leadership that is not focused, leadership that says ``it is my way or the highway''--and when you have that reckless disregard for the truth, that can and will destroy us. The actions of the Biden administration have already emboldened our enemies. They have made our allies doubt our commitment to them and to the work that they are trying to do to advance freedom for themselves-- the work that we are doing to advance freedom here in this country and abroad. So I would encourage my Democratic colleagues to resist the urge to fall in line with the White House on the issue of the Afghanistan withdrawal and to, instead, join me in demanding as many hearings as it takes to restore accountability and transparency and to find out exactly what happened. What were our military advisers saying to President Biden? To Vice President Harris? To Jake Sullivan? To Susan Rice? To Antony Blinken? What were they telling them? What was the expectation? Did they have a plan? Did they plan to leave Americans behind enemy lines? Did they plan to give up Bagram Airfield? Did they plan to leave all of the equipment for the Taliban to use? Did they plan on that? Was it intentional that they made those decisions or was it reckless stupidity that got us here? I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the amendment, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my amendment No. 3062 be called up and reported by number.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, this amendment maintains what has been the existing right of any Senator to weigh in on the special treatment we give to designated funds. As it stands, this current budget resolution would destroy that right and allow a simple majority of Senators free rein to declare anything and everything an emergency. Without this amendment, fiscal discipline will go out the window, along with the rules laid out in the Budget Act and any chance of countering the Biden administration's reckless socialist agenda. The existing rule worked for bipartisan COVID relief, and it will continue to work for this body. There is nothing broken here to fix.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, this letter asked Dr. Collins about news reports that Chinese researchers were allowed to delete data from a genetic database managed by the NIH. The data they removed included information about the novel coronavirus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Collins has not responded to the letter, but this isn't the sort of allegation the NIH will be able to ignore into nonexistence. We need a response. We need to know what happened. We need transparency from the NIH, just as the NIH is asking for transparency from China. Dr. Collins must reveal what definition of ``gain of function research'' NIH used when it approved funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology back in 2016. We now know that the research we paid for helped Chinese researchers engineer different versions of coronaviruses. We also need to know why the Wuhan Institute of Virology was allowed to do dangerous research with American taxpayer dollars in a ``biosafety level 2'' lab. In case you are not familiar with this designation, one scientist compared the safety and security levels of a biosafety lab 2 to that of a dentist's office. In 2017, NIH reversed the ban on gain of function research. Why was NIH allowed to make such an important decision unilaterally? I was relieved to hear Dr. Collins express support for transparency from China, but getting answers out of Beijing won't end the investigation. The American people have suffered for almost 2 years under the threat of illness and economic collapse. It is not too much to demand that their own government live up to the same standards we all agree we should hold our research partners to.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, recently, Francis Collins, who is the current Director of the National Institutes of Health, said in an interview: We call on China to really open up, something they have not done, and to be more transparent about what could be known there. He was, of course, talking about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. I couldn't agree more with Dr. Collins. The world is entitled to know what happened in Wuhan. However, we have a saying in Tennessee that I think applies here: What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Of course, my question to Dr. Collins is, When will we see transparency from the NIH about its role in the origins of the pandemic? On June 28, along with my colleagues Senators Marshall and Grassley, I wrote to Dr. Collins asking him to open up the books on the NIH's relationship with Chinese researchers. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that this letter be printed in the Record

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, if the past year has taught us anything, it is that we should cherish the moments of joy and unity many Americans experienced while watching this year's belated Summer Olympics. The athletes who earned a spot on Team U.S.A. have also won a very special place in our history. While many sports fans watch the Games for the pageantry and spectacle, it is our champions who forge connections with their countrymen and cultivate a sense of pride and patriotism. It is my honor to recognize the following Tennesseans who did their country proud at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics: Erica Bougard, of Memphis; Wes Kitts, of Knoxville; Tennys Sandgren, of Gallatin; Alex Walsh, of Nashville; and Alex Young, of La Vergne. On behalf of all Tennesseans, I thank these Olympians for their passion, their perseverance, and their stunning displays of athleticism.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I want to concur with my colleague from Tennessee in his beautifully stated remarks and the way he has brought forward the frustration that Tennesseans have. You know, I had the opportunity to be at home yesterday. We have a great event going on in Nashville this weekend. It is called the Grand Prix. I had the opportunity to be at the opening event with a lot of women, small business owners. I had the opportunity later in the day to go cut the ribbon for a big county fair and see lots of families and talk to families who were there. Do you know what? They are completely confused with what is going on. See, Tennesseans are really smart. They watch what is happening in Washington, DC. They are so concerned about the future and about freedom and freedom's cause, and they continue to say, as my colleague from Tennessee stated, that they want the best for their children and for their grandchildren because they appreciate the American dream. Many of them have lived the American dream, whether they are a farmer or a teacher; whether they are a lawyer, an accountant, a mom, a dad, somebody who owns a small business on Main Street in one of our 95 counties in our beautiful towns. They have lived it. They are living it every single day--blood, sweat, tears, working long hours, investing. They look at what is happening here in Washington, and they are saying: Why are you in such a rush to force us into bankruptcy? You know, July 6, 2010--I use this statement all the time, Mr. President. Someone you and I each know because of our work on Armed Services: Admiral Mullen. July 6, 2010, he was asked a question: What keeps you up at night? What is the greatest threat to our Nation's freedom, our democracy? Do you know what he said? He said: Our Nation's debt. Now, let me walk you back through the history of that debt. If we were to go from the time that George Washington became President up until the time that George W. Bush stepped out of office, our Nation had accrued a total of $10.6 trillion in debt--too much for me. When I would go to the White House with President Bush, I would say: Mr. President, there are two things that I think need to be addressed. No. 1 is the out-of-control Federal spending, and No. 2 is the issue of illegal immigration. Well, he left office $10.6 trillion in debt, but still very mild compared to what we are facing today, I think we would have to say. Now, President Obama took office, and he and Joe Biden went to work. Do you know what they did in 8 years? They ended up just about doubling our Nation's debt--double. President Trump came in, tried to pare back on regulations and cut the size of the Federal Government. And then we had COVID. That added to the debt. Then here comes President Biden, and it is as if the printing presses have cranked up on printing those dollar bills, running them through as fast as they possibly can, because what the Biden administration and Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi had pushed through was $1.9 trillion, saying that was necessary for CARES, even though all that money that had previously been spent had not been--or that had been appropriated had not been spent. Now, here we have $1.2 trillion. As my colleague said, it has become this bill of, here is a little bit for infrastructure, but, oh, by the way, over here, here is this great big downpayment on the Green New Deal. Don't worry that we don't generate enough electricity for an electric vehicle fleet; we will figure that one out later. Let's just put in subsidies for electric vehicles. Don't worry about giving more power to the Federal Government; we will give you back authority, local governments, if we think you need it. So $1.2 trillion in spending. Then we hear that the bonus round in this lollapalooza is going to be $3.5 trillion, but more likely, the realistic view is, it is going to be $5 trillion. So back to my point, people in Tennessee are saying ``What in the world could you possibly be thinking? What could you possibly be thinking?'' because they know the history of this Nation's debt. Do you know what? And this really relates to much of the work that we do in SASC. They know that there is a threat from the people who own or hold our debt. Japan, our friend and ally, is at the top of the tier right now. The last time I checked last month on who owns our debt, you know, No. 2 is China. They own well over $1 trillion or hold over $1 trillion dollars of our debt. If you put the OPEC nations together-- and, of course, after the Keystone Pipeline, we are now dependent on OPEC and others for fuel. We were energy independent thanks to President Trump and Republicans in the House and Senate. We were energy independent. But OPEC is there in that top five, all those OPEC countries grouped together. So people in Tennessee are really quite--they are miffed. They are put off by what is going on. I was really surprised. I had a text this morning from one of my county mayors: I am all for infrastructure. I am for the Cornyn amendment. But you know what, I am not for this bill because you have got less--or about 25 percent of this that goes for something that we would deem infrastructure. Tennesseans love to talk about infrastructure as four things. They talk about roads, river, railways, and runways. And, of course, we are a logistics State. Everyone knows Memphis has a big port and a rail hub, one of two cities where all five class A railroads come into that city. They know that interstates are important. They crisscross our State--indeed, Nashville, where you have three major interstates that crisscross right there in the middle of that city. They know that Tennessee--so many businesses choose to locate there because we are within an 8-hour drive of a majority of the Nation's population. Logistics require good roads and rivers and rail and runways, but, you know what, they are not seeing it in this. When you, in the name of infrastructure, spend this amount of money--now, I have great respect for my colleagues on each side of the aisle who have worked to produce a product, to do it in a bipartisan way. That is commendable. It is commendable. For Tennesseans, the result is something that is frustrating to them. You know, this is considered to be the world's greatest deliberative body. I always appreciated how our former colleague Senator Alexander would talk about the cup and saucer. The hot coffee gets poured into the cup. It spills over into the saucer. It cools off. You add some sweetener, and you get something that you enjoy. People expect more. They expect better of this deliberative body. Tennesseans know that our Nation's freedom has been well-served by robust, respectful, bipartisan debate. That is a good thing. It strengthens freedom. It brings people together. It brings them to the table to talk about what is their priority. Now, unfortunately, most of us in this body have not had the opportunity to be at that table. Amendments that we have worked on that we felt like would have improved this bill are not going to be heard-- not here, not in a hearing, in a committee. We are just not going to see that as a part of this process. That is unfortunate, and it is going to be unfortunate if, indeed, that happens on the next bill or the bill after that or the bill after that. We should return to regular order and go through this process. Now, I had about 30 amendments that I had offered as improvements for this bill. Rest assured, I am not going to stand here and go through each and every one of those amendments, but there are some things that I thought needed our attention in this bill. As many of my colleagues know, broadband is something that, whether I was serving in the House or back in the State senate in Tennessee or before that, going in and reorganizing the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission for our Governor, broadband and moving from analog to digital, making high-speed internet available all across our State, closing that digital divide--I have spent so many hours working on this. I filed three amendments that I felt like would really do some damage control on these and help close the divide, getting to our rural and unserved areas, people who have no internet. Amendment No. 2327 would have prohibited the Federal Government from forcing municipal broadband provider programs into States that have outlawed them. Now, Tennessee is one of those States that say to municipalities: If you want to serve people within your city, that is great. You go ahead. But you can't go outside of your boundaries. There are other States that have had this issue. There is a reason they say: If you serve your constituents, great, but don't go outside that. It is because States that have allowed these schemes ended up banning them for a reason. Usually it is because these government-run systems would end up imploding, leaving the taxpayers with a bill that they were going to have to pay. Now, another amendment, amendment No. 2377, would have prohibited the FCC, our Federal Communications Commission, from implementing price- setting schemes on broadband providers. Allowing the FCC to do that rate-setting and price-setting would destroy investment in rural broadband. It would destroy it. We know this. And it would actually incentivize providers in avoiding these unserved areas. Sometimes we talk about that as being that last mile that needs to get that fiber, that last mile that needs fixed wireless, that last mile that is needing some form of connectivity. Amendment No. 2328--and we do hope this one makes it in the bill-- would strike language permitting regulators to allow these broadband grant recipients to use the money for--and I am quoting the language in the bill--``any use determined necessary . . . to facilitate the goals of the program.'' Now, this sounds vague. It is vague. If there is one thing that we learned prior when we put a lot of money out during President Obama's time, it is that sometimes this money ends up not being targeted to broadband but ends up as a slush fund. We also have an amendment that will deal with a shovel-ready infrastructure project on our southern border. Amendment 2406 would redirect $1 billion from Amtrak. By the way, Amtrak is getting many billions of dollars in this bill. And it would send that money over to the Department of Homeland Security to finish the southern border wall construction. We all know what is happening on that border: record numbers of illegal aliens coming in, many very sick, COVID-positive. We know that they are ending up--as are drugs, as are gangs--in cities and towns across this Nation. Indeed, until we secure the southern border, every town is a border town, every State is a border State. God bless our law enforcement officers who are fighting this every day. I am hearing from them, and I want them to know I hear them, and I understand the pressures that they are under. We also know that our communities are struggling trying to get back to work and really move forward with regrowing the economy, but inflation has gotten in the way. One of the big problems that people point to with the high cost of fuel and logistics and the packing materials is the killing of the Keystone Pipeline. Amendment 2298 would amend section 4034 of the bill, which calls for a study on job loss and impacts on consumer energy due to the revocation of the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. My amendment says that if the report shows that killing the pipeline caused numerous job losses and an impact on consumer energy costs, that the President should revoke--he shall revoke his Executive order and get out of the way of the pipeline construction. Get people back to work and get the prices at the pump, get them down. Get them down to where they were when President Trump left office. I mean, what is the purpose of a report if it doesn't have any teeth? So let's take an action on that. There is no bill that is ever perfect. They all have to be worked on. Many times, we come back a year or so later, and we do technical corrections on a bill. We make changes. And this is no different. This bill needs time. It needs a thorough amendment process. It needs to go back to the committees of jurisdiction to work through these issues. Are the American people for infrastructure? Yes, they are for infrastructure. Tennesseans are for infrastructure. I am for infrastructure projects. Yes, indeed. Am I for this piece of legislation? No, because it is a document that has misplaced priorities. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I am really on the record opposing President Biden's decision to abruptly withdraw troops from Afghanistan, and I oppose it for the same reasons many of the world's most respected military officials oppose it. We knew our allies would suffer. The Taliban have burned their way through Afghanistan and staked a claim on much of the territory that we have now abandoned. We created a void, and the Taliban walked right on in. Last week, we watched as another of our adversaries planted their own flag in Afghanistan. On Wednesday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted this picture from a meeting between Chinese Communist Party officials and the Taliban. That is correct, Wednesday of last week. They even went so far as to say they are hopeful that the Taliban will embrace a peaceful and more inclusive approach to government. It was a nice piece of performance art from a government recently accused of genocide. But this is what the CCP does best--fill the void, throw up a diplomatic facade, and seize as much power as they possibly can seize as quickly as they can do it. Back home in Tennessee, we have felt the ripple effects of Beijing's creeping dominance. You know, when most people think of a foreign threat, they think of an army or a spy ring, but what we need to understand is that these threats are much more subtle. If you don't know what you are looking for, you will end up missing it. Back in the midnineties, when I was the executive director for the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission, we were already fighting a losing battle against Chinese intellectual property theft. Now, this might not seem like a matter of national security, but for the songwriters and producers and creators who fell victim to it, it was a matter of economic security. This theft made them vulnerable. It made multiple industries vulnerable in our State, including the auto industry, auto parts, aviation, water sports. They all started to feel the effects of a dishonest Chinese Communist Party, and therefore, it made our country's economy vulnerable. The same goes for those playing whack-a-mole with the pirates and counterfeiters selling stolen or outright fake merchandise. It is a serious vulnerability. Sometimes those vulnerabilities are more obvious, however. For example, when the novel coronavirus sent us into lockdown, we were finally able to draw attention to how much control Beijing has over healthcare in America. They have a stranglehold on our supply chains for active pharmaceutical ingredients and medical supplies. I introduced the SAM-C Act last year with Senator Menendez. That legislation would protect those supply chains and bring production back to the United States. This threat didn't spontaneously evolve; it is the result of 100 seemingly small vulnerabilities that our adversaries in Beijing had found a way to exploit. How did it happen? Well, it has a lot to do with their slow takeover of international organizations-- namely, the United Nations. Since 1971, the Chinese Communist Party has exploited hopes that membership in the U.N. would force them to behave like a normal country, but the reality of the situation is that Chinese diplomats control 4 out of 15 specialized U.N. agencies and many other subsidiary offices. Even more importantly, the CCP is flooding the U.N. with lower level staff, which means they have strength in numbers that we do not have. They have seized far too much power for comfort. Since 2007, Chinese diplomats have led the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which means they have also controlled the direction of the U.N.'s development programs. By 2015, they had gained enough influence to make development synonymous with Belt and Road Initiative projects, which, as we all know, are debt trap schemes for Beijing's leveraging against struggling nations. This is a debt trap scheme. In 2014, China placed a diplomat at the top of the International Telecommunication Union. Since then, the ITU has more or less been Beijing's mouthpiece. They promote Chinese companies, Chinese telecom standards, and, of course, support Beijing's attempts to monopolize communications infrastructure in countries stuck in debt traps. It is all connected. Since their admission to the U.N., the CCP has practically achieved immunity from accountability for human rights violations. The NGO China has used for years to whitewash their barbaric treatment of Tibetans is now a U.N.-accredited organization. In 2018, when the United States withdrew from UNESCO, who was waiting in the wings to become the largest financial contributor to global education? You are right. It was China. They have used their stranglehold on the Department of Economic and Social Affairs to officially silence the Uighur Muslims of Xinjiang. They used their status as members of the Human Rights Council as cover for horrendous human rights violations in Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and on the Mainland. In 2019, we confirmed whistleblower testimony that revealed the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights sent the names of activists critical of the Chinese Communist Party straight to Beijing. And last year, we watched the World Health Organization praise Beijing for lying to the world about the severity of the disease that would eventually cause a deadly global pandemic. We are in damage control mode. By the end of 2021, the U.N. will hold nine elections for heads of specialized agencies and five for major funds or programs. We control exactly none of these positions. Our task is twofold. First, we must fill these voids. We don't have a choice. But we must also inject accountability by holding ourselves accountable for the integrity of our own relations with the U.N. and foreign countries. Last week, I introduced the U.N. Transparency and Accountability Act, which will strengthen America's influence as a key U.N. member nation and expose the threat adversarial countries pose to international organizations. My colleague, Congressman Michael McCaul, from Texas has companion legislation ready to go in the House, and there is no sane reason why we shouldn't see these bills come up for a vote sooner rather than later. We are going to find out exactly who these bad actors are. We are going to flood the U.N. with Americans to stop them. And we are going to account for every single penny we contribute to U.N. projects. And then we are going to make the reports on all that spending available to the American taxpayer who is footing the bill. No more hiding. The bottom line is that we can't win this war without brute force. There is no weapon that can neatly cut the strings Beijing is pulling. Ceding freedom has consequences. The ripple effect created in Geneva and Brussels and New York and Washington can and will destroy the lives of people half a world away. As effective as diplomacy can be, we are alone in this one. We are responsible for safeguarding our freedom. As President Reagan once said, Freedom is always one generation away from extinction. ``It has to be fought for and defended by each generation.'' There is no kicking the can down the road. Once it is gone, it is gone. There is no better voice for human rights than the United States. And if we do not speak up, we give every other nation on the planet an excuse to stay silent also. No one will come to our rescue if our supply chains are compromised. No one will come to the rescue of Tennessee innovators and companies if their supply lines are compromised by the Communist Chinese. And no one else is going to make sure our children and grandchildren don't fall into one of Beijing's debt traps. Perhaps we should keep that in mind this week as we take up all 2,700-plus pages of the infrastructure package. If ever there was a time for restraint, this is it. The threat is staring us in the face, and I fear that my Democratic colleagues are missing the threat. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I am pleased to come and join my colleagues on the floor today and have a discussion about what is taking place here in this Capitol Building. Now, my colleague from Utah just mentioned something that I think is so important: being able to disagree agreeably, having a difference of opinion, and showing respect to other people. This Nation has remained strong and vibrant and free because we believe in robust, respectful, bipartisan debate. We do not lock up or silence or push or disappear people who disagree with us and our beliefs--and what we see happening in the House, where the Capitol Police would have the ability to haul staffers and visitors to jail for their decision not to wear a mask. Now, think about that. It would be not wearing a mask--a choice, making a choice to not wear a mask. So it is important for us to realize this is a difference of opinion. We have told the American people: Get vaccinated. I have chosen to be vaccinated. So have most of my family. Get the vaccine. That is kind of like your ticket to freedom from wearing a mask, if you choose. You don't have to put that mask on if you get vaccinated. But now what are we hearing? Masks are coming back. The science is very divided on the value of a mask. Is it just to protect you? Is it to protect others? Do masks serve as a disincentive for people to actually get the vaccine? Which is what we have encouraged people to do: Talk to your physician, make certain the vaccine is right for you, and get the vaccine so you don't have to wear the mask. Now, one of the things that we know is this: COVID is here to stay. We are going to continue to have COVID-19 in our presence. We know that, but we also know that this that is happening today is not necessarily about masks. This is about continuing to perpetrate these lockdowns; that we have had a series of lockdowns and scares and things where we are pulling back on freedom and giving power to the government and lessening the ability for individual choices. That is what this is about. There is no deliberation that appears to have gone into this newest mandate from the Speaker of the House, but you don't need deliberation when you have decided that you can just resort to threats such as this: locking up staffers and visitors if they do not wear a mask on the House side. Just over the past few days, we have seen high-profile Democrats buying right into this new tactic. Here is some of what we have been hearing. And, you know, as a mom and a grandmom, I hear a lot from moms and grandmoms. And my text threads and email and phone calls--Mr. President, you just wouldn't even believe it. They feel like our colleagues across the aisle are just forgetting that science-- science--has weighed in on this issue. And now they are hearing these threats, threatening to keep our children out of school, not letting them go back to school in September. We don't need to go to school. Teachers unions, not sure they want to go back to school in September. But, oh, by the way, if you do go back to school, they might want to put your children in masks. Children, little kids in school, we have heard it from pediatricians, we have all read the articles--there are truly some adverse side effects to little children being told to wear a mask every day. There are physical, there are emotional, there are psychological adverse effects to these children--not mentioning some I have heard from pediatricians about the danger of children not knowing how to wear the mask. And they touch the mask, and then they put a dirty mask back up over their nose and their mouth and the concerns that that brings. What we are hearing about our children in school is of tremendous concern to the moms who are out there. We are hearing they are threatening families and small businesses with yet another lockdown to come. I have a lot of friends who are in the retail industry. And right now, you know what they are doing? They are beginning to get in merchandise for the fourth quarter. They have used their lines of credit to make certain there is merchandise in their stores. These are mom-and-pop stores. These are small businesses. They are on Main Street in every small town in this country, just like they are in Tennessee. And the decisions that are being made here make them very nervous and very uncomfortable because they are thinking: All right. What if we go into a lockdown? What if people can't get into my store? And here I have finally made it through COVID and I am looking forward to a good fourth quarter, and now we are getting this kind of information out of Washington, DC. All of this is not rational. There is no evidence--none--to suggest that yet another about-face on masking is going to keep people healthier, is going to make them healthier. There is no evidence for that. So let's call it what it is. This is leftwing hysteria. This is hysteria. Frighten people. Make them think a lockdown is coming. Make them think things are worse than what they are. No. This is the United States of America. We do not lock up people we disagree with. We don't push forward with this type of activity. We don't silence our opponents. We believe in free speech. We believe in individuals being able to make their choices. And I think that it is fair to say what the Speaker of the House has done is not trusting the science that brought us this vaccine. And thank goodness President Donald Trump brought about Operation Warp Speed and issued a challenge to our Federal Agencies, issued a challenge to our pharmaceutical companies, and said: Let's see if we can find a way to defeat this virus. There is a vaccine there. I think what you see happening with the Democrats and with the Speaker of the House is what we in Tennessee call having a good old-fashioned come-apart because they are not getting their way. And the American people do not believe that they are getting serious about doing serious business that the American people want to see: addressing out-of-control spending, addressing the needs of this country

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, my colleague said it so very well. The inflation bomb is exploding, and people in Tennessee are incredibly concerned about that. I hear about this every single day from Tennesseans. They are also concerned about the fact that it seems that the Democratic majority has been unable to push forward a budget that would be bipartisan, that would have appropriate spending, and that would prioritize the needs and the concerns of the American people. Until just a few hours ago, we didn't have any insight into an infrastructure bill that would be bipartisan, and I applaud those who have worked so diligently to reach a bipartisan agreement. But the American people have started to lose a lot of their trust and a lot of their patience with Washington, DC, and I think we can say ``rightfully so'' because they are watching the cost of government go up. They are watching the hesitancy to move forward on their concerns, and they are speaking out to us. I had a Tennessean this week ask me why Washington was wasting so much time, because time is money, and they want to see things done. We know we need to see what these bills are going to look like. We are hearing that the majority wants to bring forward this tax-and-spend spree of legislation that would be trillions of dollars, and we know that what would end up happening is this would be something that--I call it lie, cheat, steal. You don't say exactly what you are going to use the money for. You don't say exactly where the money is going to come from within the budget. Eventually, all of it comes out of the taxpayers' pocket. And you are stealing hopes and dreams from future generations who are going to--they are going to have to pay the bill for this. It is our children and our grandchildren and future generations that are going to have to find a way to pay for all of this. That is why I brought this chart back to the floor. I have used it recently here on this floor to remind us of Ronald Reagan's words: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It has to be fought for and defended by each generation. Very true words. And what a good reminder to us because as we give government more control over our lives, as we give them more control in the Federal budget, as the government takes more money out of the pocket of hard-working taxpayers, what do we see? We see less freedom. There is such concern that the Democratic majority has refused to come forward and say how they want to spend these trillions of dollars. I think part of that is because there is not a way to pay for it, and they don't plan to pay for it. Instead, they are going to send that bill to future generations. This is dangerous. We are upside down on this national debt when you look at how that debt clock is ticking. But we have to choose to spend taxpayer money where it matters, and it still matters. It matters to Tennesseans what their tax dollars are spent for, and it matters how they are spent. Another thing that matters to them is what we are spending it for and the driving of inflation across this country. If my Democratic colleagues continue to dig this hole, future generations will be in so deep that it will be very difficult for them to compete on the global stage. They will be vulnerable to the deathtraps our adversaries in Beijing set for nations that have made the same mistakes that the Democratic majority wants us to make: spending more money than you have to spend for programs that you cannot afford. I would argue that existing in a state of dependence and vulnerability created by our own government is the opposite of freedom. It is the opposite of freedom. Is that really what we want for our children and grandchildren, to leave them with so much Federal debt that they are covered in debt; that most of their paycheck is going to go to the Federal Government to pay for programs that have long outlived their usefulness? I think not. That is why it is so important that we look at what is happening right now, as there are these conversations about budgets and as there are these conversations about the tax-and-spend spree that my colleagues across the aisle would seek to propose. I would also offer that that type of spending is not governing. What it is, is a power grab. What it is, is taking care of your friends and not those who elected you to serve. The American people can see what is coming at them from a mile away, and they are expressing their concerns about DC's out-of-control tax-and-spending spree. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

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

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, this has already been a big week in Tokyo for Team USA, and I hope all of my colleagues have the opportunity to watch a few minutes of the Olympic Games over the next few weeks. Every year, we hear so much from commentators and athletes about how the Games are an opportunity for the world to come together, and that is exactly how it once was. Unfortunately, the Olympics are also a target-rich environment for people and regimes that want to use these rare moments of unity to trick the world into ignoring evil. Before we were able to enjoy any of this year's double-pike vaults or 400-meter freestyle swims, we were already worrying about the impending havoc casting a shadow over the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Late last year, the Chinese Government began pilot testing a new digital currency that will inevitably knock other domestic mobile payment systems out of the marketplace. The digital yuan trial has already pulled in $5.3 billion--that is correct, $5.3 billion--in transactions, and this month we learned that cross-border payments are also on the table. In fact, the trial has been so successful that Beijing wants to expand testing at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Now, as much as I would like to believe that this is an innocent effort to bring the world a little closer together, this is the Chinese Communist Party that we are talking about, and we shouldn't expect good faith because that is not what we are going to get from the CCP. We have reason to believe that the Chinese Government intends to use the digital yuan to conduct a massive surveillance operation on Chinese citizens and foreign visitors. It wouldn't be the first time something like this happened. The CCP has an unfortunate history of weaponizing emerging technologies against people they would like to control. They used it against the Uighurs, against freedom fighters in Hong Kong, and on the mainland against anyone who questions their party propaganda. They are already using digital payment platforms to spy on their own people; and if we are not careful, they are going to use them to spy on Team USA. This month, I sent a letter to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee asking them to forbid our athletes from accepting or using the digital yuan while competing in Beijing. The threats are changing, and far too often we see our allies and partners and even our own government ignoring those threats to preserve the status quo. You may be asking yourself: Why is so much of the world willing to look the other way when confronted with genocide in Xinjiang or murdered protesters in Hong Kong? It is because speaking up can be dangerous, especially when it comes to challenging the CCP. China boasts the most in-demand market in the world. In fact, it is such a gold mine that you will recall the NBA ignored large-scale child abuse at its training camps in China just to maintain access to broadcast advertising and merchandise revenue. Through the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese Communist Party has sunk its teeth into some of the most valuable tourist destinations on the face of the Earth, on trade route, and strategic outposts. They have sold this program as an economic development initiative, but in reality this debt-trap diplomacy is really just an extortion scheme. Once these countries fall into the trap, it is almost impossible to escape. Even before the pandemic forced the United States into lockdown, I and several other of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle were ringing alarm bells about our supply chain security. China is the most dominant global source of rare Earth minerals, technology infrastructure, and many active pharmaceutical ingredients. Long story short, there is a lot on the line for the people of the United States. The cards are stacked against us. It would be really easy to protect that valuable status quo by ignoring human rights violations and extortion schemes and other overt attempts to make the world a little less free. But as much as we would like it to be, freedom is not humanity's natural state. It is fragile. It falls victim to the weak and the power hungry alike, and, if we are not careful, yes, it will slip away, like it has in so many other countries. Freedom does have to be fought for, and we need our leaders to set the example. That means staying focused on not following the example of countries that have given up their freedom. We don't want to live out the authoritarian nightmare that the CCP has created, but we also want to avoid becoming like nations that have already pawned their futures in pursuit of some grand socialist future. I fear that our new majority has already lost touch with what the American people actually want. They sure don't want what the Biden administration has been selling lately. I can definitely tell you that after a weekend in Tennessee. They don't feel taken care of. What they are feeling is that they are being manipulated. They want to know why President Biden and the Democratic majority keep trying to pawn off the freedom that makes us an example to the rest of the world in exchange for more government control that nobody asked for. I would encourage my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to remember that the American people entrusted them with the power that they are wasting on these radical wish lists items, and that power can be taken away just as easily as it was given. The American people want to make certain that we do as Ronald Reagan implored us to remember. And, Madam President, as you know, last week I had that poster here on the floor. Freedom is always one generation away from extinction. It is our responsibility to fight for it, to pass it on. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, there was such an interesting occurrence that happened down the street a bit at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue last weekend, and it is when White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki unveiled the scheme that her colleagues in the West Wing had worked out with Big Tech. Well, what they are setting about to do is to remove--and I am quoting her--``problematic'' content from Facebook and other digital platforms. That is right. They, the White House team, have decided that they are going to work with Big Tech, and they are going to remove ``problematic''--their term--content from Facebook and other digital platforms. Now, I am certain that the White House was very confident that the press would treat this rather bizarre admission like they have treated other blatant oversteps coming out of this administration. After all, they, the press, have provided reliable cover for this White House since Inauguration Day. But here is the problem. It is no longer Inauguration Day. There is now a record to consider, and I will tell you what, no matter what they do, the mainstream media is not going to be able to turn the clock back on this overstep. In just 6 months, the Biden administration has done an admirable job showing the American people exactly who they are. We have seen enough at this point to take the admission of being in cahoots with Big Tech at face value. The administration has intentionally overwhelmed the airwaves with big promises that are conveniently light on details. And there is a good reason for that. What President Biden and the Democrats are trying to do would fundamentally transform this country into something that we, the people, would have a very difficult time even recognizing. They got off to a great start toward their goals by killing jobs in the name of climate extremism and opening the border to a flood of illegal immigrants with no plan at all to manage the influx. They just said: Let's send them to the States, and let local communities and States cover this cost. They tried to dupe the American people into getting behind a so- called infrastructure plan that was anything but infrastructure. Then they doubled down on a brazen attempt to extend the Federal Government's control over schools and homes. They labeled this spending spree the American Families Plan to provide cover for yet another attack on, what else, the nuclear family. Then they launched an all-out war on the ballot box in the name of the people. And now we see that they worked out a perfect system to force the opposition to shut up--just throw a flag on your opponents and watch their digital footprint and their freedom of speech evaporate. There is a way to shut them down. It is called government-approved messaging. Obviously, somewhere in the White House, they tucked their realities that they alluded to back in January, and now this is what we are seeing. I know we already have members of the mainstream media who are running defense on behalf of this little collaboration between the White House and Big Tech, but it is time to get serious about what is going on here. The President of the United States is using the full force of his administration to silence his political opponents. That is correct. This isn't just dystopian. It also raises serious questions about how much pressure the Federal Government can put on a private entity to restrict political speech. Think about that. This administration, working with Big Tech, is going to deem certain messages government approved and others as being open to censorship. It is, indeed, a complete violation of the trust the American people put in Joe Biden when they sent him to the White House. But as the new majority has made clear, to tear down and rebuild the United States in their own image is something that is a goal. And in order to do that, they attack the foundation. They have to get rid of all the things that make America so incredibly special: our commitment to safety and security, the importance of the family, and the near sacrosanct promise of free speech and open debate. They have gotten off to a pretty good start, those Democrats. But for their vision to take hold, the Democratic majority must convince a critical mass of their countrymen to adopt their same narrow viewpoint. Fortunately, the American people are not accustomed to doing what they are told simply because an authority figure said go do it. Here is a quote that former President Reagan made regularly, and I know we have heard it and seen it on this floor several times so far this year: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It has to be fought for and defended by each generation. That is so important for us to remember. It is important because it is something that we are seeing really kind of lived out right now. We have to take this as something of a warning when you look at the steps that this administration is taking. If anything, they are taking big steps to see just how far they can push the limits of democracy: How much will the people take? How much freedom are they willing to give up? Just about every single policy coming out of this White House has been used by the Democrats as a weapon to diminish freedom in the name of a preapproved socialist fantasy. And in that fantasy, there is no room for free speech or dissent. Censorship becomes normalized. It is expected. Collectivism replaces individualism. The philosophies of democracy and self-determination fall victim to the moving goalposts of a living Constitution, and freedom is reduced to an outdated trope that only the unenlightened cling to. I wonder, how many people in this country do you think actually have that as a goal? How many do you think are wanting to give up their free speech and their freedom and hand it over to the government and let the government decide what they are going to give back to them, how much freedom they are going to allow them to exercise over their daily life, over their children's education, over the education that they want to have, or the job they want to have, or the home they want to live in, or the car that they want to drive? Do you really think that Americans want to give their freedom up? Since the 2016 election, the left has existed in a state of perpetual hysteria. It has been over the threat that our God-given freedom poses threats to their radical, socialist agenda. But instead of taking the conventional route of persuasion, they chose a high-pressure guilt campaign to force people into a prepackaged American experience. They want everyone marching in line with the daily talking points because we want calm, they say. Democracy is too messy. It is too unpredictable. No one wants to exist in that system, they say. But I differ in my opinion. Yes, it is messy, but this big, beautiful, diverse mess is what sets this country apart. It makes us strong and successful and unites us under the common cause of freedom. And as we are all well aware, it has also turned this shining city on a hill into a magnet for criticism from nations foundering under the disastrous consequences of their great socialist experiment. I would implore my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to stop trying to fit in with these failing systems. Stop diminishing the cause of freedom because it inconveniences you. Abandon your fear of open debate. This constant refusal to engage says much more about the strength of your policy positions than it does about ours. Above all, stop ignoring the American people. They didn't vote for this. They do not want this. It is so interesting to me every weekend to go home and listen to Tennesseans who talk about the changes that they have seen in the Democratic Party and the policies that are coming forward that they are rejecting because they do not want to give up their freedom. They are willing to fight for their freedom so that their children and their grandchildren know the promises of the American dream and have the opportunity to live their lives in freedom. I yield the floor.