Marsha Blackburn

Mrs. BLACKBURN

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, as we move toward debate over the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, I wanted to remind my colleagues that while we stand prepared to negotiate its various provisions, our military men and women stand at the ready. They stand at the ready every single day. It is a 24/7 business for them for a much more serious task, and that is the defense of this great Nation. As we consider this year's NDAA, we must do so with the understanding that our Nation is faced with new, sophisticated threats to our way of life and to the world order. Two emerging warfighting domains--cyber and space--are capturing much of the attention of this body and our allies and, I will also add, capturing the attention of our enemies, of those who do not wish us well. It is these two domains--cyber and space--that pose increased threats to our national infrastructure and our way of engaging with both those allies and our adversaries. Debating defense spending means thinking beyond helicopters and submarines or equipment and artillery and viewing this authorization in the larger context of multi and unseen domain warfare. That is why my colleagues and I on the Senate Armed Services Committee have come to the table with a bill that shores up funding for these legacy programs and devotes new funding to address these emerging threats. First and foremost, this bill authorizes a 3.1-percent pay increase for the Members of our Armed Forces. That is so vitally important for the men and women at Fort Campbell, which is located right there on the Tennessee and Kentucky border. That is a post where I have spent much of my legislative career involved with those men and women and with the command team. This is a justified and well-earned raise that recognizes their commitment to defending against unfamiliar threats that rise above and beyond the everyday servicemember's scope of duty. We have found ourselves once more in the midst of great power competition. America will always have rivals on the world stage. Over the past decade, we have seen countries like China and Russia pursuing increasingly sophisticated and lethal weapons systems. We have no choice but to recognize this emerging reality and give our military men and women the tools they need to combat developing threats and preserve U.S. preeminence across all warfighting domains. With this funding, we will prioritize more sophisticated cyber security and space-based strategies, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies. We will take steps to protect the integrity of our supply chain so we can be confident the microelectronics we depend on have not been corrupted by foreign spyware. A good defense is only as strong as its weakest link, and this bill will allow us to shore up our relationship with the defense industrial base and ensure that contractors are not under the undue influence of foreign actors. This is all in addition to readiness projects here at home. Our mark includes full funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration, which is critical to our nuclear modernization program. I think it is worth noting that our friends in the House cut over $70 million from infrastructure and facility operations, which goes toward rebuilding crumbling buildings at the NNSA plants and labs. That is funding that should be restored. Modern and responsive nuclear infrastructure is an essential part of credible deterrence, which is a critical concern in great power competition. Funding for these projects must not end up as a casualty of budget negotiations. Now, it is true that this is a massive authorization and that much of the funding we authorize will not manifest itself in visible hardware, but I encourage my friends in this body, do not let this deter you from seeing the big picture. National defense is no longer limited to the tools and infrastructure we can see. It includes an enormous covering that is needed by our Nation and our allies in this virtual space. We must focus our defense budget on future threats, not those of the past, in order to not repeat the mistakes of the past. I believe that this year's NDAA accomplishes just that. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I would like to articulate the reason for the objection to the legislation from the Senator from Virginia. Let me begin by saying that we are all for free and fair and honest elections. I know the Senator from Virginia spent some time as Governor of Virginia. He knows that in 2016, no ballots--no ballots--no one's vote was encumbered or affected. He knows that I have served on an election commission, and I know that the Senator from Virginia appreciates that our county election commissions and our State election commissions are in charge of securing those elections. I have to state to the Presiding Officer that I know that in the great State of Tennessee, our county election commissions and our State election commission and our secretary of state are very focused on making certain that these elections are fair and honest elections. They are going to do that for all elections--local, State, and, of course, in the 2020 Presidential election. I think a little bit of context is always helpful. First of all, let me say this: I welcome my colleagues across the aisle to the understanding that bad actors have tried for decades--decades--to influence what is going on in our government and in our country. Indeed, I remember, as a child in 4-H Club--and I think that probably the Presiding Officer was a member of 4-H Club growing up--to me, as a young girl in South Mississippi, the 4-H Club was a wonderful experience. It opened a lot of doors to me. I recall sitting in a 4-H Club meeting at one point, and I heard about communism. I heard about what the Russians and the Communists wanted to do to our freedoms here in this country, and I can recall how frightened I felt when I heard that. So to my colleagues across the aisle who in 2016 realized that these bad actors--Russia, China, Iran, North Korea; people I call the new axis of evil--did not wish us well, I am so pleased to know that they have come to this realization that they indeed do not wish us well. My hope is that, in a bipartisan way, we can move forward and make certain we do not allow these bad actors to in any way impede our freedoms or infringe on our government. Now, specific to the UC that was presented to us, this would require a Presidential campaign and all employees to report their contacts with foreign nationals in which they discuss a contribution, donation, or expenditure, such as an ad, or coordination, collaboration, providing information, providing services, or persistent and repeated contact with a government or a foreign country or a foreign agent thereof. This is what it all means. These reporting requirements are overbroad. Presidential campaigns would have to worry about disclosure at a variety of levels, so many different levels. Consider vendors who work for a campaign, people who are supplying some kind of good or service to a campaign. It would include those vendors, including all the service contracts. It would apply to door-knockers, it would apply to phone-bankers--down to any person who shares their views with a candidate. I want to make sure that everybody hears that. Any person who shares their views with a candidate would be reportable. Think about that. Think about what that would cause. With this law, it would be prudent for every campaign contact to start with these words: Before you tell me anything, are you a foreign national? We have the Foreign Agent Registration Act. Campaign finance law makes it illegal to take contributions or coordinate expenditures with foreign nationals without a green card. We have public official ethics laws. Campaigns could have to report social media responses or interactions, report every non-U.S. citizen, or even every Dreamer. We hear a lot about the Dreamers. So think about this. You would report every non-U.S. citizen or Dreamer who volunteers for your campaign or knocks on doors or even knocks on the door of a foreign national. Every vendor contact, every call center, every contract, every discussion--all of this, all of it, would begin with ``Are you a foreign national?'' So that is the overbroad nature of this. The goal is to make sure we never ever have a foreign government interfering, and we share that goal. It was wrong in 2016. It was wrong in 2018. It would be wrong in 2020. That is why we need to make certain we do not have this kind of interference. No one wants foreign interference of any type in our government in any way, shape, or form. To the Senator across the aisle, we didn't like it when we heard former President Obama say to David Medved: Tell Vladimir, I will have more flexibility after the election. We didn't appreciate that. We didn't appreciate all that was transpiring back in 2015 with the Clinton Foundation and Uranium One. We had questions about that. Do we want to make certain things such as that do not occur? Of course, but the UC that was presented is overbroad, and this is something that should be done in a thoughtful way. It should be done in a bipartisan way. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I am reserving the right to object.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, thank you for the recognition and opportunity to speak with my colleagues about an issue that I think is so incredibly important. We just heard the Senator from Vermont discuss the issue at the southern border. I made a return trip--one of many I have made to the southern border over the past decade--this past Friday. I have to tell you, I thought this situation was just a terrible situation a decade ago. As I have continued to visit and work on issues that deal with illegal immigration, illegal aliens, working on immigration reform over the past decade, many times with great frustration because we cannot achieve bipartisan agreement, I saw a situation on the southern border this trip that was far worse than I ever could have imagined. In the middle of all of this are some very brave Border Patrol agents, ICE agents, DHS agents, Coast Guard that are there providing healthcare--they are carrying out their job every single day. I am grateful to them for their service. I am so impressed by their resolve to protect this Nation--to protect it. There is a lesson we could learn from these Border Patrol agents. As they go out, underfunded, disrespected, not knowing what they are going to encounter, there is a lesson that every single American could learn. These men and women are dedicated. They show up. They do their job. They value--they value--citizenship in this country. They value this Nation's sovereignty. And one of the things they know is that citizenship--citizenship--is something the American people should hold very dear. It should not come to somebody illegally approaching our country. It should not come to somebody who is coming here to do us harm. I will tell you this: To enter one of those reception centers or retention centers in the El Paso sector--which is there in Southwest Texas and right on the New Mexico-Mexico border--is to enter an area where you can just feel the chaos and the uncertainty. It permeates the air. People know this is difficult. The American people should know this is very difficult. It is a terrible situation that our men and women of the Border Patrol are dealing with--to see young mothers alone with their babies, waiting for answers from a Federal agency about where they are going to go or what is going to happen to them because somebody in Central America lied to them--a cartel lied to them, misrepresented to them what they were going to see. I heard from a Border Patrol agent that there are adults who are saying: Well, this is not what we were promised. This isn't what we were expecting. Maybe we should just go back home. They were lied to. This is why we need to get busy with changing the asylum laws, the magnet that is pulling people here. Change this. It is why I applaud the efforts of the President for making certain that we are dealing with Mexico--having them secure their southern border, having them call out the National Guard to make certain these cartels are not able to operate in Mexico. Our Border Patrol--as I said, I am just so grateful we have them, and without Americans knowing, they are blessing our lives every single day because they show up and do the job that is in front of them without proper resources because there has not been bipartisan agreement here. Then, every day they go home, and they have encountered people who have measles, mumps, H1N1 flu, TB, scabies, lice. That is what they are exposed to every single day as they do their job. Healthcare is not their job. Securing the southern border is their job, and everybody who is against giving the Border Patrol what they need to secure that border needs to begin to think twice about that and have compassion for these men and women who are on the frontline. The appalling conditions absolutely shock the conscience, but they didn't surprise me. This is what is happening because people think they can get by with coming here illegally. Last month, 144,000 migrants crossed the border--last month. In Tennessee, that is just under the size of Clarksville, TN. Think about a whole city coming in. In the first 8 months of this fiscal year, 411,000 unaccompanied children and families made that same journey. This past weekend, when I was out with the Border Patrol, 12 people in 3 groups were apprehended right in front of me. That was in the timespan of 30 minutes. There were four from Honduras, and eight were from Cuba. That is just a handful of the approximately 1,000 illegal aliens per day who are apprehended in the El Paso sector. Ninety percent of those people come as family units, clogging a system designed to process adults traveling alone. The sheer number of people our agents are struggling to process and control is staggering. Right now, the facilities at the El Paso border station house are taking in 1,247 illegal aliens. That facility is built to accommodate 123. At just one station in the El Paso sector, $26,000 a day is spent on food, just food--food. Where are they getting this money? It has not been appropriated. They are taking it out of their operations budgets. This is why they need us to surge resources to the southern border-- resources for more agents, resources for more technology, resources for a border wall to stop illegal entry into this country. If it were just a question of numbers, the situation may seem more manageable. But as I mentioned, disease, drugs, and a frightening disregard for the law have transformed these border stations into refugee zones. Right now, agents at camps are working overtime every single day, trying to keep up. Loopholes in regulations controlling the release of unaccompanied minors to purported custodians are endangering the 11,507 children who crossed the southern border in May of 2019. I want to be certain everybody understands this: 11,507 is the number of children who crossed that southern border in the month of May. To make things worse, we are seeing child predators and traffickers cross the border in increasing numbers. Girls as young as 10 years of age are being given pregnancy tests--10-year-olds--because traffickers or adults who are not family members are the ones who are bringing them in. This is an area where my colleagues across the aisle need to work with us and put a stop to this. We don't know if these children are going to smuggling rings, or sex rings and being sent to a pimp, or to labor gangs and being sent to a boss. We don't know because many of the people who are the so-called custodians who are accepting these children, who are their sponsors, guess what, they are in the country illegally. On June 7, border agents seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly 2 million Americans. I was there in that port when they seized 5 kilos, but the drug lords and the cartels are undeterred. They are so bold in this; do you know what they are doing now? They are posting Facebook ads soliciting mules to run their deadly product across the border. We have to do better. This is something that should no longer be up for debate. I sponsored the Accountability for Care of Unaccompanied Alien Children Act to codify information-sharing agreements between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services. This would help protect minors from the ravages of exploitation and human trafficking, but that protection isn't possible if there are not going to be agents able and available to check on who is attempting to claim these children. I know some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are not for these agencies sharing this information, but let me tell you something. If this is going to help keep children safe, if it is going to keep them out of these sex trafficking and human trafficking gangs, we need to know who is a criminal alien, who is in this country illegally, and these children do not need to be sent to them. We know the White House in May sent an emergency request for $4.5 billion in funds to increase shelter capacity at the processing centers, to feed and care for the detained migrants, to hire agents and staff, and to bolster law enforcement's ability to shelter and protect unaccompanied minors. Our border agents need this money to protect our border and to protect our Nation's sovereignty. Yesterday, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan expressed serious concerns for Border Patrol agents who are forced to play the part of a translator, caregiver, counselor, and nurse. Let me ask a question. What do my colleagues think would happen if the Border Patrol decided they had had it? They had had it. They were tired of it, and they were not going to show up for work, to work overtime, to work hard hours, to do a job they are not trained to do. They are trained to protect the border; they are not trained to be a caregiver and a nurse. What would happen if they reached the breaking point, and they didn't show up--because, let me tell you something, this border has reached a breaking point. It is time for us to realize, yes, there is a crisis. It is a humanitarian crisis; it is a national security crisis, and it is time that our Border Patrol be shown the respect--the respect they deserve by funding the needs that they have to protect each and every one of us and to help keep this Nation safe and secure. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, it is so interesting to always come to the floor and speak on topics that are important to Tennesseans and I think also to Americans. As I begin my remarks, I want to kind of build the context for this and take us back to a time I know the Presiding Officer recalls, and so do I. It was the sixties. I was a child who was growing up. I remember it as a decade where bold statements and brash behavior and activists from each side of the aisle set the standard for what we today look at and say is a modern-day political protest. What we saw in this decade was once-sleepy college campuses became the scenes of widespread unrest. Tensions were high and conditions were perfect for what else but a Supreme Court battle. In September 1969, a group of students attending Central Connecticut State University decided they wanted to organize a local chapter of the organization Students for Democratic Society. The university president rejected the application, claiming that the SDS philosophy was ``antithetical to the school's policies'' and could be a disruptive influence on campus. Now, I am sure he thought he had a good point. The national SDS organization was known for its fiery protests, and its now-notorious acts of civil disobedience. They made it their business to make authority figures nervous. Nervousness, however, is not an exception to the First Amendment. The students knew that, so the lawsuits started flying. The students' case finally made it to the Supreme Court, which held that ``the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States applies in full force on the campuses of public colleges and universities.'' That case, Healy v. James, was a win for free speech. Although precedent continues to trend in the right direction, the First Amendment is in danger on the American college campus. From so-called free speech zones to severely restricted speech codes, campus officials are doing their best to ensure that students are protected from anything that may challenge their preexisting notions of right and wrong. Instead of creating a safe environment, these policies have backfired, creating an atmosphere of fear and violence toward opposing viewpoints. Just this past April, protesters at the University of Texas at Austin used smoke bombs to shut down a pro-life speaker at a Young Conservatives of Texas event. In 2017, the editorial staff at Wellesley College's student newspaper threatened hostility toward anyone whose beliefs--their beliefs; not just their words but their beliefs--did not fit into the acceptable liberal mold. That same year, Middlebury College campus--their left behaved so disgracefully that one progressive columnist begged the students at his alma mater to find a way to protest views they disagree with without shutting down speech entirely. In the face of such hostility toward free and open debate, I ask this body, what have we done, and what can be done to turn back the tide? Today, on the eve of National Higher Education Day, I am introducing the Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2019. It is a first step in restoring sanity to free speech for American college students. This resolution first and foremost recognizes that free speech zones and restrictive speech codes contradict the guarantees of the First Amendment. It recognizes that universities should protect the free and open exchange of ideas and that freedom of speech is worth protecting in a world increasingly hostile to democracy. Through this resolution, I encourage the Secretary of Education to promote policies that encourage intellectual curiosity, viewpoint diversity, and debate. Last but not least, I encourage the Attorney General to defend and protect the First Amendment. Standing by as universities surrender to activists who value their own comfort over the free exchange of ideas isn't just a mistake; it is a moral inversion. We have a duty to make sure younger generations understand that protecting the First Amendment means protecting one another in the public square--even if we want more than anything to shut down what we are hearing. I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend your right to say it. Above all, we have a duty to help them understand that an America where curiosity is replaced by suspicion, where debate is replaced by intimidation, and where speech is replaced by silence is no America at all.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to complete my remarks.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Barrasso amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 1235 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Maine for her leadership in today's activity as we commemorate the Senate's action in passing the 19th Amendment and sending that to the States for ratification. It is amazing to think that it was 100 years ago today--today--that women in this country still did not have the right to vote. When we think about Nashville, TN, today, we are thinking about country music, bachelorette parties, pro-sports; in the summer of 1920, Nashville, TN, was the focus of individuals on both sides of the debate over women's suffrage because that summer was the final push to get the 19th Amendment ratified so that women would forever have the right to vote. Suffragists from all across the country looked to Tennessee in that last-ditch effort to pass an amendment before the 1920 Presidential elections. As it all came together and as everybody was coming into Nashville-- you had the red roses on one side and the yellow roses on the other side--the battle was heating up. The Tennessee House of Representatives had been called back into a special session so that they could debate this issue: Would women receive the right to vote? Would Tennessee agree to vote for ratification of the 19th Amendment? The pro and anti suffragists flooded that city. Those who opposed enfranchisement, wearing those red roses, went to extreme lengths to prevent a vote. At one point, legislators actually fled the State to prevent a quorum. They left the State so they would not have to say where they stood on the issue of women having the right to vote. But let me tell you, against those Tennessee women, against suffragists from across the country, all wearing their yellow roses, those legislators never stood a chance. You have all heard of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but let me introduce you to a few more of those fierce female fighters from the summer of 1920. There was Anne Dallas Dudley from Nashville, who was really quite an organizer; Abby Crawford Milton; Sue Shelton White from West Tennessee; and, as has been mentioned, Ida B. Wells, who was from Memphis. They are all Tennesseans who fought tirelessly on behalf of suffrage and brought the State's house of representatives to that fateful vote on August 18, 1920. The Senator from Maine talked a moment earlier about a young legislator, the youngest member of the House of Representatives in the State of Tennessee. His name was Harry T. Burn. Harry was from Niota, TN. He was a freshman house of representatives member. He switched his vote from nay to yea, broke a tie, and made history. As the Senator from Maine said, he did it because of a letter written to him by his mother, who reminded him that he should be a good boy and help Ms. Catt--Carrie Chapman Catt--put the ``rat'' in ``ratification.'' He did, and so it was official: Tennessee had become the 36th and final State needed for ratification of the 19th Amendment. That journey from Seneca Falls, NY, to Nashville, TN, was hard- fought. Sometimes we don't think about how long it took. It was a 72- year journey--72 years--from the Seneca Falls Convention to that final vote in Nashville, TN. Think about this: The women who started this push for women's suffrage were not alive to see it become the law of the land and become a constitutionally guaranteed right. And the women who voted in that 1920 Presidential election, many--most of them were not even alive when the fight began. But the women who started the fight did it because they knew that women receiving the right to vote was a worthy fight. Today, we owe them so much gratitude for the work they did 100 years ago today in pushing this through the U.S. Senate. My colleague, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, has joined me in working to pass the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin Act. We are doing that here in the Senate, and in the House, two of our colleagues--Representative Elise Stefanik from New York and Brenda Lawrence--have introduced a companion bill. The legislation authorizes the Treasury to mint silver coins honoring the work of women suffrage activists. The coins will be issued in 2020, which also marks the centennial anniversary of the passage, the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Proceeds from sales of the coin will support the important work of the Smithsonian Institution's American Women's History Initiative. It is my hope that because of this, more young women will look to history for guidance and feel very proud of what they learn about the women suffragists, that the little girl who is following her mom into the voting booth will begin to understand and appreciate why so many women are standing in line at the polls to cast their vote, and that women who want to change things in their community or their State or their country will stop waiting for someone else to take the lead and will realize they are empowered to do this because of actions that were taken over 100 years ago. In 1916, famed suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt stood before the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and she declared: The time has come to shout aloud in every city, village, and hamlet, and in tones so clear and jubilant that they will reverberate from every mountain peak and echo from shore to shore: The Woman's Hour has struck. Indeed, the woman's hour did strike and shout, these ladies did. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, as I reflected on Sergeant Smith's story, I began to think about Memorial Day and the ways we honor the valor of every soldier who has made that ultimate sacrifice. One of the first official Memorial Day observances was in 1868, and it was just over the Potomac River in Arlington National Cemetery. If you have not been there to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, I encourage you to do that. In 1868, individuals gathered to honor those who had lost their life in the Civil War, and they gathered to decorate the graves of the fallen, both the Union and Confederate soldiers. This set a precedent for what would become a national day of unity. Think about that, a national day of unity, of mourning, and of remembrance. As the years went by, Americans took greater steps to memorialize the fallen and those who have exercised valor and have chosen to make that ultimate sacrifice. After World War I, observances were expanded to honor those who fell in all American wars. Finally, it was in 1971 that Congress declared Memorial Day to be a national holiday. Since then, each year, at the end of May, cities across the Nation have lowered their flags to half- staff as a silent reminder of the cost of the freedom. Just like Sergeant Smith, the fallen warriors we honor this Memorial Day made a choice to serve this Nation. They knew it wouldn't be easy. They knew it would be dangerous or even deadly, but they knew that it would be worth it because it would be a step in preserving freedom and freedom's cause. It is this choice--and the choice to serve bravely and selflessly on behalf of a grateful nation--that we remember, as we debated crucial legislation supporting our Armed Forces. Memorial Day marks the conclusion of Military Appreciation Month, which has provided each of us an opportunity to unite and reflect upon the heroic courage of all the members of our Armed Forces. We thank them continually for the service they provided and the sacrifices that they and their families make on behalf of this Nation and freedom. Yesterday, members of the Armed Services Committee--of which Madam President and I are each a member of this committee--completed our first steps in ensuring that this year's National Defense Authorization Act fully funds the resources our military needs to defend against the threats that we face on land, by sea, in air, and of course in the cyber realm. Our proposed $750 billion national defense budget will more than support this goal and includes a much-needed and well- deserved pay increase for our military men and women. The NDAA, as it is called in an acronym that we hear around here so regularly, is just one piece of our greater promise to care for soldiers on and off the battlefield. As Members of Congress, we have a duty to keep the promise to those who bravely defend the safety and the security of the American people. Also, we have a responsibility to those whose brokenhearted vigil we join this Memorial Day weekend. Just as valor lived in the hearts of the fallen, so does their sacrifice endure in the life of every person blessed to call this great country home. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, yesterday, Tennesseans were really filled with a bittersweet pride as President Trump awarded posthumously the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor to a heroic Tennessean, Sergeant Verdell Smith. His watch with the Memphis Police Department ended on June 4, 2016. On that day, an armed gunman stole a car and led Memphis police on a chase into the downtown area. Officer Smith responded to the call and worked quickly to clear the pedestrians from an intersection directly in the path of a speeding car. Then the unthinkable happened. Before the police were able to apprehend him, the gunman crashed through a barrier and fatally struck Officer Smith. Valor is a word that is defined as ``great personal bravery.'' Valor, you don't hear it a lot, but valor is that great personal bravery in the face of danger, and I think there is no better way to describe the actions of Officer Smith. I honor him on behalf of all Tennesseans for his service in the U.S. Navy, for his 18 years with the Memphis Police Department, and for his final act of heroism.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I think many of our colleagues here in the Chamber know that Senator Alexander and I host a breakfast on Tuesday Mornings called Tennessee Tuesday. This week at the breakfast, one of our Tennesseans said: I have seen so many men and women in law enforcement uniforms in DC. What is going on? Is this normal? It gave me the opportunity to say: Actually, this is National Police Week, and this is a week we set aside to honor those men and women who are in law enforcement. There are tens of thousands of police officers and sheriffs and highway patrolmen across our country. My hope is that each of us will stop this week when we see them and say ``thank you'' to them for the service they provide our communities, because when it comes to fighting so many of the issues that affect our communities on a day-to-day basis--the issues we face because of drugs and drug trafficking, human trafficking, gangs--it is our local law enforcement that is on those frontlines, and we say ``thank you'' to them. This year in Tennessee, three officers have lost their lives. During this week, we remember them and express our gratitude to their families for their service and their sacrifice. We lost Trooper Matthew Elias Gatti from the Tennessee Highway Patrol, who died on Monday, May 6, 2019; Sergeant Steve Hinkle from the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, who died on Tuesday, February 26, 2019; and Police Officer Nicholas Scott Galinger from the Chattanooga Police Department, who died on Sunday, February 24, 2019. As I talk to our sheriffs and police chiefs and patrol captains, I know there are many more who have been injured, and we remember them. We also say ``thank you so much'' to the families of these men and women who have chosen--you know, they really are called. This is their calling to public service, and we thank them for answering that call and that they choose to serve in our communities to keep us safe so that we know our communities are a place where we can rear our families, where we can enjoy camaraderie with family members, with friends, with our churches. I will tell you, as I was thinking about this week, I thought, there are so many moms and grandmoms who I think are pretty much like me. Many times I will say I am a ``security mom.'' I want to make certain that my children and my grandchildren are safe, that our children are safe when they go to sporting events and when they go to school. We say a prayer when they get behind the wheel of a car. We are so grateful that there are law enforcement officers who are there at public events to keep them safe, who watch out if they are going to be speeding on the road and provide the security that is so essential to our way of life. I have the opportunity as one of these security moms, if you will, to serve on our Senate Judiciary Committee. Just last week, Chairman Graham brought forward three bills that we approved. These are things that are going to help law enforcement officers and their families-- providing mental health support for law enforcement and their families, which is vitally important, and, of course, lifesaving bulletproof vests, which are now essential, and ensuring that our first responders get the benefits they have earned by standing for that duty. When they get ready to retire, those benefits are going to be there. This week, I have joined Senator Cornyn on his Back the Blue Act, and I thank him for his leadership. I think many of us who stand in this Chamber know that we stand to back that ``thin blue line''--that line is the difference between order and chaos in our communities. This bill is going to create new penalties for killing or assaulting law enforcement officers and will protect officers from lawsuits when they intervene to stop a violent crime. It is a commonsense provision, and I am pleased to be in support of this bill. As we talk about law enforcement and security and having safe communities, we also need to remember our Customs and Border Patrol agents and officers who are on the southern border. When you talk about being a security mom, of course you are going to talk about economic security, healthcare security, job security, and national security, but border security is a part of that. It is a way that we work to keep our communities safe. We all know there is a humanitarian crisis on the southern border. Much of it is fueled by cartels that are big business. They deal in drug trafficking and human trafficking. It is our first responders who address this in our communities and on our city streets. The issues and the lack of security at that border have created an environment where now, at this point, every State is a border State and every town is a border town because those problems that come across the southern border with the human trafficking, with the drug trafficking, with the gangs-- all of this ends up on the streets in your community. We are working on legislation that we hope is going to help with this situation. It will target traffickers of unaccompanied minors in the care of Health and Human Services. One of the things that has not happened and needs to happen is that Health and Human Services and Homeland Security need to be able to share all of the information they have on individuals who are bringing these unaccompanied children, individuals who say ``I am a next of kin,'' individuals who say ``I am here, and this child is coming to me.'' We want to make certain they are in the country legally. We want to make certain they have a relationship with these children so that we are protecting and looking out for the security of these children and making certain they are not being trafficked. As we talk about our children, some of the trafficking--of course, much of the trafficking takes place in the virtual space. It takes place online. It seems impossible, but that is what happens with the human trafficking and the sex trafficking. The adverse impact that this has on young girls and women is horrifying. Because of my work to prohibit these traffickers from working online, we are pushing forward with privacy legislation. You and I do not want our children to be followed online. That is what is happening, and it is why we need to make certain that moms have the tools they need--that parents have the tools they need--to guard the privacy of their families online. I recently introduced the BROWSER Act. This is legislation I introduced while I was in the House of Representatives. It is one of the first bipartisan privacy bills we have had. The BROWSER Act will require you to give your consent if you are going to opt in and allow someone to share your information, to have access to your sensitive information. In this Nation, we have a history of respecting informed consent, and that is what we are saying--that individuals need to give their consent to a company before that company looks at their private information or, worse yet, data mines or, worse yet, shares that information about those individuals with third parties--people they do not know, people they have never seen, people they never will see. Then that tech company--guess what--sells ads. It is paid with your information. The BROWSER Act also prohibits companies from denying their services to users who refuse to waive their privacy rights. You have a right to privacy, and these companies should not deny you their services because you say: You cannot share my information. You cannot share my sensitive information. I am not going to opt-in to allow you to do that, big tech company. I am also going to opt-out on non-sensitive data. I am not going to allow you to do that. I do not want my children followed, and I do not want you to be following me. I do not want you to sell my information. I do not want my spam to run crazy with ads and information I do not want. Individuals deserve their privacy. Americans deserve to know they are protected and have that privacy in the online universe. They deserve to know they are not going to be followed and they are not going to be tracked. While we are talking about technology, I'd like to bring attention to the global race for 5G, or fifth-generation wireless technology. You are hearing a good bit about this. It doesn't matter if it is in our commercial sector or in our military sector; we are at the forefront of this debate to make certain that we win this race on 5G--that China does not get a foothold, that Huawei does not penetrate our delivery systems--and to make certain that we win this race just like we did the race to 4G, which brought forward a lot of the technologies we all use and take for granted, like those devices we hold in our hands on which we receive our emails, make our phone calls, send text messages, pull up maps, get to a favorite site on which we want to make a purchase, and log on to social media accounts. This is all from a handheld device, and it is what 4G brought us. Well, 5G is going to be as revolutionary as going from analog to digital, and we are going to stay on top of this to make certain we win this race. Because of this, we have a couple more pieces of legislation that I am going to discuss on the floor at a later date. We have the SECURE 5G and BEYOND Act. Senator Cornyn has the lead on that. I have the SUPPLY CHAIN Act, which will be focused on security in the virtual space and make certain that we will be rooting out these threats that may come to our supply chain and affect our private sector or our governmental sector. We know it is imperative that, yes, we win the race in 5G but that we protect our networks and that we secure them so the American public knows that its information is not being exploited. As a mom who values and puts a priority on keeping children and grandchildren safe, it is an honor for me to come to this floor to salute the men and women of law enforcement and to talk about what we need to do every single day from this Chamber to protect our Nation's security and to protect our citizens. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I wanted to spend just a few minutes today speaking with my colleagues and also with Tennesseans about an issue that we hear so very much about every single day. The issue continues to persist. It is our border, and we all know--and, indeed, you read in news count after news count--that yes, indeed, there is a crisis at our border. Just a few months ago, we had some of our friends who are in the other Chamber who kept saying: Oh, this is manufactured; oh, there is nothing to it. But as we hear from law enforcement professionals, as we hear from ICE, from DHS, and from the Border Patrol, we have a crisis. Our border is strained to the breaking point. The real humanitarian crisis at the border is escalating. There are people who are being brought in through Central America, through Mexico, and they are stranded in the desert without food and without water. During the summer, sometimes you have temperatures above 100 degrees. Our border is at a breaking point, and it is, indeed, time for this body to do something about it and to support these Agencies that are on the frontline dealing with this crisis every single day. What we know from our hearing that we held yesterday at the Senate Judiciary Committee is that ICE is facing mounting challenges when it comes to expediting the deportations that need to take place. Abuse and exploitation of the asylum process overburdens our court system as illegal immigrants flood our borders claiming persecution. Our country historically welcomes people who are fleeing political persecution, but there have to be tighter rules on these asylum seekers. The percentage of those who have valid asylum claims is actually relatively low compared to the number who are applying for these protections. I will tell you that I welcome President Trump's moves to raise the standards. Last week, the President directed the Department of Homeland Security to enact several new asylum changes. As part of these new policies, the President imposed a new deadline for the immigration courts to meet. He directed that cases in immigration courts be settled within 180 days of those being filed. Tennesseans want to see government accountability. They want to see it across every Agency. Certainly, when it comes to immigration policy, they want this accountability. They know that with a 6-month deadline, it is exactly the kind of accountability that is needed. Here is the problem that ICE is facing when it comes to meeting that 180-day standard. Right now, as of yesterday at our hearing, they had more than 800,000 cases that were pending. Think about that. Your court system has 800,000 cases that are pending. There are exactly 400 immigration judges that are there to hear these 800,000 cases. Do the math on that. Think about how many cases that would be. It is a 2-year wait at this point to get the case heard. So ICE needs additional judges. That means they need additional officers, and that means they need additional funding in order to meet the load. I asked Director Asher how long it would take them to ramp up in order to be able to hear these 800,000 cases. She said: months, maybe a year, maybe a little bit longer. It depends on when they get the authorization to expand the court system. It depends on when they get the funding for it. All of this time, what continues to happen? Cases continue to be piled onto that backlog. If we took action today, and if we approved their ability to expand their capacity to have more judges, to have more agents, to have more officers, and to have more resources, it would be a year by the time we worked through this process. It might be as many as 1.5 million cases that they are working on. This is one of the reasons that it is imperative that we close some of the loopholes that are being used in the asylum process and work through closing these loopholes to help secure this border. It is something that would be of assistance to those who are trying to meet the need that is there from people crushing our border, putting that foot on American soil, and claiming asylum and persecution. Another thing we talked about in yesterday's hearing is trafficking. We all know that cartels are big business. Cartels deal in trafficking drugs. They deal in trafficking human beings, which is disgusting, and they look at human beings to move them for labor trafficking, for sex trafficking, and for gangs. They look at that as part of their business. I know Senator Cruz talked about his EL CHAPO Act, which would allow those seized assets from these drug lords to be used to help pay to secure that border, because stopping this trafficking is something that is an imperative. It really is true that until we secure this southern border every town is, in essence, a border town and every State is a border State because illegal immigration no longer is a problem that is confined to those States that are on the border. We see this all across our country, and it is heartbreaking--you talk about the trafficking of human beings, the sex trafficking, and the effect that has on girls, when you talk about the drug trafficking and the heartbreaking effects that has on families in every single one of our communities. Opioids, fentanyl, heroin--we all see it. God bless our local law enforcement. Next week we are going to honor our law enforcement, but God bless them for the work they do in our communities. Here is a good example. Just this past January, our Customs and Border Patrol seized the largest amount of fentanyl in the agency's history ever--largest amount. They seized nearly 254 pounds of fentanyl from a Mexican national trying to enter the United States. It was enough to kill more than 115 million people. That is the volume that 1 person was bringing over--enough fentanyl to kill 115 million people. This is why we have to make certain we secure that border. As I mentioned, the trafficking of human beings is taking place. Another of the problems is that many adult sponsors who are seeking custody of children are here illegally themselves. The traffickers have adults grab a child; they are coming to the border. The child is then transferred to someone else in the country, and that individual is here illegally. It is difficult to find out how that child is connected to the adult they are taken to. Sometimes it could be a labor gang. Sometimes it could be a prostitution ring. We don't know. I commend the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, which are taking steps to close a big loophole here. Last April, the two agencies entered into an agreement to ensure that relatives of these children are not above the law. Under the agreement, DHS and HHS promised to share information about these adult sponsors so that ICE can run criminal and immigration background checks on them. This agreement is a powerful tool in the fight to stop trafficking of migrant children. So long as law enforcement can keep running these criminal background checks on these sponsors, we can hold more adults accountable and keep these children safe. Finally, I want to touch on the wall because Border Patrol Chief Provost told me during the hearing yesterday that the wall was working. The San Diego sector has 14 miles of the new double fencing that has been approved by Congress. It is the first of the sections of the new wall. Previously, some of the old walls were 6 feet high, and they were made out of landing mats, and they were not successful in deterring illegal entry. The new walls are 30 feet high, and they stand on steel bollards. The barrier is making it tougher for illegal immigrants to sneak across, and it is helping our agents. Our agents have told us repeatedly--not for the last few months or the last couple of years but, get this, for 20 years--for 20 years, they have said we need three things: We need a barrier; we need better technology; and we need more agents and officers on the ground. These men and women deserve our best efforts, and we should be giving them what they need. Our immigration system is full of legal loopholes and physical vulnerabilities. I applaud the President's new asylum changes, and I urge each of my colleagues to support law enforcement's needs. They are consistent in asking for these three things--barriers, technology, and agents. This is what they need in order to help keep our Nation safe. So as we consider how much we value our safe communities, how much we want our communities to be safe and happy and prosperous, I encourage each of us to think about these agents who are working to protect that southern border, to deal with human trafficking, to deal with sex trafficking, and to keep illegal drugs off our streets. Thank you. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues and celebrate National Small Business Week. I love this poster that they have prepared today because Tennessee is right at the heart of this. For over five decades, National Small Business Week has been an opportunity to recognize the tremendous contribution of small businesses and entrepreneurs to the American economy. We know and we hear it said so often that there is nothing small about small business because of the economic impact it has. I tell you, the statistics really do bear that out. According to the most recent report from the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy for my home State of Tennessee, there are over 603,000 small businesses located in our State. Now, 99.4 percent of all the businesses in our State are small businesses. That speaks to the health and vitality of our economy. Collectively, these small businesses employ over 1.1 million people, and that accounts for 42.3 percent of the entire workforce in the State. So small business has an enormous footprint in the State of Tennessee. Now, we have heard a lot about the booming economy in recent weeks, and as we celebrate Mother's Day this week--and I do hope it is a happy Mother's Day for everyone. We know this economy that is booming, that is growing, with record-low unemployment numbers, with economic vitality, wage growth that we have not seen--we know this is an economy that makes the lives of millions of working women and those families' lives better, and we celebrate what this economy is doing for the Nation as a whole. Specific to Tennessee, as we celebrate Mother's Day, we celebrate these women-owned businesses. What we do know from the research that is out is that Tennessee is the fifth best State in the country for female-owned small businesses and that they are seeing dynamic growth in both revenue and employment. Now, the economic gains that have come about because of the tax cuts and the regulatory reforms that have been enacted by President Trump, voted on, pushed through by congressional Republicans, have changed the economic landscape of millions of Americans. Since tax reform was signed into law, 3.2 million new jobs were created, 90 percent of the taxpayers have received a bigger paycheck, and jobless claims are at the lowest they have been in 50 years. Here is the connective tissue between these encouraging stats and what I hear back in Tennessee. Because the economy is strong, now is a great time to grow or to expand or to start a new business. Entrepreneurs feel confident so they are betting on themselves and making decisions that they need to make in order to succeed: They are hiring that new employee, adding a new store or a new location, and daring to turn their dreams into a reality. Small businesses are the key driver of our turbocharged economy, and we will continue to do all we can to help them thrive. I will tell you also, as a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, that I want to thank those entrepreneurs who are veterans, who are stepping up at record rates in our State and are starting their small businesses. Some of these deal with services that are needed and products that are needed by our military post or used by our National Guard. These veterans make great small business owners, and they also make great employees. The skills they learn defending our Nation while they are in uniform are uniquely well suited to succeed in business: the discipline, the focus, the resilience, the ability to plan, to adapt, to work collaboratively with others in order to get a job done. Indeed, for themselves and their families, they are getting the job done. These are the hallmarks of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, but they are also the qualities of successful entrepreneurs. We are thrilled they choose to call Tennessee home. The importance of the American small business is gauged not only by facts and figures. The true value of our small businesses comes not just from their contribution to the American economy but also their contribution to another American Dream fulfilled. Entrepreneurship is the embodiment of the American dream. It is about men and women pursuing their passions. They work hard, save their money, make a plan, and put that plan into action. Oftentimes, they struggle, sometimes they will end up failing, but they pick themselves up, preserve their right to move forward, push forward, and they never stop trying. Our economy and our Nation are stronger and better for their efforts. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I just have to say a couple of words about the economy. Since my colleague from Ohio was speaking of the economy, I will say this: Showing respect for workers and for work means that you show respect by realizing that the best way to stimulate the economy is with a job. That is something we have seen this administration and, I will say, a Republican-led Senate, and, previously, a Republican-led House do--generate tax reform, which is giving us economic growth that we have not seen in years. Economic growth of 3.2 percent is what our GDP numbers were last Friday--3.2 percent. We haven't had that in a decade. How do you respect people? You create opportunity. How do you show respect for workers? You open doors. That is what you realize. It is not the government that creates jobs. It is the men and women who build businesses, who grow businesses--the men and women who say: I have an American dream, and I want the opportunity to make that dream come true. That is an element of respect, and this President and Republican leadership have delivered on that with every single opportunity we have had. I disagree with the philosophical approach that my colleague from Ohio has expressed, and I would encourage all Senators to look at what is happening in their communities and look at the jobs growth. Tennesseans are so excited that there is a growing economy and that they have more money in their paychecks at the end of the month.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

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

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Thank you, Mr. President. Today I rise to speak about the legislation I introduced to the Senate this week, S. 1116, the BROWSER ACT. Broadband or high-speed internet has absolutely revolutionized the way we communicate, the way we conduct commerce, and actually the way we participate in government. Broadband is one of the greatest innovations in history. It allows near-instantaneous exchange of information and brings efficiencies to the daily life of millions of Americans as they move more of their transactional life online. Thanks to broadband, entrepreneurs have been able to bring thousands of new applications to consumers. These edge services are now an essential part of our lives. We find ourselves every day saying: I can't imagine what we did before we had this or before we had that. These apps give consumers access to entertainment, news, information, helping us drive around town, and access to emergency services. As consumers use these applications, they generate massive amounts of data about themselves, and that is the problem. Many companies collect this data and use it for a range of purposes without the user's knowledge. They are collecting all of this--every bill you pay, every website you visit, these platforms are following you. After all this information is shared, the question is, Who owns the virtual you? Who owns you and your presence online? Our laws have not kept pace with technological innovation. Now we see some States and we even have some cities that are adding more complexity to the problem by enacting their own privacy rules and standards, despite the fact that digital commerce is not restricted to one area. Digital commerce is interstate and global in nature. It is time we have a consistent national law regarding online privacy. We need one set of rules and one regulator for the entire internet ecosystem. It just makes sense. That is why I have introduced the legislation I previously proposed as a Member of the House of Representatives. As I said, it is called the BROWSER Act. Americans want to be certain their privacy is protected in the physical and the virtual space. Broadband users--who are each and every one of us--should have the right to say who can or cannot access their private data. Think about it. At this point, how and when you pay your bills, the credit cards you use, the sites you visit, the merchandise you shop for, friends you connect with, there is somebody tracking that activity with every move of the mouse. They are on it. Consumers should have the right to clear and conspicuous notice of a service providers' privacy policies and the ability to either opt in or opt out, depending on the sensitive nature of that data. The BROWSER Act requires digital services to provide users with clear and conspicuous notice of their privacy rights. It also requires digital services to provide users the ability to opt in to the collection of sensitive information while also giving users the ability to opt out of the collection of nonsensitive information. By allowing for a clear and conspicuous notification process, consumers will be able to make a more educated choice about the nature of the relationship they want to have with online vendors and with tech companies. Furthermore, the BROWSER Act will prohibit digital services from denying their service to users who refuse to waive their personal privacy rights. The BROWSER Act also empowers the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, to enforce these rules using its unfair or deceptive acts or practices authorities. Now the Federal Trade Commission has been our privacy regulator in both the physical and the online space. Just this week, Senator Klobuchar and I sent a letter to the FTC urging stronger action for bad actors in the tech space. Companies like Facebook and Google have transformed society in revolutionary ways and need to recognize that with that great power comes great responsibility. This is the 21st century; it is not the Wild West. These tech companies need to be respectful of your privacy rights. My hope is that through this bipartisan effort, we will shed light on the need to protect competition and online privacy to keep up with the fast-paced changes in technology. The FTC has a responsibility to hold tech companies accountable for securing their platforms. We need them to step up and be the cop on the beat in the virtual space. Before I yield the floor, I want to make one last point. The BROWSER Act treats everyone in broadband and edge companies exactly the same-- one regulator, one set of rules. This is common sense. Unfortunately, yesterday, Democrats in the House passed a bill to regulate broadband service providers, but they didn't do anything to Big Tech. They didn't do anything about privacy with Google, with Facebook, with Yahoo--these people who collect your data and sell it to the highest bidder; then that person markets back to you. When I chaired the Communications and Technology Subcommittee in the House, I repeatedly offered to work with the other side of the aisle to preserve a free and open internet. I am always happy to work together to find a legislative solution and put this so-called net neutrality issue to rest once and for all. Rather than work together on this, the House pushed through a hyperpartisan bill to reinstate a controversial, heavyhanded regulation of communication companies, but--heaven forbid-- they do not want to touch Big Tech, their big buddies. I am so grateful Leader McConnell has said that this bill coming from the House is dead on arrival in the Senate. I look forward to continuing to work on this issue. But here is what my friends across the aisle and my friends over in the House need to realize: The internet is not broken. The internet is not broken. Many of you probably have an electronic device close at hand. It is working just fine. The internet does not need the intervention of Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats. It is fine. It is going to be just fine by itself. In fact, as an alternative, we could just strike out the text of the House-passed bill and insert the BROWSER Act in its place--one set of rules for the entire internet ecosystem, one set of rules enforced by one Federal regulator. That is the BROWSER Act. It is about fairness. It is about encouraging innovation. It is about making certain we keep a free and open internet. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

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

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, it is an honor to speak on the floor of the Senate today for the first time. I really want to say a thank you to my colleagues here in the Senate for the warm welcome, especially Senator Alexander, for the friendship, advice, and counsel he supplies to each and every one of us, especially to me. I am really humbled to be here as the first female elected from Tennessee to serve in the Senate. I just have to note that a few decades ago, neither the Presiding Officer, who is the first woman from West Virginia, nor I could have been here in this Chamber speaking because women would not have been allowed. Yet our suffragists took care of that with women getting the right to vote. I love this quote by Susan B. Anthony. I think it is so good and appropriate for us: ``I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand.'' Women have always been fierce defenders of freedom and freedom's cause. Many times people will say to me: Why do you choose to serve? For me, it really is more or less a calling to public service. In that calling, I find it important to defeat the narrative that still exists to this day that conservative women should be seen but not heard. Here in this Chamber and in my role, I will continue to fight against a media that chooses to empower women on one side of the political aisle and denigrate those of us on the other side of the aisle. I am going to make certain that conservative women do have a strong voice in the Senate. I am here because, throughout my history--my family's history, as I have researched our history--there were so many who chose to serve in the military. There are others, like my family, who have chosen to serve our communities and our neighbors in our schools, in our churches, and in community activities. I regard my public service as a civic duty and a way to give back to the country that has given me so many blessings. What I have found from Tennesseans is that many of them are just like me. They have grown up in a rural area. They have worked hard, and they have built their version of the American dream. I am very typical of that. I grew up on a farm, attended college, married, had children, two grandchildren, and really appreciate the opportunities I have been given to work hard, to build a business, and to share in the benefits of hard work. Politically, I fought the establishment of both parties in Tennessee when I was in the State senate. There, thousands of Tennesseans joined me in opposing a massive, job-killing State income tax. We won that fight. Ever since, I have been focused on fighting high taxes and fighting wasteful spending because I know the money we appropriate and that gets spent is not Washington's money; it is the taxpayers' hard-earned money. Government ought not have the first right of refusal on your paycheck, but it does. It is part of our duty as public servants to be responsible stewards of the taxpayers' money and to be aggressive in rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. I think we should heed the 2010 warning of the then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullen, when he said: ``The most significant threat to our national security is our debt.'' Our debt today is a staggering $22 trillion. Now, think about this. When George Bush left office, that debt was at $10.7 trillion. It is $22 trillion today. For our children and for our grandchildren, I think it is immoral to pass on this kind of debt. I am also here because I am pro-life, and I will protect those who cannot protect themselves. I will tell you it is astounding to me that this body could not pass legislation that would protect babies who are born alive as a result of botched abortions. It is a disgrace. Big Abortion must be held accountable because its actions are a stain on the moral fabric of our country. Just as I promised Tennesseans, I promise my colleagues that I am going to work hard and will stand strong for what I believe in because I know I am working for freedom, free people, and free markets. As Frederick Douglass said, ``I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.'' I invite all of my colleagues to join me in protecting what I term to be the ``big five''--faith, family, freedom, hope, and opportunity, especially freedom. Washington needs to be reminded of just how precious the core value of freedom is, not only for Tennesseans but for all Americans. Every community and every church in Tennessee is filled with veterans and families who have sacrificed and who cherish that hard-won gift of freedom. They talk about it regularly. They have parades. When the troops come home, they celebrate our freedom. In Tennessee, we have 470,000 veterans who call Tennessee home, and it is such an honor to come to this body and stand with them because of the work they have done for us. I serve on the Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs Committees. We know our military has to have the resources it needs to fight our 21st century adversaries. Our veterans deserve not only our thanks but the benefits that have been offered to them. So, last month, I introduced the Gold Star Family Fellowship Program Act. This will establish a fellowship for those Gold Star families in our Senate offices. I have also joined Senator Tester in the Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal Act to honor our women soldiers from World War I. I am here to make certain our Nation is a nation of legal immigrants, not of illegal immigrants. The chaos at the border should embarrass each and every one of us as it has been decades in the making. This crisis is something we ought to work together on solving--drug trafficking, sex trafficking, human trafficking, and gangs. We must solve it rather than allow it to be a political issue for a campaign. I am here to work to protect your right to privacy--the physical and the virtual space. Yesterday Senator Klobuchar and I sent a letter to the FTC that focuses on how we protect Americans from what I call the data pirates at Google and Facebook. Your privacy is important, and I believe you and I have the right to send notes to our friends without having the entire stories of our lives sold to the highest online bidder. We are finishing our work on the BROWSER Act. I introduced this when I was in the House, and we are going to introduce it here because I believe it is imperative to give you the tools to protect yourselves online. I believe we need one set of privacy rules for the entire internet ecosystem. This is what you call fairness. Our family has always believed we have a responsibility to leave a place in better shape than we found it. It is, more or less, our family mantra. I will say that changing the rules of the Senate to allow for the confirmations of judges and to proceed on the Executive Calendar are exactly the right moves. You can call it the nuclear option or whatever you want to call it. In the press, I have heard it called many things in the last few days, but obstruction tactics do absolutely nothing to leave this Chamber or the country in better shape. Maybe it makes for good political rhetoric, but our country deserves better. I agree with Leader McConnell. This is a key way to help our Nation and our Chamber function fully and better. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I am going to work to confirm those qualified judges who will respect and uphold the Constitution. In January, it was an honor to be sworn in by Justice Brett Kavanaugh and to join Senator Ernst as being the first Republican women on the Judiciary Committee. Being the first woman ever elected to the Senate from Tennessee and being a conservative woman are things that are not lost on me. Indeed, conservative women have quite a track record in leading the fight for freedom in our Nation's history. At the top of that record is fighting and winning the right for women to vote. Next year, we are going to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. You may not be aware, but Tennessee was the 36th and the decisive State to ratify this amendment. It was the suffragists who fought and led that charge, and I am honored to join so many of our female colleagues in this Chamber in drafting legislation to honor that anniversary. Indeed, I am going to provide all of our colleagues the opportunity to cosponsor and participate in one of those bills that will have a commemorative coin for the event. Howard Baker--a great Tennessean and the former majority leader of this body--once remarked about the nature of the Senate: ``[And] if we cannot be civil to one another, and if we stop dealing with those with whom we disagree, or that we don't like, we would soon stop functioning altogether.'' With that in mind, my time in the Senate is going to be focused on action and accomplishment--things that will lead to positive change. Many times, people have asked me: What is one of your strengths? What do you think helps you in the political process? I have repeatedly said: I am a pretty good change agent. That is something we need to do to fully function and to serve our Nation. Tennessee has constituencies across every sector of our Nation's economy, and they are wanting change. They want fair and free markets, less regulation, less taxation, and less litigation. Our industries are in agriculture, energy production, financial services, national security installations, veterans hospitals, world-class universities, healthcare, manufacturing, technology, entertainment, and communications. In Tennessee, we are a logistics hub, with great networks and intermodal facilities. As a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, I am going to work with them to make certain that when the Federal Government shows up, it is there to be a help and not a hindrance. Tennessee is a cultural leader and is the Nation's center for music, songwriting, and religion. The people want protection of the works they create and of the sermons they preach. Tennesseans also tell me that as their Senator, they want me to be aware they are concerned about the future of the Nation. It is unimaginable to Tennesseans that nearly three decades after the end of the Cold War, there is a debate in Washington about, are you for socialism or are you for freedom? They cannot believe this is happening. They want to make certain we are going to continue to push forward and protect this Nation and protect our freedoms that we have. We will continue to do that and to push back. We have a lot of challenges we are going to face. Tennesseans want to make certain that we are going to be there to focus on prosperity and leadership for future generations. This is going to require our paying attention to technology. My colleagues will find that I am going to work to push for 5G and next-generation technologies for both our commercial and military space. Senator Baldwin and I are introducing bipartisan legislation to advance rural broadband, and I have joined Senators Gardner and Cortez Masto on the ACCESS BROADBAND Act to make resources available to rural communities. Technology is not only enabled by freedom, it enhances freedom. Make no mistake, our technology and our power are being challenged by all of our adversaries. Primary among them is Communist China, which is a threat to our country because it steals our technology, our innovations, and in its unfair trading practices and monetary policy. We should all be united in taking on the Chinese. Our Tennesseans talk to me regularly about their concerns about some of the theft that takes place by China. We have other enemies as well--from Maduro in Venezuela to the Ayatollahs in Iran, to Kim Jong Un in North Korea. We must stand together as Americans if we are to advance the cause of freedom. Tennesseans have been clear in what they want and in what they expect from their U.S. Senator. They want somebody who is going to listen to them and be concerned about the stories of their lives, not the DC story of the day. Tennesseans are ready for bold ideas on how the Federal Government should spend their taxpayer dollars. They don't want tweaks around the edges of bills; they want something bold. They are concerned about how we are going to fund the military. They are concerned about what we are going to do to further our presence in this land. Tennesseans want a Senator who will respect freedom and the rule of law. It is a beautiful and diverse State. It represents the best of what this Nation has to offer. Our history reflects a common set of values that are based on faith, family freedom, hope, and opportunity, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to preserve these values and to fight back against those who would attempt to undermine them. I yield the floor.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered to be the first sponsor of H.R. 1898, a bill originally introduced by Representative Meehan of Pennsylvania, for the purposes of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, you have heard the mention of bipartisan work and bipartisan support on these issues, and Chairman Walden is exactly right. Not only have Members worked in a bipartisan way, but also our staffs have to answer the questions: How do we help to get the resources to our local and our State officials? How do we help to remove barriers so we can end this epidemic in our country? Last year, 63,632 Americans lost their lives to drug abuse and drug overdose, and 1,600 of those were Tennesseans. We can all tell you these stories, and I tell you as a mom and as a friend, so many times when you talk to families and talk to people who have been so affected and so impacted by this, they talk about family members and coworkers and individuals that they are in contact with every single day and how we need to work on this issue with opioids, with fentanyl, with heroin, with cocaine, these illicit drugs that are flooding our streets, as well as the pills. Now, last October, during a hearing when Dr. Gottlieb was before us and we were conducting oversight with the FDA, one of the things that he mentioned was there were some changes that they needed to see in Federal law. The number one change they needed was permission to work some changes in Federal statute for how they would work in these international mail facilities. As we have said, there are hundreds of millions of packages. As Congressman Green said, they cannot get ahead of the work. So we have come together. The Stop Illicit Drug Importation Act is something that will be helpful to getting the job done and getting these drugs off the streets. Indeed, they will never get to the streets. They will never get to the streets because there will be the ability to stop them and dispose of these drugs before they ever get to the streets. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.