Marsha Blackburn

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, well, I am coming to the floor today as we find ourselves in the middle of the Schumer shutdown, and this is a time where, indeed, instead of being in the Schumer shutdown and having these shenanigans taking place, we should be in the middle of working hard for the American people. If we were not in this shutdown and our attention focused on that, we could be working our way through the NDAA, our National Defense Authorization Act, and we could be passing our appropriations bills through regular order. But what we know is this is something that the minority leader has been working on for weeks. It is what he wanted. He thinks that it is going to benefit the Democratic Members of this Chamber. I just really think he is sorely mistaken on this because the measure--the continuing resolution in front of us--is a clean CR, which means it is funding that is going to continue at levels where they were, for a period of about 7 weeks, while we finish exercising our due diligence and passing the appropriations bills. Now, this is something that--this shutdown didn't have to happen, but as I said, it is something that appears to have been in the works and something that was really desired by those on the left. We have heard, of course, that the minority leader is not wanting to face opposition from the left there in New York, and because of that, of course, what we are seeing is that our Nation's business has come to a halt. Last night and then again today, all but three of the Members of the Democratic conference voted against a stopgap funding measure, our clean CR, that would have kept this government running through November 21. Keeping the spending at current levels, this measure would have given us the time we need to be working on these appropriations bills. It would have kept us moving forward and kept us from wasting time. One of the things I think is so important is that shutdowns are expensive, and this is something that ends up costing us money every time we do it. And, of course, we have quite a bit of national debt. Now, when we talk about completing our appropriations bills and setting our spending limits for the year and fulfilling that budget document, that portion--we have our budget document. Then we move to our appropriations bills. Well, Senator Collins of Maine, who has led the Appropriations Committee, has done an outstanding job working with Republicans and Democrats on that committee, building out this appropriations process, making certain that bills moved out of the Appropriations Committee and that they are making their way to the floor. One of the things that is so interesting is that 8 of the 12 bills that came out of the Appropriations Committee came out with broad bipartisan support. So if you have got measures that are coming out with broad bipartisan support, why would you not move them to the floor? Why would you not want to finish out this appropriations process? And, of course, it should have been finished by September 30. It was not finished by then. So we are hopeful that by November 21, this process can be complete and that we will be moving from a Biden budget to a Trump and Republican budget, which, by the way, is what the American people voted for when they gave a mandate to President Donald Trump on November 5. Now, I mentioned the 12 bills, and 8 of the 12 have come out with bipartisan support. Three of those bills--our Agriculture, our Leg Branch, and our MILCON-VA--have already passed off the floor, and they did so with wide bipartisan votes. This is something that, yes, indeed--yes, indeed--we need to make certain that we continue to push these bills. Now, by passing these approps bills, we are ensuring that we get onto the budget the American people voted for. Well, this is not what our colleagues across the aisle are saying they wanted. They don't want the clean CR. They are not wanting to move forward on these bills. Instead, their measure for keeping the government open and running is holding government basically hostage, if you will, for $1.5 trillion in additional spending--$1.5 trillion. Our national debt is north of $37 trillion. It is climbing. And, of course, adding another $1.5 trillion for a few weeks is really irresponsible. In this, they are basically trying to undo what we did-- the steps and the progress that we made when we did the Big Beautiful Bill, which is truly--truly--a bill for hard-working Americans. So I would encourage my colleagues across the aisle: It is time to come to the table. It is time to pass the stopgap measure, the clean CR. And I would remind my friends that since last year, they have voted for these funding levels five times. So let's come together. Let's get this passed. Let's get back on track to pass these appropriations bills. Let's keep the Federal Government open and working. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Florida for bringing this resolution forward and for taking the time to honor a true American patriot Charlie Kirk. He was a champion for freedom, and he was a role model for millions of young people across our country. As my colleague had mentioned, he was a devoted husband to Erika and an amazing father to his two children. We offer our condolences to his family. By adopting my colleague's resolution, this Chamber has an opportunity to honor the legacy that Charlie is leaving. He believed in robust, respectful, bipartisan debate. He encouraged you to challenge your own thoughts and actions; he encouraged you to enter into that debate, to commit to leaving this country in better shape than you found it; and, of course, always giving back more than you took. We are going to miss him desperately. I join many across the country who are mourning with his family and praying that justice will be served. I am grateful to have known him personally, spending hours speaking with him at Turning Point USA events and watching how Turning Point has grown, not only into a nationwide but a global movement. He started it when he was 18 years old. One of the things that always impressed me was how he managed to stay in contact, to offer to help to push issues forward, and to lend a hand no matter how big or small the cause. Recently, I appreciated hearing from him as I had put some information forward, and he responded immediately on what a good idea this was. I do want to share just one example of his generosity. One of my grandsons was such a fan of Charlie, and he wanted to start a Turning Point chapter at his school. The school didn't want to have that chapter, so my grandson had to find another way, which he did. I texted Charlie to read him in on the situation, to make him aware. He jumped in to support my grandson and to thank him for the effort. My grandson said he really felt like Charlie was rooting for him in this situation, and I think that is the way every young person felt when they met him. They felt Charlie was on their side. He wanted the best for them. He wanted to encourage them, to help them think critically through issues that matter to our country. To any young person mourning his loss, I encourage you to honor Charlie's memory by continuing to support his movement to realize a conservative, prosperous United States of America. He believed in hard work and smart work, so honor him by working hard, by working smart, by looking for those opportunities to be a leader, to dream those big dreams like Charlie did, and then find a way to make those dreams come true. That is how you honor his life and legacy. We will not allow his life or legacy to be forgotten, and we will not stop fighting to eradicate the rot of political violence in our Nation that claimed his life. I yield to my colleague from Alabama.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I want to say right off the top, it was truly an honor to join President Trump at the White House on Monday. He assembled Senator Hagerty and I and some of the Federal Agencies in the Oval Office to sign an Executive order and to announce the deployment of the National Guard to Memphis. It is going to be several Federal Agencies that are going into Memphis. Now, the reason for this is that Memphis has had the highest crime rate in the country. And for years, we have seen Democrats that have enacted soft-on-crime policies, and this has taken, truly, a tragic toll on Memphis. In many parts of the city, Memphians cannot walk outside without fear of being mugged, robbed, carjacked, murdered. And what we know is this: Memphis, TN, is a historic city. It has a very rich cultural history. And it is also the logistics hub of our Nation. We have the Port of Memphis; we have FedEx; we have I-40 that goes from the east coast to the west coast that runs right through Memphis; and we are also home to all five class A railroads. Now, Memphis also has a lot of major corporations. FedEx is located in Memphis. It was started in Memphis and has remained there. You also have St. Jude, which is so vital to medical research in our Nation; International Paper; so many other companies are located there. But the crime crisis in Memphis has been driven by gang violence, and it has held that city and that West Tennessee region back for about 4 or 5 years now. There are actually about 100 gangs that are there in Memphis. So President Trump is doing his best to help work to make Memphis safe again. Now, we have had an FBI operation that has taken place in Memphis, and this marks the next phase of what is a multipronged, multi-Agency strategy to fight this crime. This summer, the FBI, under Director Patel, conducted Operation Viper in Memphis, and the FBI worked with the Memphis Police Department and Chief Davis. And what they did was to surge Federal resources from the FBI into Memphis and Shelby County in order to actually arrest and get indicted and try these gang leaders. So as we go into this next phase, you are going to see additional resources come to bear. You are going to see the ATF, the DEA, Homeland Security, continued sources from the FBI, Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service. They are all going to be there to support the Memphis Police Department. This is going to be important to do to make certain that this crackdown on crime--making Memphis safe--is going to continue. Now, the National Guard is a part of this, as I said, and these National Guards men and women are going to help maintain order so that the Memphis police officers can be on the street and be tracking down and arresting these criminals, getting them off the street. We saw this strategy succeed in Washington, DC, where in just over a month, the President's crime crackdown here in our Nation's Capital brought car thefts down 36 percent; robberies were down 62 percent; homicides were down 57 percent. Tennesseans have been applauding this success that we have seen. Memphians are applauding this. I have talked to Memphians who have been here this week, and they are so pleased to see the President's commitment so that they know this is going to be a long-term effort to make certain that we address crime. Now, in the Senate, we have several bills that are supporting this effort. My Ending Cashless Bail in our Nation's Capital Act, which would require Washington, DC, to use the highest level of cash bail necessary for dangerous offenders as a condition of pretrial release; my Keep Violent Criminals Off Our Streets Act, which would ban the award of certain Federal funds to States and localities across the country that limit the use of cash bail; my Federal Carjacking Enforcement Act would empower Federal prosecutors to hold carjackers accountable; my Restoring Armed Career Criminal Act would reinstate an important tool for prosecutors to seek enhanced penalties against violent, repeat offenders; Restoring Law and Order Act would increase funding for law enforcement and help keep violent criminals behind bars. We should get all of these bills across the finish line and ensure that President Trump has the tools he needs to restore law and order in this country. We should pass these bills so that our law enforcement, our judges, our DAs have every tool they need to get these career criminals, these gang leaders off the streets in Memphis, TN. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, we have known for years that Big Tech puts profit over our children's safety. Every parent will tell you this is an issue of concern for them. Now, in the case of Meta, it has become clear that the tech giant is more interested in making a buck off of our kids than protecting them from predators, pedophiles, traffickers, and abusers. On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, which I chair, heard from two courageous, former Meta employees who spoke about a deeply disturbing culture of deception at the company. They were among six whistleblowers, including two whistleblowers who currently work for Meta. These whistleblowers are sounding the alarm, and thank goodness they are courageous and they are stepping forward to help protect our children. Their testimony included hundreds of pages of internal Meta documents, and this shows just how far Mark Zuckerberg has been willing to go to bury evidence showing that his platforms actually harm children. As I said, hundreds of pages of documents show us and bear out how far Mark Zuckerberg will go to bury the evidence that his platforms harm children. Two of the whistleblowers are former safety researchers for Meta. As part of their job, they would meet with families who used Meta products, which include Facebook and Instagram. Through their research, they hoped to learn how safe these products truly are. But as soon as they conducted the interviews and went through the process of reporting, what they figured out was that Meta only hired them to check a box and appear as if the company was doing something about children's safety. While researching children's experiences on Meta's virtual reality headsets, they spoke with a family who revealed that one of their preteen sons had been sexually propositioned numerous times by sexual predators in the company's metaverse. Now, think about this: These predators, who were virtual strangers, were going up to this child in virtual reality, and they were trying to groom him. Can you imagine if this was allowed to occur in the physical space? When it launched in 2021, Zuckerberg said that--I am going to quote him: [I]n the Metaverse, you'll be able to do almost anything you can imagine. Apparently, that included preying on children. For the child who is using the headset and in virtual reality, it is as if they are talking directly to the predator. We know that the physiological impact and the psychological impact on children is no different than if it occurred in person. There is plenty of research that bears this out. This shocking information would cause any responsible company to reevaluate their product and try to figure out how to stop this from happening. But after the interview with the family, the whistleblowers' supervisor--get this--the supervisor ordered them to delete the audio recording and the written records about what the child had experienced. The child admitted they were propositioned numerous times. Meta didn't want to know that, and they were so offended by this because it might hurt their profit that they told the researchers to delete the audio recording of the child admitting this and then to expunge the written records about what the child experienced. Unfortunately, from what we have learned, this is not a one-off. According to the whistleblowers' testimony, this suppression of damaging information is the norm at Meta. Starting in 2021, the whistleblowers allege that Meta directed its legal team--think about this--the C suite is ordering the legal team to review any internal research about youth safety in virtual reality. In some cases, they killed research that documented how Meta is exposing children to harm. So they know it; they don't want you to know it. How dare a parent have what they want to protect their child? So they want to just sweep it away. The reason they did this was simple: Meta's executives wanted to eliminate any evidence that would require them to take action to protect children. In the words of Meta's lawyers, they needed to ``establish plausible deniability.'' In one case, Meta's lawyers advised that ``due to regulatory concerns,'' the researchers should avoid collecting any information about how many children were using Meta's virtual reality devices. On paper, Meta said that children under the age of 13 were not allowed to use the devices, but in practice, employees estimated that some virtual rooms were up to 90 percent underage. One employee documented a time where they observed three children between the ages of 6 and 7 who were ``chatting with a much older man who was asking them where they lived.'' These are babies. They have on the Oculus headset. They are in virtual reality. They have their avatar. They think they are playing, but they are chatting with an avatar that is not a child. It is not a child their age; it is an avatar that is an older man, and he is trying to figure out where they live. Now, the employee told Meta that they knew these were young children based on the sound of their voice. Yet what did the company officials try to do? They tried to suppress this, to sweep it under the rug, to keep people from knowing this was happening. Meta executives told the researchers that they shouldn't refer to ``kids'' on the platform. Instead, they were told to refer to them as--get this--``alleged minors with young sounding voices who may be underage.'' Again, that is a direct quote. So let me ask you this: Does this sound like a company concerned about how its platforms expose children to predators and pedophiles or does it sound like a company that is doing everything possible to cover up this horrific abuse? With Meta and other tech platforms, we have seen this negligence over and over and over. Indeed, I have talked on this floor many times about this issue. Senator Blumenthal and I have talked tirelessly about this issue, as we have held hearing after hearing. With their algorithms that the tech firms use, that Meta is using, what they are doing is creating what one of the researchers refer to as a playground for pedophiles. That is really sad. In the physical space, you would be locked up for doing that. With their algorithms, they connect children with pedophiles, with drug dealers, with sex traffickers, with human traffickers, with pornography, and they flood their feeds with pro-suicide content. One of the platforms even has music to commit suicide by. With their AI chatbots, they sexualize children in role-playing fantasies. With their design features, they allow children to share their precise location on a map with any predator, who can then go track them down. This abuse of our Nation's children has absolutely got to come to an end. This has to stop. These tech companies have to be held to account. This is why Senator Blumenthal and I have reintroduced the Kids Online Safety Act, which would hold Big Tech accountable and provide parents with tools, with safeguards, and with transparency to protect their children. The legislation would create a duty of care for online platforms to prevent specific threats to minors, including sexual abuse, illicit drugs, and the promotion of suicide and eating disorders. There is a reason this legislation was overwhelmingly bipartisan and received overwhelming bipartisan support. It passed out of the Senate last year on a 91-to-3 vote. It is time to pass this bill. When you think about it, in the physical world, we have laws on the books. You cannot endanger children. You cannot cause harm. You cannot sell them alcohol and tobacco or expose them to pornography. We as a society have decided that you protect children, and the laws that are on the books protect them and hold abusers, traffickers, and people that try to sell them products that will harm them--it holds them accountable. But in the virtual space, these tech companies have pushed forward with their armies of lawyers and lobbyists and deep pockets, and they have fought any regulation in the virtual space. Why is that? Because when our children are online, our children are the product. Tech companies see our children as a profit center. It is a way to make a buck, to keep children online and on their phones. Indeed, when some of the mental health studies of our children have looked at how long a teenager spends on their phone every day--8 hours. Eight hours a day doomscrolling, going deeper into holes where they may be getting eating disorder content, pro-suicide content, or possibly even being introduced to a drug dealer, a trafficker, a pedophile. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, over the last few weeks, I have spoken with countless Tennesseans who are really appreciating the One Big Beautiful Bill because they are learning of the impact that it is going to have on their families, on their businesses, and on their pocketbooks. Tennesseans are telling me--once we talk about this bill, they are telling me how this law will help them make their business more successful, their community better, and will indeed end up leaving more cash in their pocketbook. Thanks to the law, Tennessee families will save an average of $2,600 next year on taxes and see a take-home pay increase of as much as $10,000. This is going to give some much needed relief after 4 years of Bidenflation. Over the August work period, it was absolutely wonderful. I met with restaurant businesses and servers, and they talked about the law's reduction on taxes on tips and overtime and how that is going to help them keep more money in their pocket. Going from one side of the State to the other, I heard from seniors who are talking about how they are going to be able to lower their tax burden. That is because we have the $6,000 bonus deduction per senior, per year. When you are a couple, married filing jointly, that $12,000 bonus deduction for our Nation's seniors is basically going to remove the income tax from most of the Social Security payments for about 88 percent of our Nation's seniors. Millions of hard-working families are planning for the future thanks to the law's enhanced child tax credit and expanded childcare access, and we have done this through the employer-provided childcare tax credit. I appreciate my colleagues in Senate Finance working with me as we sought to get that into the legislation, as we sought to put in place the bonus deduction for seniors. These are things that are really going to serve so many Tennesseans so very well. We had meetings with chambers and met with many in the business community. Hearing from so many of these small business owners, what they wanted to talk about was how, after the 2017 law was passed, they started hiring staff and growing that business. Now they are able to continue to keep this staff, to purchase new equipment, and to invest in their communities. By making these tax cuts, the 2017 tax cuts, permanent, the estimate is that we will be protecting about 100,000 jobs in Tennessee. Much of this is because of the bonus depreciation, that 100 percent bonus depreciation deduction, immediate expensing of research and development, interest deduction, and 199A for passthroughs. These companies are looking at how they grow. They are looking forward to this growth. I also had the opportunity, whether I was at the State fair or meeting with some members of the ag community or the Farm Bureau--we talked about the provision that we have in the law that raises the estate tax exemption to $15 million or $30 million for a couple. What this does is to allow these family farms, generational operations, to be passed on to the next generation so that that legacy of farming and hard work can continue. We know that for small businesses and so many of our Nation's small business entrepreneurs, they have worked hard. They have built a business. They have built a manufacturing firm. And to know that they can pass it on to the next generation without fear of that generation having to sell the business in order to pay the tax. This provision--raising that death tax or estate tax exemption--is going to prohibit double taxation. There are about 2 million family farms that this is going to affect, and we know they are appreciative of this. For our military communities in Tennessee--and we have some wonderful military communities. We have Fort Campbell, which is primarily in Tennessee. We have Millington Air Naval Station. We have Arnold Engineering. We have the National Guard. We have such a strong presence in our State. This legislation, the Big Beautiful Bill, has $150 billion in a boost to our national defense funding. This is a way we can push forward with modernization and make certain that we remain the strongest lethal fighting force on the face of the Earth. There is also funding for the Golden Dome missile defense system. This we are beginning to see a good bit of work in when you talk about the low Earth orbit satellites and beginning to build out this Golden Dome defense system to protect our country. In addition to this, we have provisions in there for our military families to strengthen healthcare and childcare and improve housing and education for our servicemember families. For 4 years under President Biden, Tennesseans suffered because of his anti-America energy policies. This sent the cost of electricity and gas soaring. So the Big Beautiful Bill ends these far-left mandates and regulations and provides made-in-America tax breaks to support energy production right here at home. You know, Mr. President, when I talk to Tennesseans, they want us to be energy independent. They don't want us having to depend on other countries to be able to get oil and gas. They don't want us to have to import that. They want energy independence. President Trump's pro-energy policy and this agenda is the reason why over this Labor Day weekend, our gas prices at the pump were at the lowest level that they have been in 5 years--the lowest level. This is something that people were noticing. They could feel that impact in their pocketbook. The border and border security is vitally important to Tennesseans, and this legislation in the Big Beautiful Bill that is now a law has $75 billion in funding to hire additional ICE agents. And we have seen the results that have taken place--the Homeland Security being out there, working with law enforcement, conducting raids, apprehending these criminal illegal aliens. People have wanted to see this done. You know, Mr. President, I have not talked to one single person who has said: I want MS-13, I want Tren de Aragua living in my neighborhood. We want them buying a house here. We want them setting up shop here. But what they do say is this: Thank goodness MS-13, Tren de Aragua, and these other violent gangs are being apprehended and they are being deported. That is what the Trump administration is doing, and it is exactly what the American people want to see done. We also have provisions in the big beautiful law that will go back to building the wall and securing the southern border so we never have an open border like we had during the Biden years, where people are running across that border--as many as 160,000 a month. That is a population size larger than most cities in Tennessee. There is also some money in this that is going to deal with transportation. Everybody knows that infrastructure is vitally important, and I want to touch on what is happening with aviation there. This is important to Tennessee. The Nashville International Airport, in June, welcomed more than 2.4 million travelers. That was an alltime-high number. And that number, we know, is going to continue to grow. So the bill provides $12.5 billion to modernize our Nation's air traffic control system. That is going to help improve safety, speed, and efficiency. And we are appreciative that Secretary Duffy is putting his attention on how you modernize this system so it is more safe, secure, and efficient. One of the provisions that I had the opportunity to work on was the Rural Health Transformation Program. In Tennessee, we have 95 counties; 78 of those 95 counties are deemed rural. And this Rural Health Transformation fund is a $50 billion fund. It is there to strengthen access to healthcare in rural areas. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Dr. Oz, who is our leader at CMS, has launched a web page for this program. It is going to reward innovation. Part of the money is going to be a payment to these hospitals, the other part--that $25 billion--is going to be, How do you innovate? Here is the money to innovate. How do you increase access? And our rural hospitals and health clinics who are working on this issue can go to CMS.gov, and they can pull down the information for how to apply for these grants; how to make certain that they are using the resources that are there; learning more about this program and how it is going to be able to help them increase access to healthcare; how they can focus on workforce development and retention; and how they can look at innovative new processes and use technology. We are looking forward to good results coming from that because smart, good people who are focused on delivering healthcare are going to have the opportunity to apply for these grants and to focus on how they make healthcare more accessible in these rural areas. As you can see, there is so much in here that is a positive that will improve the lives of so many Tennesseans. And as I said, they are beginning to see it in their pocketbooks. They are seeing it at the gas pump. They know that their taxes--we have made those tax breaks permanent. And they know this is going to benefit their communities because you will see businesses grow, and you will see businesses hiring new workers. I think that as people have celebrated Labor Day, they know that this is the time where they have a President in the White House who is putting them first. He is putting them and their future and the future for their kids--he is putting that first, and he is pushing forward with making certain that America and all of our States, our communities are going to be safe, secure, and prosperous. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, today marks day 212 of this new Congress under Republican leadership. I would offer to my colleagues this has been the most successful--the most successful--beginning of a Congress. When you look at the nearly 750 hours that we have spent working and the 450 votes that we have taken, when you look at how we have pushed to move forward and how we have fought obstruction from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, you do realize that we, indeed, are helping to fulfill the promise President Trump made when he said: We will make America safe, secure, healthy, productive, and great again. Do you know what? That is precisely what the American people voted for. They want action. They want things to be done differently. Indeed, with a Republican House and Senate and this administration, led by President Trump and Vice President Vance, they are delivering on this. Look at the border. What we are seeing is a border that is secure. We know that we have some of the best numbers--the lowest illegal crossings that are coming across those borders. We are returning to building a wall. We are getting the Border Patrol what they need to do their job. We have the Laken Riley Act, which Senator Britt led here in the Senate. This helps to detain those criminal illegal aliens. We have the HALT Fentanyl Act that Senator Grassley led, and we have Senator Hagerty with the GENIUS Act to give us that first crypto bill to make certain that we retain the lead in that emerging technology legislation. Those are all a few of the things that have been accomplished. Of course, look at what we did in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Tennesseans are really looking forward to this bill because of what it does. When you look at the fact that we got rid of a lot of that far-left Green New Deal spending, we have put money into modernizing our military for 21st century warfare and into Border Patrol agents, and we have the funding there that is needed. It is all there. The people said: Let's get back to addressing our debt and restoring some fiscal sanity to this country. We have $37 trillion of debt. We didn't get there overnight, and it is going to take a dedicated, focused, intentional process to get us out of this debt, to address it. Of course, we are delighted--absolutely delighted--and we are so pleased to know that June was the first month in not a year or a decade but in three decades that this government ran a surplus. Those are good signs. Indeed, last night on this floor, we moved forward three of the appropriations bills. There are eight bills that have already come out of committee, and we processed three of those last night to make certain that we get onto a budget; that we get off of the Biden-era CRAs and onto the numbers that President Trump and our Appropriations Committee have moved forward on. This marked the first time since 2018 that the Senate passed appropriations bills before the August recess. Now, that is so significant because what are the first things that we are supposed to do? One of them is to fund the government. And for my colleagues who always want to reduce Federal spending, which I am one of them, we have to go through the appropriations process to be able to do that. Of course, in addition to the One Big Beautiful Bill, we also had the rescissions bill, which gave us an additional $9 billion in cuts. We need to realize, when we do these rescissions, that is the equivalent of taking that red pen and marking through those line items and saying: They are gone. The American people wanted to see the high cost of living and inflation addressed. Indeed, with the One Big Beautiful Bill, we have been able to get things heading in the right direction. For Tennesseans, we know that there is going to be a $2,600 per year savings in taxes with that One Big Beautiful Bill. We know that people are looking forward to this and that the One Big Beautiful Bill was the largest tax cut in our Nation's history. Indeed, we expect from the Council of Economic Advisers' numbers to see families in Tennessee increase take-home pay somewhere between $7,000 and $10,000. Those are numbers that are significant. And do you know what that does? It says to people: We want you to have more control over your pocketbook--in how you choose to save your money, in how you choose to spend your money. All of those things are accomplishments. In 212 days of this Congress, those are all items that we have been able to move forward on. Our other committees are hard at work. We are approving judges and getting them through the process, ready for floor votes. Indeed, the first appellate judge--appointed by President Trump and approved by Congress--was Whitney Hermandorfer out of Nashville. We look forward to seeing her on the Sixth Circuit. All of this we have moved forward at a rapid pace. Now I want to talk about what has happened with nominees. Of course, everyone is aware we approved the Cabinet in record time in getting people to work. When it comes to those sub-Cabinet positions and judges and U.S. attorneys and U.S. marshals and Ambassadors, our friends across the aisle have enjoyed playing a game of obstruction. You know, it is as if they learned nothing on November 5. Our friends across the aisle have lost at the ballot box; they have lost in the U.S. House and in the U.S. Senate. They have lost in the courts, and so now what we hear from many of them--and you can look at some of their campaign websites--is that they are holding resistance labs and encouraging people to obstruct. They think that they are harming us. What they are doing is harming the American people, thwarting the will of the American people. They are trying to slow-walk these nominees. They are making a game out of it. How many can they hold back? But what they are doing is acting outside of the norm. What they are doing is proving to the American people that they are not here to address the issues of the day; they are here to see what they can stop. I have got a chart with me that I think tells a great story. You will see the heading ``Civilian nominees confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent in first term.'' That is a President's first term. In order to provide context for what is happening in the U.S. Senate, I think it is important that we go back and look at history and see what that yields for us and the lessons that it yields. As I said, these are nominees who are confirmed by voice vote or by unanimous consent in a President's first term. That is a practice that has been an accepted and expected practice of this body. When you have a deputy or an Under Secretary and sometimes nominees for different boards, they are grouped together en bloc, and then they are moved through the process together. They receive either a voice vote, or they move forward by unanimous consent. It simplifies the process. Many times, as I have talked to Tennesseans, what they have said is: We are not certain how many nominees there are. When you talk about President Trump not getting his nominees, are we talking about 100 people or 200 or 300? No. It is about 1,200 positions. So let's put the context on this. President George H. W. Bush: He had 98 percent of his civilian nominees confirmed by voice or unanimous consent. President Bill Clinton: 98 percent. George W. Bush: 90 percent. President Obama: 90 percent. President Trump's first term: 65 percent. President Biden: 57 percent. President Donald Trump's second term--zero--zero--not one--not one single nominee, not one. This is the obstruction that they are practicing within this Chamber. Not only are they doing that, but they are wanting multiple votes. They want cloture filed. Then they want the cloture vote. Then they want the 2-hour period or the 4-hour for appellate judges while a Cabinet Secretary is a 30-hour clock to run. They are doing that on every single nominee. You can imagine how much time this would take if you have to follow this pattern for 1,200 people. You see why it is deemed by many people in this country to be active obstruction by the Democrats. This is a practice that has gained steam under the current Democrat leadership. They feel like they are hurting the Republicans, but what they are doing is harming the American people because the agenda they voted for--what they wanted to see accomplished--cannot be accomplished. Of what the American people voted for President Trump to do, our friends across the aisle would choose to slow-walk that. What they are doing is hurting the people they were sent here to represent. I yield the floor. (Mrs. BRITT assumed the Chair.)

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I have 15 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, if there are four words to describe the first 7 months of the Senate Republican majority, they would be ``promises made; promises kept.'' The American people gave us a mandate to secure the border, strengthen the economy, rein in wasteful spending, and make America great again, and that is exactly what we have done while working with President Donald Trump and his administration. You can start with the Laken Riley Act, which was the first bill signed into law, and this strengthens the Homeland Security Department's efforts to detain criminal illegal aliens and get them out of our communities. We passed the HALT Fentanyl Act, which empowers the administration to take the fight to the cartels and to end our drug crisis. We passed Senator Hagerty's GENIUS Act, which promotes economic freedom and helps ensure that America leads in the development of cryptocurrencies. We passed a $9 billion rescissions package, permanently eliminating wasteful spending on everything from biased media outlets to far-left NGOs. This is just the first of many rescissions packages that we are going to send to President Trump's desk. Now, despite Democratic obstruction, which continues even today, we have also confirmed more than 100 civilian nominees, who are carrying out President Trump's agenda, and we are continuing to fight for confirmation votes to make certain that the President has his entire team in place to serve the needs of the American people. Most importantly, we did pass the One Big Beautiful Bill. It is now signed into law. There is so much good that is in this legislation that benefits all of the American people. When I talk to Tennesseans, one of the most important things for them is the permanent extension of President Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. By extending these provisions, Republicans prevented the largest tax increase in history. It would have been a $4 trillion tax hike. Now, that is more than just a number. When you look at what goes into that $4 trillion tax hike, it would have meant fewer jobs, fewer opportunities, and fewer small businesses getting the doors open and hanging out the shingle. Just the other day, I was talking to a small business owner in Tennessee, and we were discussing the Big Beautiful Bill and the 2017 law, and he went on to talk about the 2017 tax cuts when they first went in. This enabled him to hire two new employees, two individuals that were desperate for work. Bear in mind, we had come through the Obama years with high inflation, with a shrinking economy, and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was really that spur our economy needed to get moving. Now, this gentleman talked about these two employees and the impact they had made on his business. He was so concerned that if those tax cuts expired, he would struggle to keep these individuals on the payroll. His take was that if we did not pass the Big Beautiful Bill-- make the tax cuts permanent, restore bonus depreciation, interest expensing, R&D expensing--that for so many small businesses like his there in Tennessee, the results would be catastrophic. But what we do know is that with the One Big Beautiful Bill, millions of small businesses can now see their way forward to grow their workforce, especially with some of the new provisions that are there: No tax on tips. No tax on overtime. As one restaurant owner in Knox County recently said to me, the reduced taxes on tips will help his servers get about $1,000 more in their pocket every single year. He also knows that helps in making it competitive when you are trying to recruit people to come work in the restaurant business. A server over in Chattanooga said that these tax cuts will be ``beneficial for every server.'' ``We did earn that money,'' they said. So they think it is great that they are going to be able to keep that money in their pocket. These tax cuts are just some of the provisions in that bill that will ensure that more Americans are going to keep their hard-earned money. What we do know is that because of this law--and it is now the law of the land; it was signed on July 4--we know that Tennessee households are going to save about $2,600 per household, per year, on their tax filing. Millions of seniors can now count on a bonus enhanced deduction of $6,000. That is $6,000, every senior, every year. That would offset what they have paid in income taxes on their Social Security benefits. American families will benefit from a permanent $2,200 enhanced child tax credit. Working moms and dads are going to benefit from the employer-provided childcare tax credit, as more employers move forward to offer childcare for their employees. Family farms can pass their legacy of hard work on to the next generation due to much needed death tax relief. We now see that raised--$15 million for an individual, $30 million for a couple filing jointly. Tennessee small businesses make up 99.5 percent of businesses in our State. That is 99.5 percent. They are small businesses. They will keep their tax breaks and be able to hire more workers. While these tax cuts will benefit all Americans, it is hard-working people--middle-income workers, lower income workers--who are going to see the largest reduction in Federal taxes as a percentage of their previous tax bill. After 4 years of Bidenflation, this is much needed relief for hard-working Americans. Of course, tax cuts are just one part of the Big Beautiful Bill. We secured the largest ever investment in border security to complete the border wall and hire thousands of Border Patrol agents. We strengthened Medicaid for those who truly need it by enacting commonsense work requirements for able-bodied, childless adults. We restored fiscal sanity by eliminating hundreds of billions of dollars in far-left Green New Deal spending. These are huge wins for the American people. The good news is that President Trump and congressional Republicans are only getting started on delivering on our mandate to make America great again. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, in November, President Trump and the Republicans really received a very powerful mandate from the American people. They wanted to make certain that our border was going to be secured and that we were going to strengthen the economy, get inflation under control, rein in wasteful government spending, get ourselves back on track, and make America great and prosperous and safe and secure once again. By passing the One Big Beautiful Bill, we delivered on this mandate by securing the largest tax cut in U.S. history, including reduced taxes on tips and overtime, a $6,000 bonus deduction for seniors, and the permanent extension of President Trump's 2017 tax cuts. It also reduces the burden of the death tax for millions, providing critical relief for family-owned businesses and for so many of our Nation's farms and farmers. It bolsters our Armed Forces with a $150 billion increase in military spending. It provides the largest ever investment in border security so that we can, indeed, complete building the wall and also hire new Border Patrol agents and officers. It strengthens Medicaid by rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. It restores fiscal sanity by eliminating hundreds of billions of dollars in far-left spending, and the list goes on and on. These are all enormous wins for Tennesseans, whom I represent, and, indeed, for all Americans, but our work here in this Chamber is far from over. At the top of the list, we have the need to confirm President Trump's nominees. The President deserves to have his team in place to enact his agenda, but instead of working with us to carry out the will of the American people, our colleagues across the aisle have chosen to obstruct at any cost. Right now, we have 130 pending--pending-- nominations of people who have been through committee. Their paperwork is in, and their questions are answered. All they need is a vote in this Chamber. There is absolutely no reason that we should have this backlog, especially when you look at the importance of these nominations: U.S. ambassadorships to the Vatican, the Netherlands, Chile, Greece, and the European Union; seven Federal judgeships; U.S. attorneys; Under Secretaries for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and the Navy; the Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission. That is just a brief, partial list. Our Democratic friends are trying to slow down the process on these nominees as much as they possibly can. They lost at the ballot box. They have lost in the Halls of Congress. They have tried the courts, and they have lost in the courts. So obstruction and stalling are what they have left as they try to spite the President. They might think that they are hurting just the Republicans or just the President, but, you know, what they are doing is hurting the people whom they are elected to represent. Every single day that goes by without these nominees being approved and getting to work on the job means those nominees are not able to work on behalf of the American people. Unfortunately, it is the people who suffer because Agencies are not fully staffed and can't make responses. You have individuals who need help with VA benefits or help with an Agency and an item of concern. At this point, they are understaffed. With the recent disclosures from DNI Gabbard, we are learning even more about how President Obama and the Democrats manufactured the Russia hoax to try to derail President Trump's first term. I bring this up because their obstruction is nothing new. When they run out of different roadways and different avenues and different opportunities, they have got one thing left. As I have said, they have lost at the ballot box, here in Congress, and they have lost in the courts. So now what they do is try to obstruct. We know from the documents that have been released concerning the Russia hoax that the Democrats were hard at work on this in 2016 and 2017 with President Trump's first term. For months, far-left activist judges undermined our Constitution by blocking lawful orders from the Trump administration in a brazen effort to decide nationwide policy. Their abuse of power only came to an end when the Supreme Court reined in those Federal district judges and said: No, you have no ability, and you have no right to issue nationwide injunctions. More recently, we have seen Democrats try their best to obstruct a core part of the ``America First'' agenda, and that is securing our southern border. Americans want our border to be secure, and they want criminal illegal aliens removed from their communities. Across the country, ICE and Border Patrol agents have been hard at work in carrying out this mandate and arresting criminals who have absolutely no right to be here in our country. Well, the Democrats are working to vilify and undermine our brave Federal law enforcement. We have seen congressional Democrats try to storm ICE facilities, including a House Member who faces Federal charges for assaulting a Federal ICE officer. They have smeared ICE agents who risk their lives to protect our country, comparing them to the secret police and Nazis. They push legislation that would prohibit officers from wearing masks, exposing them and their families to targeted harassment. This is all happening as ICE officers face an 830-percent surge in assaults. That is correct--an 830-percent increase in assaults. Just this month, far-left criminals ambushed officers at an ICE facility in Texas, shooting one officer in the neck. Three days later, a man sent three people to the hospital after firing dozens of rounds at a separate Border Patrol facility in Texas. These brave officers deserve our total and undivided support, and the American people deserve to have elected Representatives who protect their interests. That is what Republicans are working to do every single day. They are working to protect our Nation's citizens, and nothing--not even this obstruction that continues every single day by the Democrats--is going to stop us. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I object to the Senator's motion to strike the provision that protects taxpayer dollars from funding foreign abortion programs through the global health program. The American people agree with me, and I have got a poll right here: 73 percent of Americans oppose or strongly oppose using their tax dollars to support abortion services in other countries. While the substitute amendment protects critical lifesaving initiatives in the global health account, including maternal and child healthcare, there is absolutely zero, nada, naught--no reason--that taxpayers should be funding abortion programs abroad. We are $37 trillion in debt. The American people are demanding fiscal responsibility, and they do not want their hard-earned tax dollars funding a far-left agenda that violates their closely held beliefs, especially when it comes to protecting the dignity of human life. I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment. Vote on Amendment No. 2878

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I am so pleased that we are going to move forward today on the rescission package that has come over to us from the House. As I talk to Tennesseeans, one of the No. 1 things they talk about is the debt; what are we doing to stop the out-of-control spending and to get this national debt under control. After you look at what happened with COVID and with the Joe Biden years, we are sitting at $37 trillion in debt. So last November, the American people voted to make a change on how this country is running. One of the things they wanted to see changed was out-of-control, reckless spending. Now, if you look at this debt and where it stands right now and you say: How much am I, as an American citizen, responsible for, each and every citizen in this country would be holding $108,000 in debt. Think about that. All of our citizens, each and every one of us--whether you are the dad, the mom, the children--each and every citizen bears the burden of $108,000 in our Nation's debt. One of the things that came up this weekend when I was at home and somebody was asking about the rescission package and when we were going to get this done and start making some of the cuts, start making the DOGE cuts--this was a veteran, and they pointed out that they were aware that we are spending more money to pay the interest on our debt than we are spending to fund the U.S. military. Think about that. Think about what that message is that goes to other countries as they are looking at what we are spending on national defense compared to what we are spending on our debt. What does that say about the priorities that we have as a nation? So Tennesseeans know that the path we are on with this spending is not sustainable. We can't continue this. When you look at where we were with our debt when George Bush was President and we were at about $10.5 trillion when he left the Oval Office and Barack Obama and Joe Biden come in, and they doubled that number; you had President Trump's first term and COVID hit; and then the out-of-control spending by the Biden White House, that is how you end up at $37 trillion, and it should concern everyone. I guess we are learning the autopen was signing a lot of those sales receipts over at the White House. The point is, we have this debt. Now, the good thing is, that when the American people voted to get this spending under control last November, they sent President Donald Trump back to the White House, back to the Oval Office. And, yes, indeed, he has gotten busy looking at how we spend the taxpayers' money. He has spent time looking at the resources that we have and how we utilize those resources. And indeed, they have targeted $190 billion in this year's budget documents for waste, fraud, and abuse and for removing those programs to yield that savings to the American people. And I think the American people see this as a victory for them and for their pocketbook. Hard-working taxpayers want to keep more of their money. They don't want to be sending it to DC for programs that outlived their usefulness, programs they have never heard of, programs that they don't want. So we have the opportunity now to go in and claw back some of that money, draw a red line right through the middle of those programs in that budget document and make these savings permanent. Should we do that? Absolutely. We should be doing that. That is why you are seeing Republicans here in the Senate choose to move forward on the rescission package that will save $9 billion out of this year's budget. And you know, as you think about it, budgets are 10-year windows so you are not going to see those items next year or the next or the next. So you are going to compound those savings. Nine billion dollars each year in that 10-year budget--those savings mount up, and it is what the American people are wanting to see us do, to get rid of some of this reckless spending. Now there are some good examples of programs that we are going to draw that red line through those programs and eliminate them from this budget document. There is $1.1 billion for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. Now, this is an organization that funds NPR and PBS. And what we know--think about NPR. They have been pushing a leftwing ideology using the taxpayers' money for years. And my colleague from Louisiana Senator Kennedy talks some about Katherine Maher, who is NPR's CEO, and the things that she has had to say about President Trump. She has called him all sorts of names. Now, she is not somebody that is neutral, and she is not somebody that wants to give you a point and a counterpoint. She has an opinion, and she is using your tax dollars to spread her opinion far and wide. One of the things that they did ahead of the 2020 election, NPR refused to cover the revelations about Hunter Biden's laptop and his overseas business deals. And at that time, NPR's leadership had this to say: We don't want to waste the listeners' and readers' time on stories that are just pure distractions. Now, that was their opinion. They are entitled to that opinion, but they are not entitled to take the taxpayers hard-earned money and spend it to push their opinion. As we now know, they were wrong--they were wrong. Now, the rescissions package that is coming before us also cuts billions of dollars in foreign aid spending that really does nothing to promote American values and interests around the globe. Here are a few of these things. There is a $4 million item for ``sedentary migrants'' in Colombia. That is their term. That is the line item--$4 million for ``sedentary migrants'' in Colombia. There is $3 million for an Iraqi version of ``Sesame Street.'' There is $1 million for voter ID efforts in Haiti; $500,000 for electric buses in Rwanda; $6 million for ``Net Zero Cities''--that means no carbon emissions--``Net Zero Cities'' in Mexico; and $2.1 million for ``climate resilience'' in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. I could stand here for hours and go through some of the ridiculous, absurd items that are listed and the amounts of your money that you have earned and you have sent to Washington, DC, to be spent on God knows what. So it is important that we look at this, and, yes, we are going to make reductions in spending in the appropriations process, but do you know what? Doing these cuts helps to push this forward. You know, there is also some money in this rescission package that is going to be removed from some of these international organizations that work against our interests. Now, all during COVID, we heard about the World Health Organization and how the World Health Organization was covering up for China, and they were going to be certain that they covered for China, and we would not know the truth about what happened with COVID. So in this document, we are going to remove $135 million from the World Health Organization, and from the U.N. Human Rights Council, $8 million. The reason to do this? They support dictators, they support repressive regimes, and they are demonizing our ally Israel. These are wise decisions to be made about how we spend their money. And do you know what? It is common sense. As I have had Tennesseans say to me, it is about time that we start to make these reductions. We know that Tennesseans support these cuts. The American people support these cuts. This is about fiscal responsibility. It is about thinking about our kids and our grandkids and what kind of country they are going to inherit. What are we going to leave for them? You know, running up this kind of debt--I think it is so important to remember what Admiral Mullen, who was then Chief of Staff over at the Pentagon, said in July of 2010. He was asked: What keeps you up at night? What do you think is the biggest threat? His reply to that reporter--significant--he said: The greatest threat to our freedom is our Nation's debt. It is time for us to stop the out-of-control spending. It is time for us to begin to turn this around and reduce what the Federal Government spends. 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 is such a significant day. In just a few minutes, this Chamber will vote to confirm Ms. Whitney Hermandorfer to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She is the very first judicial nomination of President Trump's second term, and there is a good reason that the President selected Ms. Hermandorfer for the circuit court. There is no one more qualified to take on this important role as an appellate judge for our great Nation. Now, a little bit about her background. She is a Tennessee native. She attended Nashville's Harpeth Hall School, and she was an outstanding athlete and an outstanding student at the Harpeth Hall School, which, as an educational institution, has a really long history of producing and graduating remarkable women. And Ms. Hermandorfer is one of those. She graduated magna cum laude from Princeton, and she was first in her law school class at GWU. And it will not surprise my colleagues to learn that Ms. Hermandorfer's career has been a stellar career. After graduating from law school, she was an associate at Williams & Connolly, where her practice focused on appellate litigation and regulatory and administrative law. She also clerked for four Federal judges, including three Supreme Court Justices: Justice Alito, Justice Barrett, and then Judge Kavanaugh when he was on the DC Circuit. Since 2003, she has served as director of the strategic litigation unit in the Office of Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. In that role, she has not only been an aggressive attorney, she has led a team of talented attorneys in the AG's office, fighting to protect the constitutional rights of Tennesseans. There is no doubt that she will serve our Nation admirably on the Sixth Circuit. She will be a tireless advocate for our Constitution. She will show respect for the rule of law. She will show respect for the Constitution as it is written. She will not be a judge who will try to rewrite it. She is eminently qualified to serve, and I urge all my colleagues to vote to confirm her nomination. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, on Independence Day, it truly was an Independence Day for the citizens of this Nation. And our President, President Trump, made history. He signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill, a once-in-a-generation victory that fulfills his promise to make America great again. Across the board, this legislation will do so much for the citizens of this great Nation. And, of course, it will have such a positive impact on the lives of hard-working Tennesseans. It provides the largest tax cut in our Nation's history and that, no doubt, is going to supercharge our economy. Now, for the State of Tennessee, Tennessee households will save an average of $2,600 each year in taxes. The families in our State will see an average take-home pay boost of over $10,000 each year. These are numbers that we have received from the Council of Economic Advisers. By providing the largest ever investment in border security, this legislation empowers the Department of Homeland Security to complete President Trump's border wall and also to hire thousands of Border Patrol agents. By eliminating hundreds of billions of dollars in far-left Green New Deal spending, it puts our Nation on a more sustainable fiscal path. By bolstering our military, it ensures that we can, indeed, achieve peace through strength. By enacting commonsense permitting reforms, it helps to make American energy dominant again. Now, these are some of the top-line accomplishments. For months, Republicans worked to include as many wins as possible in the One Big Beautiful Bill. I have long fought to eliminate taxes on Social Security, which is why I am so pleased that we were able to secure a $6,000 enhanced deduction for each of our seniors. And that is an annual deduction--$6,000 per individual, per year. It also makes permanent the enhanced child tax credit while expanding access to childcare provided by employers. These measures, which I have argued for, will empower working parents to keep their jobs while having the time to rear their children. Year after year, I have introduced legislation that would require our Border Patrol to DNA test and fingerprint children who arrive at our Nation's borders without their parents. These measures would help end the modern-day slavery of human trafficking, and they were signed into law as part of the Big Beautiful Bill. To support our military and our research communities in Tennessee, I was pleased to secure increased funding for our Oak Ridge National Lab and the U.S. Coast Guard in Memphis. The legislation also levels the playing field for Tennessee's independent music creators by including my HITS Act, which provides them with additional tax relief for writing off their recording expenses. In short, Tennesseans and Americans have so much to celebrate with this legislation, but because it was delivered by President Trump and Republicans, our friends across the aisle have resorted to fearmongering and lying about it. Some have claimed that the Big Beautiful Bill will kick Tennessee families off Medicaid. That is false. In fact, Tennesseans will see zero cuts to their Medicaid benefits. Instead, the legislation actually strengthens Medicaid by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in a program that saw more than $1 trillion in improper payments over the last decade. Those numbers come from a government audit. Twenty-five percent of the payments that are made by Medicaid are improper payments. So by placing work requirements, which are common sense, on childless, able- bodied adults in Medicaid expansion States, it protects benefits for vulnerable Americans who rely on Medicaid, including pregnant women, seniors, low-income families, and people with disabilities. It also removes Federal benefits for more than 1 million illegal aliens who are receiving free healthcare paid for courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. Other Democrats have claimed that the One Big Beautiful Bill is a tax cut for billionaires, and that also is false. In fact, low-income workers will see the largest percentage reduction in their tax liability. In Tennessee, it will prevent the potential loss of 129,000 jobs, $11.5 billion in wages, and $22.5 billion in GDP. Some Democrats have even claimed that the One Big Beautiful Bill fails to provide tax relief to seniors on Social Security. As I mentioned earlier in my remarks, the legislation provides a $6,000 bonus deduction to millions of low- and middle-income seniors. Now, it is really unfortunate for the Democrats as they continue to try to demean the bill that is now the law of the land. The American people will see through their lies because they will see all of the benefits that are coming from this legislation. When they do, one thing will be clear: This legislation that is now the law of the land, the One Big Beautiful Bill, is a victory for hard-working American citizens. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. I call up my amendment No. 2401 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 2 minutes of debate equally divided.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, millions of vulnerable Americans-- including the disabled, elderly, and low-income children--depend on Medicaid for vital healthcare services, but waste, fraud, and abuse are pushing this program to the point of insolvency. According to one estimate, there were more than $1 trillion in improper payments over the last decade. To protect Medicaid for those who truly need it, this corruption must end, including by removing the 1.4 million illegal aliens who are currently exploiting the program. My amendment would close a loophole that allows illegal aliens to receive Medicaid coverage for up to 90 days by blocking Federal taxpayer dollars from funding benefits for prospective beneficiaries until their citizenship or lawful presence is verified. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this amendment, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, I move to waive, and I ask for the yeas and nays. Vote on Motion

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, yes, indeed, there were problems with the language in this amendment. And I regret that we weren't able to come to a compromise that would protect our Governors, our legislators, State legislators, our attorneys general, and, of course, House Members who have expressed concern over this language. I appreciate that we are going to withdraw this one, and I would like to be recognized on my amendment No. 2814 and ask that it be reported by number.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I do want to thank Senator Cruz for the work and the time that he put in trying to find a resolution to this issue. I do appreciate that. But what we know is this: This body has proven that they cannot legislate on emerging technology. It is frustrating. We have not passed online privacy. We have not passed the NO FAKES Act, the COPIED Act. There are all of these pieces of legislation dealing with AI that we haven't passed. But do you know who has passed it? It is our States. They are the ones that are protecting children in the virtual space. They are the ones that are out here protecting our entertainers' name, image, likeness--of broadcasters, podcasters, authors. And it is appropriate that we approach this issue with the seriousness that it deserves. We have not reached a resolution on this. So, therefore, I ask my colleagues to join me in striking section 40012. Vote yes. Let's pass this bill.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Let's get everybody off to the Fourth of July and a happy Independence Day.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. BLACKBURN

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, last week, our Nation lost a revolutionary business leader, a committed philanthropist, an incredible Tennessean; his name, Fred Smith. Like all great leaders, Fred had a vision for a better future, and he did everything possible to make it happen. That is why, in 1973, he founded FedEx with a simple yet bold idea: improve overnight delivery. Today, we take instant shipping for granted in many ways. It is the engine of our global economy, but back then, it was not considered to be a practical or workable idea. So it took Fred to make it happen. He pioneered innovations in transportation and logistics, and those pioneering innovations have defined the industry ever since. He truly led the way, and it was not easy. But with his commitment to excellence, he grew FedEx into a $53 billion company that employs half a million people, connects more than 220 countries and territories, and moves more than 17 million shipments each and every day. Even with his global accomplishments, Fred never lost sight of home. He based his company in his hometown of Memphis, turning the city into a center for global logistics. And through his philanthropic support for education, community programs, arts, healthcare, and more, he always found ways to give back to his community and to make Memphis a better place. In many ways, service truly defined his life. Before founding FedEx, Fred served for 4 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including two tours in Vietnam. He was decorated with a Silver Star, Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts. But for Fred, the greatest honor was serving alongside his troops as a company commander. In an interview last year, Fred recounted a time when the men in his company dug his foxhole for him so that he could get more rest. They were as tired or more tired, but they took their energy to take care of me. And it was one of the best things that ever happened to me, because it told me they cared for me, they appreciated my leadership. We should all be grateful for Fred Smith and that he chose a life of leadership and service. On behalf of all Tennesseans, I extend my heartfelt condolences to Fred's beloved wife Diane, his nine children, and his entire family. Mr. President, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent, the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 308, which is at the desk.

Mrs. BLACKBURN. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.