Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title United States Code, of the Rule Submitted By the Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury, Relating to ``Contributions in Exchange for State or Local Tax Credits''

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President,
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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, my mom would always say: You know, it is not a good sign if you are doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

My colleagues have sought several times, under the guise of election security, to circumvent going to the Rules Committee and trying to bring these bills to the floor.

It is important to note that the legislation they are bringing would do something that most people, especially people in Tennessee, tell me they do not want to see happen. What it would do is take away authority from your local election commission, your State election commission, and then vest that authority with the Federal Government.

Federalizing our elections, in my opinion, would actually make them less secure. Is there anybody who thinks the Federal Government is going to do a better job of administering an election in Williamson County, TN, where I live and where I have served on the election commission? The answer would be ``of course, not.'' They know that their friends and neighbors who served on those entities would do a better job.

I must also remind my colleagues that every single Member--Democrat, Republican, and Independent; every Member of the Senate--agrees that foreign meddling in our Nation's business is a problem. For decades, foreign nations have sought to meddle in our affairs in the physical space. Ought we to have expected them to try this in the virtual space? It ought not have come as a surprise to us.

We also know that Members are working on this issue, and that there has been progress that has been made by the Intel community, by State- level authorities, and by those who are making certain these election systems are secure. And guess what. They are doing this without a Federal power grab taking place.

I fear that my friends on the other side of the aisle still have not gotten over that they lost in 2016. Further, they have yet to accept that their colleagues in the House of Representatives have turned their best hopes for correcting this electoral disappointment into a farce.

We know that in 2016 the Russians seized upon partisan hysteria and used it to pit the American people against one another. They did not affect voting in election systems.

It is not too much to ask that my friends in the minority cease using the business of the Senate to continue these requests.

I do object to the motion.

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, as our colleagues can hear, we are on the floor talking about the USMCA and the need to get this agreement passed. It really is frustrating. I feel as if we have come to the floor, time and again, to encourage our friends in the House, and I guess we are all but begging them to take a pause from their political agenda and take one vote--just one vote that is going to make a tremendous amount of difference in the lives of businesses, of our auto manufacturers, our farmers, our chemical producers, and workers.

Our friends across the aisle like to say they are all for the workers. Well, if you are all for the workers, let me tell you something, there are 12 million--get that--12 million workers who are directly impacted by the benefits that would come from the USMCA, and this is across every single industrial sector.

As I have been about Tennessee, what I have heard from so many is a simple question: When are you going to pass this? How long is it going to take? We have heard that you have people in logistics, people who are in farming, and people who are in every single part of the economy who are saying: Why can't you get this done?

We all know there is support that we hear about--bipartisan support-- wide bipartisan support in the other Chamber and, indeed, wide bipartisan support here in the Senate, but for some reason, they just can't seem to find the time to schedule the bill and call the vote.

America is waiting on them to take this vote. There are 120,000 small and midsize American businesses that will be able to continue exporting their goods to customers in Canada and Mexico. Do you know what is significant? These businesses, small and midsize businesses, are located in every single one of our States.

The updated customs and trade rules are certainly going to make sure that even startups are able to participate in this cross-border economy. I have talked to so many new-start businesses that are coming through our universities and our entrepreneur centers, and they say: We want to make certain that we have access to markets around the globe.

Isn't this great? They are not just thinking locally or regionally. Some of these talented young Americans, what are they doing? They are thinking globally. They are planning ahead for decades of productivity. This is going to ease regulations for our dairy and beef and pork farmers who are in Tennessee.

Indeed, I was out in the past couple of weeks and talked with a farmer who is a cattle farmer. He came to one of our meetings, and I got around to questions and answers. The very first question was, When is this going to be done? When is it going to be done? Why is it taking so long? There was agreement between Mexico, Canada, and the United States months ago. Why can't this get a vote?

These are real problems for real people who are working real jobs and are very dedicated and are working diligently. The intellectual property provisions that are in this bill are so significant for our singers, our songwriters, and our musicians who call Nashville home, and they want to see this take place.

I have to tell you, I know that all of these issues I have discussed might not matter to those who are always interested in the 24-hour news cycle and winning the shiny object debate of the day, but I will tell you this: This matters to Tennesseans because Tennesseans exported $13.7 billion worth of transportation equipment, electronics, machinery, chemicals, fabricated metal, appliances, paper, plastics, rubber, and other goods to Canada and Mexico in 2017--a $13.7 billion export community to our neighbors to the north and south.

Tennessee businesses and workers have waited long enough, and they want to see the House take action and the vote be completed and the USMCA become a reality.

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