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Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I concur with the remarks of my colleague from Alabama. We are looking forward to confirming Pete Hegseth. We are looking forward to working every single day until we get this Cabinet completed. And Brooke Rollins over at Agriculture, we know that she is going to do a stellar job. And I do commend the Senator for his FARM Act. I have joined him in cosponsorship on that bill to protect our Nation's farmers and our farmland owners and producers.

This has been an exciting week. On Monday, we started with the inauguration of President Trump, and I will tell you for so many of us in Tennessee and, indeed, across the country, this has been a reason to absolutely rejoice. It is so interesting to me. So many people say they survived the Biden-Harris administration. Isn't that an interesting way to think about it? The inflation, the border, all the issues--it was like survival to get through those 4 years. Because of this, the American people have really given the Trump administration and those of us in Congress a mandate. I refer to it as a to-do list because at the Blackburn household, when there is something that has to be addressed, Chuck and I put it on a to-do list, meaning you don't stop until you get it done.

Well, the good thing is, one of the top things is the southern border and securing that, and indeed we know President Trump has taken Executive action to address this. He cut off that CBP One app and ended these migrant flights from other countries. He has ended catch-and- release. He restored the successful ``Remain in Mexico'' program. Importantly, he is designating the cartels as ``foreign terrorist organizations.''

Now, there are other things he is doing. We all know that ICE is conducting raids and doing deportations, and we know that Congress is going to have to work with the Trump administration to make certain that these Executive actions that he is taking--that we pass laws so that this is in Federal statute.

Now, one of those is the CLEAR Act, which is legislation I have had for years, and it ensures that State and local law enforcement officials can help the Federal Government with deporting these criminal illegal aliens. By the way, that legislation requires ICE to reimburse those local law enforcement agencies.

Of course, my CONTAINER Act, which, again, has been here for a while, would empower the border communities, those communities that are right there on that border--farmers, ranchers, communities--those crossing illegally are running through their property. It would allow them to place barriers on Federal land in order to protect their communities.

My Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act would require illegals convicted of sexual offenses or domestic violence to be deported. These are individuals who have absolutely no business being in this country.

Of course, we are going to have to do more than secure our border, and that means doing mass deportations, and here is the reason why: Under former President Biden, more than 10 million illegal aliens came into this country. Now, those are the ones we know about. On top of this, you have a classification that is called the ``got-aways.'' The ``got-aways'' are those that the Border Patrol could see on the camera, but they could not get to them to apprehend them.

We know that in this number, you have tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens. These are not people that are coming for a better way of life; these are people that have committed crimes in their home countries and are looking to come here.

Now, we know this open border has caused far too many tragedies to begin to count, and this is the reason that this body voted in a bipartisan manner for the Laken Riley Act, and that is going to be one of the very first bills that President Trump signs into law.

Because of the American public's overwhelming support for a secure border, for an end to illegal immigration, we are on our way to making this country and making our communities safe again.

Now, we all know that border security is a critical part of national security. Indeed, that southern border is where national security and our foreign affairs actually meet because that border is being overrun by people from about 150 different countries every single year.

Now, we also know that when it comes to national security and how the world views us, President Trump is showing that strong leadership that is needed, and he was able to secure the release of two Americans that were held by the Taliban within hours of taking office.

I think the American people are realizing that President Trump means business when it comes to our foreign policy and putting the interests of the American people in front of everything else.

Another issue we are focused on for the American people is getting the cost of living back under control. We all know that for the 4 years of the Biden administration, we saw record inflation, we saw reckless spending, and Tennesseans and indeed our citizens all across the country are still reeling from inflation.

You know, to me, it is just so interesting. When people talk about the rate of inflation, they know it is not 2.9 percent, which the Biden administration was touting as they left office. If you go back and look at where prices were in January of 2021, when Joe Biden took office and inflation was at 1.4 percent, and then you look at what has happened month by month, the true rate of inflation and price escalation--the true rate of inflation is north of 20 percent.

Indeed, I looked up what it is costing Tennessee families, and the numbers were astounding. If you look at a basket of goods and services that a Tennessee family would buy in January 2021--if they took that basket of goods and services and bought that same basket of goods and services today, their cost would be $1,060 more for the exact same basket of goods and services. Think about that--$1,060 per month. Now, maybe that is a house payment or the equivalent of a car payment. That is a lot of money.

This is why Americans are saying: We want life to be affordable again. It is why President Trump has already signed Executive orders to roll back regulations. It is why he is moving forward with DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, which will bring forward ideas of how we root out waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal Government. It is why he has frozen Federal hiring, done that hiring freeze, which is so essential to being able to cap what the Federal employment rolls are and get going on DOGEing all of these Agencies.

Well, to support these efforts, I filed a series of bills called the DOGE Acts. You know, these are not things that are new; these are bills that I have been pushing for a long time because it is important that we hold government accountable for how they are spending the taxpayers' money. And President Trump is pushing forward with these concepts.

Another area where we are going to see attention in order to get the cost of living down is extending President Trump's tax cuts to ensure that the American people are going to have more money in their pockets at the end of the month.

You know, there is a gentleman in Tennessee that I ran into one day earlier in the Biden administration, and I asked how he was doing. He said, well, he had been fussing a little bit. What he was fussing about was the high price at the pump and the high prices at the grocery store.

He said: You know, under President Trump, I had some money left at the end of the month, and under Joe Biden, I have too much month left at the end of my money.

People are tired of being broke. They are tired of it, so they are ready to move forward.

Another area where they are wanting to see some action and they are so pleased with the steps President Trump has taken is protecting young women in sports.

It is amazing to me how the left has abandoned our high school and college female athletes.

You know, we have over 3 million young women who participate in sports every single day. They are competing.

Mr. President, you have two beautiful daughters. They are competitive athletes.

These girls work hard, and they deserve to be able to compete and win, but it is as if the Biden-Harris administration waged a war on these incredible young female athletes by destroying fair play and forcing them to compete against biological men, and the results are tragic.

Young women who often dedicate their entire lives to becoming so proficient and skilled at a sport are missing out on scholarships, on career opportunities, and on hard-earned records that they deserve to hold.

This harm, abuse, and unfairness is coming to an end. On Monday, President Trump signed an Executive order that requires the Federal Government to recognize the biological reality of two sexes: male and female.

Last week, I reintroduced legislation that helps to stand up for women and girls in sports. Now, there are two resolutions. One is calling on the NCAA to protect women in sports. They need to rescind their rule that allows biological men to compete against women in NCAA sports. The other is to take October 10 of each and every year and designate this as ``American Girls in Sports Day'' and celebrate the accomplishments of our female athletes.

I also have the Fair Play for Girls Act. It will require the U.S. Attorney General to submit an analysis of violence against women in athletics, to submit that to Congress as well as policy recommendations to support these young women.

Well, as you can see, the to-do list is long, and I have barely scratched the surface. The American people are looking forward to Republicans delivering on the mandate that they have issued, and they certainly are looking forward to what will be the golden age of America.

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