[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 7, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4463-S4465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Tennessee

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I think we all enjoyed being in our 
States during August. And during the time I was there, I wrapped up 
what I do each year, which is to visit with each of our 95 counties. 
And this is truly a listening tour for me, being able to talk with our 
citizens, to talk with our elected leaders. And I would leave those 
meetings so encouraged and think, I could not be more impressed with 
the things that are being done in these communities.
  I would go to the next community and again would be just as 
impressed. Tennesseans are working hard. And this year has been a 
difficult year for everyone. But I want to focus on our local leaders 
today because they are the ones who are keeping these communities 
afloat. And they have done it in spite of everything that Washington, 
DC, and the Democrats are doing to them.
  I thought it was interesting that yesterday the majority leader 
opened the Senate by reciting a laundry list of the Democratic Party's 
accomplishments. Now, he put quite a spin on this.
  Back home in Tennessee, the people that I work with every single day 
are seeing this laundry list for what it is and how it affects them. 
There is hundreds of billions of dollars for the Green New Deal 
giveaways, and there are Big Government power grabs; there is crippling 
regulatory overreach; billions more have been spent on this student 
loan forgiveness program. Indeed, it could end up being a trillion 
dollars. And there are attacks on our fundamental constitutional 
rights.
  Yes, indeed, the way Tennesseans see it is that Joe Biden and the 
Democrats are putting together the pieces for what they call their 
transformation, their great socialist experiment. But in Tennessee, 
local leaders are really working around the clock to keep that vision 
from coming to be and to keep their communities from falling apart.
  And as I visited with these 95 counties, they gave to me one message 
that came through time and again, repeatedly. They don't like what they 
are seeing from this socialist agenda that is being pushed forward here 
in DC. Indeed, they would talk about their worries and their fears. 
They would talk about the impact of 9 percent inflation and $5-a-gallon 
gas.
  Now, that may be Chuck Schumer's version of success, which he really 
helpfully laid out yesterday as to what he thinks are successes and 
achievements, and that depends entirely upon his ability to spend 
somebody else's money on things that the American people have 
repeatedly said they do not want and they do not need. That message 
came through every one of our 95 counties.
  Now, in Tennessee, when we talk about success, you hear about 
something different. You hear about growth. You hear about investments 
that companies are making in our State. And we have earned this the 
hard way. And, indeed, the rest of the country is noticing. Tennessee 
is one of the most well-managed States. It has no State income tax. And 
you have got Ford Motor Company and SK Innovation that have seen the 
potential in our State, specifically in Haywood County. And they have 
invested billions of dollars.
  When I was in West Tennessee last month, I visited their Blue Oval 
City project site where, in just a few years, they will have a brandnew 
manufacturing hub that will create thousands of jobs and grow the local 
economy by millions and millions of dollars.
  The people at Lone Oaks Farms in Hardeman County are working to make

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certain that there is a great workforce. And they are developing STEM 
education programs. When I visited them, they were hard at work 
planning for the new 4-H Development Center, where students will learn 
how to be good stewards of Tennessee's natural resources.
  Across the State in Blount County, I was so happy to officially 
welcome Smith & Wesson to Tennessee. Now, see, they have moved their 
headquarters and their manufacturing facility down from their old home 
in Massachusetts. And they are certainly pleased with the Southern 
hospitality and the good business working environment that they are 
seeing in Tennessee.
  The largest Buc-ee's in the Nation is coming to Kodak, TN. Also, over 
on the east end of the State, the Techstars Accelerator Program is 
thriving in Knoxville. Red Stag set up a new logistics hub in 
Sweetwater. And we have a brandnew emergency clinic in the Upper 
Cumberland.
  This is the sort of laundry list that I would hope and wish that my 
Democratic colleagues would be proud of. From one end of the State to 
the other, Tennessee is drawing investment, no thanks to this White 
House, to President Biden, and the Democrats that run the House and the 
Senate. It is our local leaders that are doing the heavy lift, in spite 
of what Washington, DC, is throwing at them every day.
  But with that said, these local leaders deserve the respect and 
support from the Democratic Party. Even a bare minimum promise to not 
sabotage their hard work would be welcomed by them. But across all 95 
counties, the message I received, as I said, was pretty much the same: 
They are worried. They are very worried. They are fearful. But they are 
not letting themselves get caught up in what the Democrats are doing.
  Yes, they know the Democrats have a socialist-style agenda that they 
are pushing. That is the Democrats' vision for the future. In 
Tennessee, our counties are not going to let the Democrats destroy 
their hope for a better future.
  They know that since the day the Democrats took power, Joe Biden and 
the Democrats have done everything they could do to seize control and 
remake a vision for this country into their image, where the elites, 
the select few--the Democrats--control the power on all the levers, and 
they can dictate to the States how they are going to live, what they 
are going to accomplish, what they are going to do.
  Tennesseans are suffering the consequences of these policies in the 
form of record-breaking inflation, obscene fuel and energy costs, 
rising crime and drug use, and the overall sense that they have been 
abandoned by the Federal Government. That is how they see it.
  The overwhelming issue right now is inflation, inflation, inflation. 
It is the top concern in all 95 counties. It affects every county 
budget, and it affects small business.
  In Fayette County, I got to speak to Joey Hays of Dyer Foods and some 
of the truly resilient workers at one of his local grocery stores. We 
should all be grateful for people like the workers at Dyer Foods. They 
didn't have it easy during the pandemic, and it hasn't gotten any 
easier now than it was during the pandemic because more of their 
paychecks are being eaten up by inflation. Interesting, isn't it? 
Inflation is outpacing any wage growth.
  Many Tennessee counties that have managed to pull themselves out of 
distress status lost all traction when inflation skyrocketed. And now, 
guess what? They feel like they are back at square one because of 
decisions that had been made in Washington, DC. No fault of their own, 
mind you, decisions that are made here.
  Dayton City Manager Tommy Solomon told me he saw the price of pipe go 
up 200 percent. They had to stop some of their water projects because 
they couldn't afford to buy the supplies. That is right. The pipe was 
up 200 percent.
  Hamilton County Mayor Coppinger told me the worker shortage has made 
the inflation-driven problems even worse. They have raised salaries, 
and they still can't fill critical roles, especially in public health.
  In Rhea, Bledsoe, McMinn, Marion, and Grundy Counties, inflation and 
supply chain issues are wiping out farmers. Most small farms in these 
counties only planted about half their normal crop due to fuel and 
fertilizer prices. Their businesses--these small businesses--are drying 
up.
  Many other businesses, including large manufacturers, are being 
stonewalled by regulators from the EPA with no explanation as to why 
they are making the decisions that they make.
  Do you know what? Unfortunately for small business manufacturers, 
there is no end in sight to what these regulators in this 
administration will do.
  Meanwhile, while all of this is happening, the border is open by 
order of the White House. The drug mules are streaming in, and drug use 
is spiking. Every single sheriff--every one of them--that I spoke to in 
Southeast Tennessee, told me that fentanyl is their No. 1 issue, and I 
can tell you that it is an issue in other areas of the State as well.
  In Grundy County, Sheriff Shrum told me about what happened to one of 
his deputies who accidentally came into contact with a dangerous amount 
of fentanyl. He started the day trying to save a life, but by the end 
of that day, it was his colleagues from the sheriff's department who 
were saving his life and giving him a dose of Narcan.
  This is what our first responders and our local law enforcement are 
facing because Joe Biden and the Democrats and this DHS are refusing to 
secure the southern border. Two million plus and counting, about three 
quarters of a million known got-aways, but they will stand up there and 
tell you: Oh, the border is closed.
  Law enforcement in our State does not believe that, and I don't 
either. This is a shame.
  Crime is on the rise, but rather than supporting police officers, Joe 
Biden and the Democrats are obsessed with undermining, defunding, and 
disbanding police departments.
  In Tipton County, I was truly blessed to meet Deputy Gene Molder and 
his family. Deputy Molder was shot in the line of duty last March while 
he was trying to help a group of people escape a violent hostage 
situation. Thank God, he is all right now, but people are outraged at 
the leftist rhetoric that is clearly designed to increase violence 
against law enforcement.
  Tennesseans aren't asking for much. They don't want a Federal 
Government to make their decisions for them. They don't want a handout. 
They don't want centralized control. Honestly, they wish that they 
could just be left alone when it comes to Washington, DC, and what they 
are doling out. They want you, the Federal Government, to get out of 
the way so that they can fulfill their vision for the future--
prosperous, safe, secure.
  This President's socialist agenda won't help them do that because 
prosperity, freedom, independence, liberty, equal treatment under the 
law, equal justice for all is not what is at the top of their to-do 
list. It won't help Hamilton County hire workers or the Dayton Public 
Works Department buy pipe. It certainly won't help farmers in Rhea 
County grow the food you eat, and it won't help police officers keep 
their communities safe and secure.
  These local leaders in the great state of Tennessee know better than 
anyone here in Washington what they need us to do in order to help them 
get things done, and that message came through clear as a bell in 95 
counties. What did they tell me--that message I heard all across 95 
counties? Please secure the border and support law enforcement, repair 
and secure our supply chains, keep taxes low, and develop a business-
friendly attitude, and, above all else, stop the out-of-control Federal 
spending.
  I know this administration has made a name for itself telling people 
what they can and cannot do. But I will tell you that this is a power 
struggle that you are not going to win, at least where Tennesseans are 
concerned.
  The Democrats have an agenda, but in Tennessee I have met with some 
of the most wonderful people in this country. They have a vision for 
what they want the future to be. They want it to be focused on hope, on 
opportunity for all, and I want to thank every single Tennessee leader, 
law enforcement officer, business owner, and citizens who gave me their 
time, who talked with

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me and who offered their advice this past year. Their wisdom is what 
guides my decisions here in Washington. I only wish that my Democratic 
colleagues would take their words to heart as well.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.