[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 197 (Monday, December 19, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7279-S7281]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Tennessee

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I have always believed that serving 
the people of Tennessee requires that I meet them right there in their 
communities, and I bring their ideas to Washington to put those 
perspectives to work. What we do on Capitol Hill gets a lot of 
attention, but back home is where the real work of making this country 
work really gets done.
  So this year, I have completed another of my tours of all 95 
counties; that is every county in our State. At every stop, I met with 
local officials, business owners, civic leaders, and citizens who 
really keep these communities afloat. That is a task that my Democratic 
colleagues have made almost impossible with their massive spending 
bills and their attacks on small businesses.
  In so many ways, their situation mirrors that of thousands of 
families struggling under recordbreaking inflation and broken supply 
chains. During teletownhall calls with Tennesseans in each of our 95 
counties, this was a constant refrain: They are finding more month at 
the end of their paycheck than paycheck at the end of their month. From 
the moment their feet hit the floor in the morning until they put their 
heads on the pillow at night, Tennesseans are counting their pennies 
and wondering when the Democrats are going to put their radical agenda 
aside and go back to putting the American people first.

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  In spite of the mess the Democrats have made with the national 
economy, Tennessee communities are growing because their local leaders 
follow the same rules with their county coffers as they do with their 
small business or household budgets: They spend within their means, 
they only buy what they need, and they keep their paperwork in order.
  Washington would do well to follow their example and embrace two key 
pieces of legislation I introduced this year. In response to the 40-
year high inflation the Democrats caused with their spending spree, I 
filed a resolution to raise the Senate voting threshold to two-thirds 
of all Senators for all spending bills if inflation is higher than 4 
percent. I also introduced the IRS User Fee Reduction Act. This bill 
would lower IRS user fees by 95 percent for those with a gross income 
of less than $5 million and allow these small businesses to use the 
services the IRS offers without getting hit with a massive bill.
  Times are hard enough for taxpayers without having to worry that 
their government is working against them. We saw plenty of evidence 
this year showing that the bureaucracy is actively preventing growth 
and development.
  The commencement of the massive Blue Oval City project in Haywood 
County, TN, was clogged in permitting redtape and agency misalignment. 
It took a remarkable effort to straighten that out, but we got the job 
done, and now they are on their way to creating thousands of jobs.
  Before this fall, the McKellar-Sipes airport in Jackson, TN, had been 
without TSA service for 13 years; but by working with the folks in 
Jackson and with the TSA, I was able to get that service set up for 
outgoing passengers. Now this area of west Tennessee has reliable 
commercial air transportation.
  But, remember, getting rid of redtape, getting it out of the way, 
this is something our local governments had to fight for, and it 
shouldn't be that way.
  Meanwhile, Tennessee farmers are in the fight of their lives over a 
combination of unsustainable fuel and fertilizer prices, and regulatory 
burdens so heavy they are destroying the concept of the family farm.
  They are the reason I called on the Biden administration to pursue 
energy independence, and they are the reason I will keep fighting to 
implement an ``Operation Warp Speed'' for American-produced energy.
  The government's job is not to micromanage. Our job is to give these 
businesses the tools they need to create the environment that they need 
for jobs growth to take place.
  That is what we did when we passed the DRIVE Safe Act to make it 
easier for the trucking industry to hire and train the workers they 
need to ease the strains on our supply chains.
  It is what Senator Menendez and I did when we introduced our Supply 
Chain Database Act, which became law this year. Soon, manufacturers 
will have access to the information they need to meet demand.
  This will make a huge difference in Hamblen County, TN. Morristown is 
home to more than 109 manufacturing companies. About 25 percent of the 
jobs available in Morristown are associated with these manufacturers, 
which is about double the national average.
  This focus on using innovation to help local economies flourish is 
making a difference elsewhere in Tennessee. The Oak Ridge National Lab 
is home to Frontier, which is the world's fastest supercomputer and the 
first ever exascale computer. It is also a magnet for talent. People 
and businesses are moving to East Tennessee to take advantage of the 
jobs and the other opportunities that our investment in Oak Ridge has 
created.
  Elsewhere in Oak Ridge, high school students are already benefiting 
from investment in research and education opportunities in advanced 
manufacturing. And the Smart Factory Institute in Cleveland, TN, is 
running a state-of-the-art vocational training facility that is 
revolutionizing workforce development and training. None of this would 
be happening if Washington had ignored the requests of local leaders.
  This year, I brought the same local focus to my work with the 
healthcare industry. Rural hospitals are struggling in every State; and 
in Tennessee, this is leaving thousands of people without access to 
basic healthcare.
  The telehealth expansion policies that became mainstream during the 
pandemic saved lives and brought healthcare to people who had never had 
easy access to a doctor. This year, I fought to make those expansions 
permanent, and I also persuaded CMS to keep the low-wage index hospital 
policy on the books. For at least another year, this will protect rural 
hospitals from losing out on the reimbursements they need to keep the 
doors open. And if rural patients need to fill a prescription after a 
doctor's visit, they will be able to do so.
  I secured a new rule that would prohibit PBMs from clawing back fees 
from community pharmacists. This will bring some much needed stability 
to those businesses and allow them to keep serving rural customers.
  And this kind of targeted support is paying off. In March, we broke 
ground on the stand-alone Fentress County emergency department. It took 
more than a few phone calls with CMS to sort out the waivers, but we 
got it done, and now we are doing the same work in Clay County.
  Tennessee is home, also, to the finest military community in the 
country. And this year, they had to wait until the 11th hour to see if 
the Senate would come through with a defense authorization bill.
  It had been dangling over their heads since July, and they are truly 
relieved to see that it finally passed. And I want to thank my 
colleagues on the Armed Services Committee for supporting the 
amendments I submitted on behalf of Tennessee servicemembers and their 
families.
  They are the most important element of our national defense, which is 
why I championed the repeal of the COVID vaccine mandate. I believe 
that no one brave enough to don that uniform should have to choose 
between taking a shot and losing their job.
  Tennessee's military community was ecstatic to hear that the U.S. 
Senate agrees with me on that statement. We have a duty to take care of 
our men and women in uniform during and after their service. That is 
why I fought to include support for workforce development and STEM 
training in the NDAA and why I will keep fighting for expanded access 
to community care so once those servicemembers return to civilian life, 
they will be able to see a doctor close to home when they need to see 
them.
  As much as Tennesseans focus on national security, they are equally 
concerned with safety in their own communities. Since mid-2019, 
America's largest cities have seen a significant rise in violent crime.
  In Tennessee, law enforcement officials are struggling due to a lack 
of funding and manpower. The Restoring Law and Order Act, which I 
introduced earlier this year with Senator Hagerty, will provide much 
needed resources to law enforcement so that they can get drugs off the 
streets and put criminals behind bars and keep them there.
  I truly hope that my Democratic colleagues will agree that this 
sounds much more effective than defunding these police departments. We 
need to get this bill passed and to the President's desk.
  And just this month, President Biden signed my Speak Out Act into 
law. This bans the use of predispute nondisclosure agreements in 
situations involving sexual misconduct. I want to thank Senator 
Gillibrand for working so hard on this legislation with me.

  And I also want to thank Senator Blumenthal for working with me to 
get Reese's Law across the finish line. Now, this will require new 
safety standards for toys and other products to prevent children from 
swallowing button batteries.
  Safety was a key theme of the work we did together on the Committee 
for Consumer Protection this year. As we explored ways that we could 
rein in Big Tech, we looked to regain control over your ``virtual 
you,'' your presence online, and also to introduce competition into the 
tech sector.
  This past February, Senator Blumenthal and I introduced the Kids 
Online Safety Act after a series of hearings that exposed Big Tech's 
disregard for the safety of its underage users.
  We also worked closely together on the Open App Market Act, which 
will

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stop tech giants from stifling competition in the App Store 
marketplace.
  Both of these bills have earned extensive bipartisan support, and I 
see no reason why we won't be able to get them across the finish line 
very soon.
  I want to conclude by thanking the thousands of local officials and 
leaders and the Tennesseans who dedicate so much of their time and 
their energy to making Tennessee a wonderful place to call home.
  I am grateful for their hard work and their willingness to work with 
me for a better Tennessee.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.