[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 14 (Thursday, January 23, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S320-S321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Trump Administration

  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

[[Page S321]]

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.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island is recognized.