[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 56 (Thursday, March 27, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1890-S1891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Unanimous Consent Request--S. Res. 146

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, there can be no doubt, Elon Musk is a 
patriot. He has revolutionized entire industries, whether it is PayPal, 
Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink. Across his businesses, there are so many 
things that he could be working on, but when President Trump asked him 
to join the administration, he answered that call. He said yes, and he 
committed himself to serving the American people and helping get this 
fiscal house in order.
  In many ways, he is tackling one of the biggest threats to our 
Nation's sovereignty, and that is our debt--$36 trillion in debt. He 
understands that our fiscal path is unsustainable. And today we are 
spending more money to service our debt than to fund our entire 
military.
  As this debt grows, it will become more and more difficult to fund 
basic government functions. That is why he is leading the Department of 
Government Efficiency, trying to rein in reckless spending and to get 
this country back on the track to fiscal health.
  Now, so far DOGE has had a lot of success. In just 2 months, they 
have identified $130 billion in potential savings by eliminating waste, 
fraud, and abuse across the Federal Government. They hope that that 
number--and they fully expect that number--to reach $2 trillion by the 
time we get to Independence Day next year, which, by the way, will be 
our 250th birthday.
  Every American should be applauding this effort. Our children and 
grandchildren's future depends on a free America.
  But because he has been helping President Trump, he has become a 
target for the radical left, which has launched a domestic terrorism 
campaign against his company Tesla. In Las Vegas, suspects set Tesla 
vehicles on fire with Molotov cocktails; in Oregon, a man shot up a 
Tesla dealership; and across the country, Tesla owners have had their 
cars destroyed with arson and vandalism.
  Now, some of these Democrat-aligned groups are organizing a ``Global 
Day of Action'' on Saturday to target Tesla. The reason for this 
campaign is simple.
  In November, the American people rejected the left's radical agenda. 
They said: Enough of this. Well, our friends across the aisle have lost 
the debate, but instead of making a better pitch to voters, they are 
trying to stop Republicans with violence and intimidation.
  The Democrats spent the last 4 years denouncing domestic terrorism 
and supporting EVs, yet now they are eerily silent. And when they do 
comment, they celebrate Tesla's setbacks. Tim Walz, Democrats' failed 
VP candidate, claimed he gets a daily boost from checking on Tesla's 
stock price, which has declined amid the terrorism campaign.
  Democrat ally and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel seemed to endorse the 
violence, sarcastically telling his audience:

       Don't ever vandalize Tesla vehicles.

  Last week, Democrat Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett said all she wants 
for her birthday is to ``see Elon taken down.'' This rhetoric is 
inexcusable. And as the world's greatest legislative body, we should 
jointly condemn political violence. That is why I am asking for 
unanimous consent to pass the resolution that condemns the horrific 
acts of violence, arson, and domestic terrorism committed against Tesla 
dealerships and facilities. There is no reason why Democrats should 
oppose this resolution.
  Mr. President, as if in legislative session, and notwithstanding rule 
XXII, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration 
of S. Res. 146, which is at the desk; further, I ask that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the 
motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with 
no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, reserving the right to object. Listen, 
come on, this resolution is not about violence or domestic terrorism. 
It just isn't.
  This is a resolution that says one thing and one thing only: Elon 
Musk is in charge. He matters more than anybody else. Musk is subject 
to a different set of rules than everybody else. The Trump 
administration serves him, not us. The Republican Party serves him, not 
us.
  Elon Musk, right now, is effectively stealing from the American 
people. He is combing through our government, awarding himself 
contracts and canceling contracts for his competitors. He is shutting 
down Agencies that stand in the way of his business, its growth.
  He is giving himself access to secret information about government 
enforcement actions against his competitors. He is also, at the same 
time, currently the largest funder of Republican politics in the 
Nation.
  He spent a quarter of a billion dollars backing President Trump's 
campaign. He recently told the President that he would contribute 
another $100 million to the President's political arm.
  And guess what? At that same time, the President stood on the White 
House lawn to give a taxpayer-funded commercial for Elon Musk's cars. 
That is corruption at a scale that we have not seen before in this 
country: the integration of the Trump White House and the Republican 
Party and the business interests of the richest man in the world. It is 
wrong.
  Now, this resolution claims to say something about domestic 
terrorism, but the only terrorism, the only violence it mentions is 
violence carried out against--you guessed it--Elon Musk.
  On an annual basis, there are 11,000 reported incidents of domestic 
terrorism--11,000. Only a handful of them impact Tesla dealerships, but 
they are the only acts of violence mentioned in this resolution. And 52 
percent of the reported attacks were based on racial or ethnic 
targeting by radicalized attackers, but they aren't mentioned in this 
resolution.
  Only Elon Musk is mentioned in this resolution because a different 
set of rules applies to him, because he is in charge and he deserves 
protection that no one else gets. He deserves a White House TV 
commercial for his cars. He deserves to give himself contracts and 
steal from his competitors. He deserves to have his own resolution.
  And people are asking why? Why does the richest man in the country 
get this special treatment? To most people, it feels pretty fishy. It 
definitely feels wrong.
  Now, I hate violence of any kind, whether it is perpetrated against 
right, left, or center. I have spent my life on this floor fighting 
violence, but I also hate inconsistency.
  So I am going to make my colleague a pretty reasonable offer here. At 
the same time that President Trump is saying that he is going to 
vigorously pursue people that attack Tesla dealerships, he is giving 
pardons to the people who beat the hell out of Capitol Police officers. 
So I don't think that we should consent to a resolution that says we 
care about violence but only when it is committed against the business 
interests of the richest man in the world.
  And I have a way to solve that problem. Senator Murray has a really 
simple resolution, a resolution that expresses our disapproval of the 
pardons

[[Page S1891]]

that were issued for the very specific set of individuals who on 
January 6 brutally attacked Capitol Police officers. Now, I understand 
that many of my Republican colleagues think the people who trespassed 
here shouldn't have been prosecuted. Let's set aside that disagreement.
  This resolution just says that the specific set of people who 
viciously attacked police officers--the ones that hit the police 
officers over the head with metal poles--that those people shouldn't 
have been given a ``Get Out of Jail Free'' card. And so why don't we 
just be consistent? Why don't we say that violence matters when it is 
committed against Elon Musk's dealerships, and it matters when it is 
committed against the people that protect us?
  And so my offer is to just pass both resolutions, right now, right 
now. We could just agree by unanimous consent to your resolution, and 
we could agree as a body that you shouldn't pardon the people who 
brutally beat the people who show up every day to protect us. They 
matter too. Elon Musk isn't the only person that matters. Capitol 
Police officers matter too.