Legislative Session
Mr. President, this week, I had the honor of voting for Todd Blanche as he was coming out of the Judiciary Committee and advancing that nomination. Having worked with him over the past year or so, I think that there is no one better suited…
Mr. President, this week, I had the honor of voting for Todd Blanche as he was coming out of the Judiciary Committee and advancing that nomination. Having worked with him over the past year or so, I think that there is no one better suited to serve President Trump's mission of enforcing the rule of law and one tier of justice for all Americans. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote to confirm him when this nomination comes to the floor.
When I talked to Tennesseans, they want to make certain their communities are safe. That is one of the main issues they talk about, that need for public safety.
Mr. Blanche has played a big role in making that happen as the Deputy Attorney General and then as the Acting Attorney General. Since last year, homicides nationwide are down 18 percent. They are the lowest they have been since 1900. That is 126 years. Residential burglaries are down 13 percent. Robberies are down 17 percent. Carjackings are down 47 percent.
When we talk about these stats in the aggregate, many times, people say: Well, how does that apply to my community? Let me show you what this has done in Memphis and what Mr. Blanche's leadership, working with Director Patel at the FBI, working with President Trump, and working with over 25 other Federal Agencies--what they have been able to accomplish in Memphis.
Just 2 years ago, when you looked at the 2024 crime stats, Memphis, TN, was considered the most dangerous city per capita, and it was averaging a murder a day. It was considered to be more dangerous than Colombia, Mexico City, or even Baghdad.
Since day one, President Trump has worked to help us in the goal of making certain that Memphis is the safest city in the United States, and Mr. Blanche has been a key part of those efforts.
Working together, we established the Memphis Safe Task Force, and that was done nearly 1 year ago. It was put in place in September of last year. Here is what they have been able to do. By working together--your local, State, and Federal law enforcement--they have made over 11,000 arrests, 1,200 known gang members have been apprehended, and 183 missing children have been located. As of this week, 2,000 illegal firearms have been seized, taken off the streets.
While continuing to keep our communities safe, we know that Attorney General Blanche will be focused on rooting out fraud both in elections and government programs.
The Justice Department has taken enforcement actions in blue States across the country to ensure that only American citizens are voting in American elections.
Here in the Senate, we have the SAVE America Act to support this effort, and we should waste no time in getting that to the President's desk. We now know that there are more than 270,000 noncitizens on voter rolls across the country. If blue States won't clean them up, Congress must force them to clean up their rolls.
In one of his first actions as Acting Attorney General, Mr. Blanche also created the National Fraud Enforcement Division. This is something the American people have wanted to see. They don't want their tax dollars going into the pockets of fraudsters. As of April, the Department was investigating 8,000 fraud cases representing more than $1 trillion in stolen taxpayer funds. That is an astounding number: $1 trillion in stolen, misspent taxpayer funds.
To the American people, this is just common sense. You investigate fraud. You lock up criminals. You secure our elections. But our colleagues on the other side of the aisle oppose all of this. Earlier this year, they forced a 75-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security to block funding to Federal law enforcement. They have called to ``abolish ICE'' and have slandered our officers as ``secret police,'' ``slave patrols,'' and ``Nazis.''
Instead of working with the administration to secure our elections, they are practically encouraging voter fraud. Fourteen States-- overwhelmingly blue--do not require any ID whatsoever to vote. Think about that. No ID. No ID to go to the polls and show that you are who you say you are and that you are allowed to cast that ballot. Many more refuse to work with DHS to compare their voter rolls with the SAVE database, which verifies a person's immigration status. Out of our States, 26 will use the DHS SAVE database to verify their voter rolls, and you have 24 that don't. So think about that and what that does to open the door for fraud.
At the same time, they have opened the floodgates to fraud in government programs. California and Governor Newsom--well, government spending in California has surged from $209 billion a year to $350 billion a year. The State auditor has repeatedly flagged that billions of these expenditures are questionable payments. Yet what do the State Democrats do? They do nothing. Now, think about this. This is a Democrat State--a very blue State--with a Governor who is very much from the leftwing of that party. He has a State auditor--a State auditor, part of his administration--who is flagging questionable payments, and they don't do anything about it.
The whole time, this is taxpayer money. It is not government money. It is taxpayer money that is being sent to the government so that the government will be a good steward of that money and use that money for programs that are going to benefit the constituents, the citizens, the taxpayers, but instead, they are letting it go out the door to fraudsters.
In Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz allowed billions of dollars to be stolen through Medicaid fraud. In New York, Chinese criminal groups have stolen millions more through fraudulent Medicaid billing.
See, we know this is happening. Auditors have found it. It has been pointed out to the State officials, and they won't do anything about it. So as a taxpayer, if you are in California, New York, or Minnesota, what does this tell you? It tells you that your elected officials do not give a rippin' flip about you and your hard-earned money that is going into these coffers. And then what are they doing? They are wasting it away.
Our national debt is approaching $40 trillion--unbelievable--and the American people expect their elected representatives to be good stewards of those dollars. Instead, the Democrats are embracing the failures of socialism.
In New York City, Zohran Mamdani unveiled a $127 billion budget while proposing billions in new taxes. New
Yorkers could see more than half of their income taken in taxes. Yet I have laid out for you how much of that money is being wasted--wasted-- going into fraud.
The mayor is pretty clear about his intentions. In a speech to the Young Democratic Socialists of America, he said that his ``end goal'' is ``seizing the means of production.'' Well, how about that? He wants to go use eminent domain. He wants to take away your ability to live out your American dream because if you have some form or means of production, he is going to take it away and say: Hey, wait a minute. That great idea you have, that great machine you built, this factory that you have, this restaurant that you own, it is no longer yours. It is the government's. It is the government's.
That is what you call communism. It is not yours. You don't own it. It is the government's. Then the government is going to turn around and tell you what you have to do in order to exercise that means of production while they are the ones that benefit and not you. You are the cog in the wheel. You owe it all to them.
Just this week, there was a Democrat candidate in Michigan, and he said:
How I define my politics is a redistribution of resources.
Well, how about that? Socialism. Communism. Taking from those who are producing and giving to those that refuse to produce, because we have all got to be the same. That is the way the Democrat socialists view it. You are working hard. Take it away from you and give it to people that are going to go sit on their rear and do nothing. That is what they believe. They are proud of it. They think that is a great thing. It is astounding.
It was so telling last year when the House voted on a resolution denouncing socialism in all its forms and opposing the implementation of socialist policies in the United States. Well, guess what. One would think that if you are a Member of the U.S. House and you have taken an oath to protect and defend our Constitution, you would say: You better believe I am against socialism. You better believe I am going to support our citizens.
But do you know what? There were 98 Democrats--98--that voted against that.
So it leaves you to ask: How in the world could this happen? That final vote tally, 98 jumped the shark and voted against that. You had 2 that voted present and 27 that took a walk and didn't vote at all. Are they so afraid of the far left wing of their party that they can't go exercise their responsibility to cast a vote? Astounding.
You know, that is what you have got to look at with today's Democrat Party. They are more comfortable standing up for socialist, communist ideas--touting those, caving to the leftwing, caving to the leftist media, going for likes and thumbs-up and reposts on social media, following the crowd and not being a leader.
It is just amazing to me. And as I have talked with Tennesseans--and I had a lady in Tennessee sum it up pretty well. She is somebody who has been a Democrat, but, no, she doesn't identify with them anymore. She considers them to be pro-crime, pro-fraud, and pro-socialism.
Now, how is that for a bumper sticker? That is what the Democrat Party is supporting right now. They are pro-crime, they are pro-fraud, and they are pro-socialism.
Now, the good thing is, Americans are rejecting this agenda. And what we have seen since 2020, on net, more than 3.6 million people have fled these big, deep-blue States of New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. You have to say: Why?
And as you talk with many of these people, many have come to Tennessee. They consider themselves to be refugees. They got out because they just don't want to live that way, being governed by people who are so far left that they are pro-crime, pro-fraud, pro-socialism, pro-communism, and being in areas that are cheering on those policies.
So I would encourage people to think through what is happening. I would encourage them to stand with the rule of law. And I would encourage all of my colleagues to vote aye for Todd Blanche as we vote to confirm him as the Nation's Attorney General. He understands the importance of the rule of law, enforcing the rule of law, and abiding by equal justice for all.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.