Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, nothing is more important than our national security and this Nation's sovereignty, and that means we must control our borders. That is why, in November, the American people gave President Trump an overwhelming mandate to finally go secure these borders. It was a major issue. They were tired of 4 years of Biden- Harris failures.

Thankfully, in just his first week in office, the President has already taken steps to do just this. On Inauguration

Day, for example, President Trump restored many of the successful policies from his first administration that former President Biden had ended, including the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy, border wall construction, and enhanced vetting of all aliens trying to come into this country.

At the same time that President Trump did those reinstatements, he terminated Biden's disastrous open border measures, including ending catch-and-release, thank goodness. That CBP One app, where he was trying to make illegal entry legal, the Trump administration ended that. They ended migrant flights that brought more than 500,000 illegal aliens to cities all across the country--ended those flights. He also took new action to strengthen our border and end illegal immigration, including Executive orders to prohibit birth tourism.

This is a practice where you have companies or cartels and they sell you passage to the United States to come here for the express purpose of having a child on U.S. soil. It is a practice called ``birth tourism.'' President Trump ended that.

He designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and he chose to send troops to the border. And among these troops are Tennessee soldiers from Fort Campbell's 101st Airborne Division who are doing incredible work to help make this Nation safe.

Perhaps, most importantly, the President ordered mass deportations, something the American people have demanded after the Biden administration allowed more than 10 million illegal aliens to enter this country. And that does not count the ``got-aways''--the ``got- aways''--known and unknown ``got-aways'' that are here--the worst of the worst, most likely, people that were trying to evade detection and people that have seeped into our communities.

To no one's surprise, these strong Executive actions are already yielding positive results for our Nation, our Nation's sovereignty and security, and the safety and security of communities all across this country, because on Joe Biden's watch, what did we see happen? We saw every town become a border town and every State become a border State.

People went to the polls in November and voted saying: Enough is enough. We have to restore law and order.

And in the last week--I want you to think about these numbers. I encourage all of our colleagues: Look at these numbers from the last week.

In this last week, ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arrested more than 2,600 illegal aliens. Now, these are criminal illegal aliens. They are including gang members, convicted sex offenders, and murder suspects--2,600 in 1 week. This tells you they knew where these people were. It is just that their hands were tied by the Biden administration. They could not go get these people that were making our communities less safe.

Just on Thursday alone, ICE arrested two people in Nashville, TN. What we found out is they were both members of the gang Tren de Aragua, right in Nashville. Both of these illegal aliens have a criminal history of promoting prostitution and entered the country last year after being processed by the Biden administration.

While migrant encounters at the border have plummeted over the past week, the Trump administration has also conducted deportation flights to send illegal aliens back to their home countries.

Make no mistake, if any country refuses to take in their own citizens, President Trump has made clear that there will be consequences brought to bear. In just the last 24 hours, the Government of Colombia learned that lesson, completely reversing its blockade of deportation flights after the President said he would impose tariffs and sanctions.

For so many in Tennessee and across the country, this is welcome news. This is what they wanted to see. They were tired of talk. They were tired of appeasement. What they wanted was action to get these criminals out of their communities, to get them behind bars.

We can only have national security and know that this country is safe if we have border security. And for too long, Tennesseans and, I think, all Americans have suffered the consequences of this open border--the migrant crime, the fentanyl overdoses, human trafficking, strained public resources, and the list goes on and on.

While President Trump will continue to lead the way in securing our border, Congress should play a crucial role in supporting his efforts and make certain that no President can surrender our national sovereignty ever again. That is why, in the Senate, I have introduced a slate of bills that promote securing our border.

Here is an example, the CONTAINER Act. This is something that I have had for a while. This would empower communities along our border to construct barriers that would prohibit illegal aliens from crossing into their communities and stop the flow of traffickers and drugs and criminals that have been coming through these communities.

When you are on the southern border, you visit ranchers and farmers and communities where they say: If we could just put a barrier up.

The CONTAINER Act would give them that opportunity to put up a barrier and protect their areas.

The CLEAR Act, meanwhile, would reaffirm the authority of State and local governments to enforce Federal immigration laws by apprehending, detaining, and transferring illegal aliens to Federal custody. It also says that the Federal Government has to reimburse that local law enforcement agency for the money that they have spent.

And while President Trump reinstated by Executive order ``Remain in Mexico,'' which requires asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while awaiting their court date, I also introduced legislation that would make this crucial policy the law of the land, requiring future administrations to support it.

You see, that is the importance of Congress taking action on what the President has done by Executive order. It is putting it in law, putting it in Federal statute so that future administrations have to abide by the law and implement it.

In addition, I have recently introduced the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, which allows the deportation of illegal aliens convicted of sexual offenses or domestic abuse. What we have learned is that under the Biden administration, hundreds of criminal illegal aliens convicted of sexual offenses entered our country. This legislation would ensure that every single one of them can be removed from this country.

To end the surge of human trafficking at the border and bring this modern-day slavery to an end, I also have brought forward a comprehensive package of bills.

The PRINTS Act would give Border Patrol the authority to fingerprint noncitizens under the age of 14 so that we can combat this horrific practice of child recycling. This is something that the cartels do. They take a child, they place them with an adult, they bring them to the border, and then, once they are across, they turn the child loose. Many of these children have a name, address, and phone number written in indelible ink on their backs, on their arms. This needs to stop. So the PRINTS Act would give the Border Patrol the authority to use these fingerprints.

And we have the End Child Trafficking Now Act, which would require a DNA test to determine the relationship between illegal aliens coming across the border with children with them.

Both bills are crucial for ending child trafficking. And we know that between 30 and 40 percent of the children that presented at that border when we were doing DNA testing were found to be children being trafficked. Think about that.

The Biden administration ended the practice of DNA testing. When I inquired as to why they did it, the answer I got was because of the amount of time it took to do the DNA test. Well, it took 45 minutes--45 minutes. But to the Biden administration, pushing people across the border and into the country was more important.

And now we know that HHS has lost track of over 300,000 children. It is imperative that we find these children. It is imperative that we end this cross-border human trafficking of children.

I also have the SAVE Girls Act. It is bipartisan. Senator Klobuchar has joined me on that bill. It would provide States and local governments and nonprofits with the vital resources they need in order to help combat this trafficking of girls and women.

I also have a bipartisan bill, the National Human Trafficking Database Act. It would establish a national human trafficking database at the Department of Justice and incentivize State law enforcement agencies to report crucial data.

You know, as we fight human trafficking, one of the things that we have learned from local and State law enforcement--by the way, this is a job that landed in their lap, to do this because there was not Federal enforcement. What we learned is there was no single repository for information about the traffickers, individuals that were being apprehended. So this would establish that database.

So we have had a busy week. The President has had a busy week, and we are grateful to President Trump and Vice President Vance for how quickly they have moved on these issues of national security and the response they have given to the American people that, yes, they have been heard, and they are taking action that the American people have wanted to see.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I have four requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

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

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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I have to say, I think the remarks I planned today are so pertinent to what is taking place in our world as we are hearing about the Trump effect actually bringing forward a deal with Israel, Hamas, and the hostages because my remarks today are centered on UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

Now, this has been one of the biggest obstacles to peace in the Middle East. To the world, UNRWA presents itself as an aid group for Palestinians. But, in reality, this agency--this U.N. agency that has been the recipient of 7.1 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars--is nothing more than a terror group that works to undermine Israel's security and safety. We have known this for years, but in the aftermath of the Hamas barbaric October 7 attack on the Jewish State, we have learned much more about UNRWA's terror ties.

Early last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that 10 percent of UNRWA's staff have ties to Islamist militant groups. Among them, 6 took part in the October 7 assault that left 1,200 Israelis dead and hundreds more in captivity.

After reports emerged that an UNRWA teacher held an Israeli hostage in his attic, I pressed the agency to investigate that employee. Instead of taking action, the group dismissed this request and this claim as ``unsubstantiated'' and called on the Israeli journalist who reported the news to ``immediately delete the post.''

We also know that UNRWA has indoctrinated Palestinian children with schools that glorify terrorism and promote violent hatred of Jews, allowed Hamas to store weapons in their buildings, and provided support and aid to the terror group.

Now, a new report from UN Watch, the top watchdog for holding the U.N. accountable, shows that UNRWA works with Hamas, as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, at the highest level of the agency. To quote the report, ``this secret relationship allows the terrorist organizations to significantly influence the policies and practices of a UN agency with 30,000 employees, and $1.5 billion annual budget that is funded primarily by Western states.

The evidence is overwhelming. In 2017, UNRWA's then-Commissioner General met with leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to strengthen--in his words--``a spirit of partnership.'' To protect the agency's credibility, however, the Commissioner General urged the terror leaders to ensure that ``discussions not be made public.''

Of course, open collaboration with U.S.-designated terror groups could jeopardize the millions it receives from Western countries every year. So they tried to cover it up so that they could keep getting these millions and billions of dollars--as I said, U.S. taxpayers, 7.1 billion that has gone into this group.

In the years since, UNRWA leaders have repeatedly pledged support for Palestinian terrorists. That same year, the agency's Lebanon director told terror leaders that UNRWA hoped to have a strong partnership with them. A year later, their program director in Lebanon met with a Hamas official to discuss ``ongoing cooperation and coordination.''

Also in 2018, a former UNRWA official appeared at a rally alongside Hamas terror leaders who urged support for UNRWA ``until we return to Palestine''--meaning the end of Israel as a Jewish State. The UNRWA official, of course, thanked the terrorist ``for their understanding.''

In 2021, the former Deputy Commissioner General of UNRWA met with Sinwar--now, that is the Hamas leader who later planned the October 7 attack--after one of her employees admitted on TV that Israel's strikes on Hamas are ``very precise.''

In response, the Deputy Commissioner General removed the employee from his position and thanked Sinwar for ``his positivity and desire to continue cooperation in facilitating the agency's work in the Gaza Strip.''

You see there is a pattern here of participation between UNRWA and between Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. This is just a sample of the

high-level meetings between leaders of UNRWA and these groups. The list could go on and on and on. What this report makes very clear is that UNRWA's support for terror groups is not something that happens at the agency's fringes. Instead, supporting and enabling terrorism against Israel is UNRWA's main purpose.

I want to say that again: UNRWA's support for these terrorist groups is not just at the fringes. It is with their leadership. They are supporting and enabling terrorism against Israel, and we need to realize this.

This is why President Trump canceled U.S. funding to the agency during his first administration, and it is why President Biden's decision in 2021 to restore that funding--over $730 million that year-- was a huge mistake.

After the October 7 attack, I led the charge in introducing legislation to defund UNRWA, and, in March of last year, President Biden finally signed into law a 1-year ban on that funding.

With all we know about UNRWA, though, we need to make this ban permanent, which is why I am working on legislation that will do just that once we get a new President and once we begin to say no to these organizations who take taxpayer dollars and turn around and use it against the American people, use it for pro-terror, pro-violence organizations and groups.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, 100 years ago this November, the world of American music changed forever: Nashville's Grand Ole Opry hit the airwaves for the very first time. Ever since, ``Country's Most Famous Stage'' has hosted the music tradition's biggest stars, from Hank Williams and Dolly Parton to Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash. Along the way, the Opry has become the longest running radio show in U.S. history, reaching millions of listeners in America and across the world with its weekly broadcasts.

Today, the Grand Ole Opry is Nashville's most cherished institution, preserving country music's history while minting new stars who join the remarkable group of musicians who have stepped into its famous wooden circle. Earlier this month, the Opry kicked off its 100th anniversary celebrations with performances that brought together Country Music Hall of Fame members like Charlie McCoy, Don Schlitz, Connie Smith, and Bill Anderson--the Opry's longest serving cast member after joining in 1961.

On behalf of all Tennesseans, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the Grand Ole Opry as it celebrates 100 years of incredible music, legendary performances, and musical heritage. Here is to 100 more.

Mr. President, last week I joined one-third of this Chamber in taking the oath of office so that we could start a new term of Congress and celebrate what it means to be able to say: This is our new start. We have got 2 years. Let's see what we are going to do with this Congress.

While taking that oath to support and to defend the Constitution and to defend our freedoms, I really felt and thought about what an honor it is to represent the people of the great State of Tennessee.

Over the last 6 years, I have fought vigorously to bring the voice of the people of Tennessee to this Chamber to make certain that their thoughts and their wishes and their values were brought forward and that we made the effort to defend faith, family, freedom, hope, and opportunity, not only for Tennesseans but for all Americans.

I will tell you, we were able to get so much done over the last 6 years. Much of it was done by working with colleagues across the aisle, by taking these great ideas from Tennessee, bringing them here, and saying: How do we distill this so that it becomes a policy that is going to positively impact and make better the lives of Tennesseans and all Americans?

In Tennessee, we have a lot of veterans, and there are two provisions that I was able to shepherd through and get signed into law. One is the VA Veteran Caregivers Act. And, of course, as our veterans have returned from wars, as caregivers from their families have stepped up to assist them, there were some--basically, some gaps that needed to be filled in. We did that.

We also passed legislation, Strengthening VA Cybersecurity Act. I was so pleased that that got signed into law to make certain that the identities and the healthcare information, the benefit information of our veterans, is going to be protected. In Tennessee, we have a big military presence. Fort Campbell primarily sits in Tennessee. We have the Naval station over in Millington, right outside of Memphis. We have Oak Ridge National Lab. The Air Force has the Arnold Engineering Development in Tullahoma.

And I was successful in pushing forward to end President Biden's COVID mandate--COVID vaccine mandate--on our military communities.

In addition to achieving that, every year, Mr. President, you and I have worked tirelessly together to make certain that our military assets--our National Guard, our Active Duty--were well covered in the

Madam President, I thank my colleague for her wonderful work on this issue.

Since 2020, we have worked to recognize that 100-year celebration of women achieving the right to vote and to tell these stories. As she said, her State was the first. Tennessee was the 36th State.

Our colleagues who have read about the War of the Roses and that summer of 1920, when suffragists descended on the capital in Nashville. Those who were for suffrage wore a yellow rose. Those who were antis-- as they were called--wore a red rose.

Carrie Chapman Catt, Anne Dallas Dudley, and Ida B. Wells led this fight. And what a fight it was. And, finally, they pushed forward with the 36th State granting ratification.

The histories in our States are rich on this issue, and we want all Americans to appreciate the work that went into women gaining that right to vote.

My colleague mentioned that there are 40 monuments, memorials, statues, and historic sites on the Mall. Not a single one of these 40 are specific to women; while 22 are dedicated to individual men, 10 to military history and veterans, 3 to foreign relations, 2 to private organizations, 1 to U.S. postal history, 1 to the history of the U.S. canals, and 1 to the history of horses. All of these have found their way onto the mall.

What we have done is to work with the Park Service, find a place that would be perfect: The Mall's Constitution Gardens. It is a 50-acre space dedicated during our Nation's bicentennial as a living memorial to the founding of the Republic. In this garden, it is appropriate that we recognize the work of women to help preserve the freedoms and the liberties that we have here in this Nation.

I thank my colleagues for passing this legislation. The House passed it unanimously last year, so it is appropriate as we finish and complete this 118th Congress, that we set aside time and that we pass this legislation to recognize the work--the powerful work--of women who gave so much of their life to support freedom, liberty, and voting rights.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, in recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk and a lot of optimism about President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and, of course, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's plan to eliminate government waste, fraud, and abuse, and there is a reason for this. I think we have pretty much hit a tipping point with the American people. They have looked at this big, bloated government. They have looked at this $36 trillion in debt--which is growing every day--and they truly see this as a threat to our Nation's stability, to our children's futures, and for us to be able to protect ourselves from our enemies.

And what they have noticed is that, as this debt grows, then more of their taxpayer dollars are being spent to pay the interest on the debt. That is money that is not going to national security. It is money that is not going to disaster relief. It is going to the debt.

And here is a great example of that. In just the first half of fiscal year 2024, our country spent--get this--$440 billion to service the debt. Now, interestingly enough, that was more than what we spent on our military in the same time.

So the American people are smart. They are seeing this and they are saying it is a problem and this has got to be brought under control.

Now, I think it is important for us to look at how we have gotten to where we were, and I went back and looked at where we were when George W. Bush left office and President Obama came into office. As George W. Bush left, our debt was at $10.6 trillion, and we all remember that. We remember 2008, 2009. That is not that long ago. But think about that number, $10.6 trillion. Now, I will remind everybody that was after the Gulf war; that was after that period of time, 9/11, when our economy shut down for a full quarter. And the total debt at that point was $10.6 trillion.

Now, when Obama left office, after 8 years in office, that debt had nearly doubled. It was just shy of $20 trillion. Think about that.

Now, President Trump came into office. 4 years later, he leaves, and our debt was north of $27 trillion with all the COVID spending that was done in 2020.

And instead of restoring spending to stable levels and going back to those pre-COVID levels, what did President Biden do?

Since his inauguration, he has piled more than $8 trillion on our debt. And the deficit for this year alone--fiscal 2024 alone--is at $1.8 trillion.

And these are the numbers. Anyone who wants to look at this can go to any number of government websites. You can pull up these numbers through OMB, through Treasury. But what the American people have seen is a recklessness and a disregard for them, the taxpayer.

Since this Nation's founding, people have believed we are a government of, by, and for the people. And, quite frankly, I think that this year the people decided to be ``We the people.''

And what they have seen is, over the last 4 years, during the Biden- Harris administration, there has been a government that wasn't really accountable to anybody. If they wanted to do something, they just did it. And they have watched this wasteful, out-of-control spending. They have seen a growing bureaucracy with people who don't even show up to work. Less than 10 percent of the Federal workforce is showing up 5 days a week in person. This is why the people have said: We the people are going to take charge of this.

Speaking of that workforce, the Federal Government today is employing 2.2 million bureaucrats. Just to put context on this, that is a number larger than the population of 15 of our States. And you have people, less than 10 percent, showing up every day in person to do their job. And when you look at the amount of office space that is being used, only 12 percent of our Federal office space is occupied.

Now, to make matters worse, for most Federal employees, pay increases and promotions are completely disconnected from their job performance. They are paid the longer they stay on the job. They get automatic pay increases that are tied to the amount of time they spend employed by the Federal Government, not how well they are doing their jobs.

I think that, as you look at this, this is why the American people have said: We support the Department of Government Efficiency. And it is why they are excited about this and why Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy are going to have the American people standing with them to make these cuts.

Now, last week, I introduced the DOGE Acts, and it is a package of bills that will hold the government accountable for how they manage and use taxpayer dollars. Among the measures, the DOGE Acts will address out-of-control spending with 1, 2, and 5 percent across-the-board cuts to discretionary spending, excluding Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs.

In addition to the spending cuts, this legislation will freeze salaries for Federal bureaucrats and order Agency heads to shrink their workforce by 5 percent over 3 years.

To drain the swamp, the legislation will establish a commission to study how the incoming administration can relocate Agencies from Washington, DC, to States across the country.

Who can seriously claim that it is good for beltway bureaucrats to be siloed away from most of the American people? If anything, they should be closer to the people who are suffering from their burdensome rules and regulations.

To ensure that Federal bureaucrats are actually working while living on the taxpayer dime, the DOGE Acts would require government employees to return to their office by ending pandemic-era telework policies.

And to reward merit, they would implement a pilot program for Agencies to pay employees based on productivity, not seniority.

In just a few short weeks, Republicans here in Congress and the Trump administration will work together to put our country back on track, including rightsizing the Federal Government, and we look forward to pushing forward our DOGE Acts and helping make that happen.

Madam President, for almost a century, the U.S. Armed Forces' Distinguished Flying Cross has honored airmen who have demonstrated heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight. Earlier this month, 11 members of the Tennessee Air National Guard's 134th Air Refueling Wing joined this distinguished group of honorees for their courageous actions in defense of Israel.

After Iran fired more than 300 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles toward the Jewish state on April 13, 2024, the aircrews of the 134th jumped into action to help defend our cherished ally, supplying tens of thousands of pounds of fuel for U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles that worked to intercept the threats. To accomplish this feat, the aircrews flew into dangerous airspace without onboard defensive systems or advanced situational awareness tools, facing great risk while ensuring the fighters could remain focused on their mission. With the 134th's support, U.S. Forces joined our coalition partners and Israeli defenses in eliminating nearly 99 percent of inbound drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles, saving countless lives.

On behalf of all Tennesseans, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the 134th Air Refueling Wing on this well-deserved honor. Through their skill, determination, and valor, these 11 Airmen served our Nation admirably while helping defend our ally in a moment of great danger.

Mr. President, last week, I spoke in this Chamber about President Trump's excellent picks to lead our Nation's Federal law enforcement Agencies. Those were Pam Bondi as Attorney General and Kash Patel at the FBI. And, today, I would like to take a moment to discuss President Trump's picks to oversee our Nation's national security.

Across the board, these selections prove that President Trump is prepared to restore American strength after 4 years of the Biden-Harris failures in our Nation's national security. Look no further than the President's outstanding choice for Defense Secretary. That is Tennessean Pete Hegseth. As a Bronze Star recipient who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr. Hegseth knows exactly what our servicemembers need to defend our freedoms. He knows what the men and women in uniform need to carry out their mission.

Under President Biden, this administration has demoralized our soldiers,

sailors, marines, and airmen--from anti-American DEI programs to weakness and appeasement abroad. Under Mr. Hegseth, this assault on our military will come to an end as he works to restore the Defense Department to its core mission: securing peace through strength.

Joining him in this fight are three talented congressional colleagues: our colleague here in the Senate, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, as Secretary of State; Congressman Mike Waltz as the National Security Advisor; and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. All three are proven leaders who have stood up to our adversaries, strengthened relationships with our allies, and defended U.S. interests.

To restore American strength, we also need intelligence Agencies that are focused on protecting the American people, not targeting them. Thankfully, President Trump's pick for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has demonstrated the leadership needed to restore accountability at the DNI. As a lieutenant colonel for over 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserves, she has seen firsthand the critical role of intelligence in national security. She handled highly classified information, led troops on deployments, and understands the gravity of safeguarding American lives.

But what sets Ms. Gabbard apart is her willingness to challenge the status quo. For years, she has been an outspoken critic of abuses within the intel community, especially under the Biden-Harris administration. Under her leadership, though, the intel community will return to its rightful purpose: defending the American people and upholding our constitutional freedoms.

America shines as a beacon of freedom in our dangerous world because of the powerful sacrifices our Active-Duty servicemembers and veterans have made to preserve freedom. Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting with our next VA Secretary, former Congressman and Air Force veteran Doug Collins, who will ensure that no veteran is left behind and that all veterans receive the benefits and timely access to quality care that they deserve.

With all of President Trump's picks, he is making one thing clear, and it is this: Starting in January, his administration is committed to supporting our troops, restoring military readiness, and making America stronger than ever before.

Kids Online Safety Act

Mr. President, I am so pleased to spend a few minutes on the floor and just really so honored that my colleague Senator Blumenthal is joining me on the floor, because we are at crunch time for the Kids Online Safety Act.

As the Presiding Officer knows, this is a piece of legislation that Senator Blumenthal and I have worked on for about 4 years. And we are so honored that 72 Members of this Chamber stand as cosponsors of this legislation, and it passed out of this Chamber in July on a vote that was 91 to 3. So it is time to hold that final vote on this legislation in the House.

Now, there is a lot of misinformation that is out there about the Kids Online Safety Act. And if we can get this passed in the remaining few days, what you will have is, for the first time since 1998, there will be legislation passed to protect our children in the virtual space and provide safeguards for minors.

You know, when you look at product design and product safety, nearly every product--every product--that is sold in this country has some kind of safety design attached; that is, every product except what you are seeing in the virtual space. And, of course, while we have laws in the physical space that protect children from the harms of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms and protect them from cyber bullying and protect them from exposure to sexual exploitation or pornography, in the virtual space, we do not have those laws.

KOSA has been in the House, as I said, since July, and it has stalled over there because there are blatant falsehoods that are being peddled by the Big Tech lobbyists about this legislation, including one that they have made up--a falsehood. They keep saying: Well, KOSA would lead to censorship. Nothing is further from the truth because this is not a content bill; it is a product design bill.

So to put this false narrative to rest, Senator Blumenthal and I worked with Elon Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino to update the bill's text to make clear that KOSA will safeguard free speech while protecting children online.

To be clear, no one is probably more qualified to speak on the issue of free speech than Elon Musk.

Among the changes is language that reaffirms that KOSA does not permit the government to penalize platforms based on users' viewpoints or alter existing protections for third-party content under section 230. These are protections that have been put in place.

With the new changes, both Elon Musk and Donald Trump, Jr., are now publicly calling on the House to immediately pass the bill, which is also supported by tech companies like Microsoft and Pinterest--and for good reason.

Every day--every day--that goes by without passing the Kids Online Safety Act, more children are being put at risk, more children are losing their lives. And for years, my colleagues and I on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Commerce Committee have heard heartbreaking stories from parents across the country who have lost their children to social media harms. I could read through these stories today. They are heartbreaking. We know from working with these parents, from listening to these parents, and also listening to young people, listening to pediatricians and principals--we know what is happening in the virtual space. We know that Big Tech looks at these children as the product.

We know that they are so invested in keeping kids endlessly scrolling. Meta has even assigned a dollar value to what a child in the virtual space is worth to them as they look at profits. That is $270 of profit per kid. That is what they consider.

Children, grandchildren are important to each and every one of us, and it is disgusting that you have corporate executives who have done so much work and so much surveying and so much review of how their platform is used, they can tell you what that user is worth.

These companies should be better than that. They should agree that in the physical space, we have those laws to protect children, to protect them from exposure. They do not exist in the virtual space.

And for the naysayers and the falsehood spreaders that are out there saying this would compromise free speech, as I said, we have addressed this; we have amended language; we have brought it forth; and you now have X CEO Linda Yaccarino, you have Elon Musk, and others who are tweeting in support and are saying to the House Republicans: It is time to pass this legislation.

Madam President, if there is one thing we have learned from last month's election, it is that President Trump has a clear mandate from the American people to get this country back on track, and one of the things that Tennesseans talk to me most about is the need to restore law and order all across this country.

I am so encouraged by President Trump's nominees who are going to take the lead in reforming our Federal law enforcement Agencies, and, today, I want to touch on two of those who are reforming law enforcement Agencies.

I will tell the Presiding Officer, next week, I am going to come and talk about the nominees for our military and national security. I want to talk about the qualifications of Pete Hegseth, who is going to be a great Secretary of Defense; but, today, we are going to talk about Kash Patel at the FBI and Pam Bondi at the Justice Department.

Now, these two Agencies--I think everybody agrees--are in desperate need of a course correction. Under the Biden-Harris administration, they have repeatedly undermined the rule of law with a two-tiered justice system. Its rules are simple: If you break the law and you are a Democrat, then you are off the hook--that is the way they have operated--but if you are a conservative or you dissent from the left's radical agenda, the government will end up targeting you for your beliefs.

What we know is that, under Mr. Patel and Ms. Bondi, this abuse of power will come to an end, and few people are better qualified to get this job done and enforce the rule of law than Ms. Bondi and Mr. Patel.

As a former prosecutor for the Justice Department--and, by the way, he worked under Democrats and Republicans--Mr. Patel led the successful prosecutions of criminals that were tied to terrorist organizations like al-Qaida and ISIS.

On the House Intel Committee, he worked with Congressman Devin Nunes, the chair of that committee, to expose the FBI and the Justice Department's abuses during Russiagate, or the Russia hoax, as it became known.

In the first Trump administration, he served as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence. He served at the Security Council and the Defense Department as Chief of Staff.

This is a varied background. It is a credible background for the job in front of him of restoring law and order in our cities across this country, in countering terror threats, and in ending human trafficking, and that is the job of the FBI.

I will say this on the human trafficking: I am especially encouraged by his support for releasing the Jeffrey Epstein flight logs and black book. We know the abuse spanned decades from Mr. Epstein, and it harmed many vulnerable young girls, and we know a large network of high- profile, high-dollar predators participated in this horrific abuse on a global level. So, by releasing the flight logs, we can start to break apart the sex trafficking rings and ensure that the predators are put in jail where they belong. This effort will go a long way in restoring public confidence in the FBI and in ending the left's two-tiered justice system. On this front, he will work closely with Pam Bondi, who is President Trump's excellent choice for Attorney General.

Earlier this week, I had my official meeting with Ms. Bondi, whom I have known and worked with for over the past decade. Our meeting only reaffirmed my conviction that she will be fearless in rooting out corruption, taking on the deep state, and restoring the Justice Department to its core mission: enforcing equal justice under the law.

To be certain, her accomplishments speak for themselves. With more than 18 years of experience as a prosecutor, she became the first woman to serve as the attorney general of Florida in 2011. While there, she worked to protect the most vulnerable among us by taking on drug dealers and human traffickers.

During the first Trump administration, she also worked to end our Nation's drug epidemic as a member of the Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission. This experience will be invaluable to her as she leads this top law enforcement Agency.

Kash Patel and Pam Bondi are just two of Trump's incredible picks, but they are representative of the talent, experience, and determination shown by his Cabinet selections and nominees. As we head into the new year, I will look forward to supporting them and ensuring that they can get to work as soon as possible for the American people.

Kids Online Safety Act

Madam President, although we have a busy end of year ahead of us, there is at least one thing Congress must do before the end of the year, and that is to pass the very bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act.

Back in July, this Chamber passed KOSA by an overwhelming bipartisan majority. The vote was 91 to 3. The reason is very simple: Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle recognize that Big Tech must be held accountable for putting our children's safety at risk. They have put profit ahead of our children's safety, and they want to continue to do that.

KOSA puts the priority on safety by providing parents and kids with tools, safeguards, and the transparency that they need to protect against online harms. Among its provisions, the legislation would create a duty of care for online platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, including the promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, and sexual exploitation.

Since KOSA's passage in the Senate, more and more evidence has emerged showing that this legislation is desperately needed. In October, for example, reports emerged showing that Chinese-owned TikTok purposefully developed algorithms to keep children scrolling as long as they could. Of course, the more time a child spends on the platform the more data TikTok can collect, then the more valuable that platform becomes.

While this happens, TikTok executives privately acknowledge that such addiction does lead to mental health issues, including a loss of memory and cognition. But do you know what? They don't care. When your child is online, they are the profit. They are a profit center for these platforms.

Now, other platforms, from Facebook to Instagram, have also developed addictive algorithms that expose children to unthinkable harms, including sexual abuse and lethal drugs. But, again, these platforms don't care. They do not give a ripping flip about your child.

This tragedy has got to come to an end, but for months, KOSA has been held up in the House because of blatant falsehoods that are being pushed by Big Tech lobbyists. We know who they are, and we know what they are saying. Let me just read some of these falsehoods to you.

They say that KOSA would censor free speech, and it will not. KOSA is a product design bill. It is not a contact bill.

There are some out there who say: Well, it is going to give all of this authority to the FTC. It does not. It does not increase the authority of the FTC. It is important to note that there is no new rulemaking power for the FTC in KOSA or any ability to create rules about content. So they are lying. The lobbyists and some of these House staffers who are listening to these lobbyists are spreading falsehoods. It should come to a stop. Our children deserve better.

We know that what KOSA will do is put in place tools for parents, and, of course, Big Tech is out here spreading

lies and having their lobbyists spread lies because they want to evade accountability on this. I have even heard this: I have heard of staffers in the House and lobbyists bragging that they have been able to kill KOSA, that they are going to keep this profit center going, that they have been able to kill this bill. It is absolutely disgusting that they would agree with Big Tech and put that number--that dollar figure--on our kids' heads.

Do you know, when we were doing the hearings on this, what did we hear from kid after kid who came in? They came in wearing a T-shirt, ``270,'' saying: I am worth more than $270. That is the value that some of these platforms have assigned to the amount of time a child spends on their platform. That is the profit they make.

You know, if you listen to some of these staffers and some of these lobbyists, you would think, my goodness, if we don't need to have some kind of protections in the virtual space, why do we have laws in the physical space to protect kids? Minors can't enter into a contract. Minors can't go buy alcohol and tobacco. If you have got a store that sells liquor and you sell to a kid, they will come, put the chains on your store, and close you down. It is the same thing with alcohol and the same thing with pornography.

The Presiding Officer and I are parents. I am a grandparent. We see what is happening to these precious children, and they are being subjected to drugs, to alcohol; they are being subjected to pornography; they are being subjected to sexual exploitation, and it is done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year, and yet Big Tech--they don't care. They do not care about protecting your children. So the only thing we are left to surmise is, if they don't protect them in the virtual space, they are, for sure, not going to support protecting them in the physical space. I would surmise that people who are against KOSA would do away with all of these laws that protect children.

Society has decided our precious children are worth the fight, that they are worth the protection. And it is disgusting--disgusting--when you hear these Big Tech platforms say there is a value to keeping that child scrolling, that there is a value to holding their eyes online-- and when you hear it repeated by people in our Chambers--staffers--it is sickening.

This is not a political game. Protecting our children is something that we in the Senate have agreed to do on a bipartisan basis. This bill has been stuck in the House since July. We know why it has been stuck, and we know that falsehoods are being spread. This is a bill that deserves a vote on the House floor because what we do know is this: By an overwhelming bipartisan majority, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives support this bill. It is time for those who are standing in the way of passing this bill to put aside--to put aside-- their objections and to allow protections for our children to take place in the virtual space.

Since 1998, there has not been any additional protection placed in the virtual space. Why is that? It is because Big Tech sees our kids as a product. They make a lot of money--a whole lot of money--when those kids are scrolling. It is killing our kids. Just as in the physical world we put in place laws to protect them, they deserve the same protections in that virtual space.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, after 4 years of Biden-Harris failures, our country is set to make an incredible comeback with Republican control of Congress and the White House starting next year. At the top of our agenda will be securing the southern border. Until then, though, the Biden-Harris open border remains a threat to our families, our communities, and our country. Congress should waste no time in taking action to protect this Nation.

Since taking office, the Biden-Harris administration has apprehended--get this number--nearly 400 suspected terrorists at the southern border. Now, that is a 3,000-percent increase compared with all 4 years of the Trump administration. They also released nearly 100 individuals on the Terrorist Watchlist into the country.

Unfortunately, these are just the terror suspects that we know about. Under this administration, there have been more than 2 million known ``got-aways,'' illegal aliens who have entered this country. They evaded apprehension by law enforcement. We do not know who they are, we do not know where they have gone, but we know that they are here from the Border Patrol accounts.

Now, on top of all of this--400 suspected terrorists, a 3,000-percent increase over the Trump years, nearly 100 that are on the Terrorist Watchlist, and the 2 million ``got-aways''--there are more than 1.7 million what are called special-interest aliens who have come from countries that pose a national security threat to our Nation, including Iran.

Of course, this is the same regime that helped plan the horrific October 7 terrorist attack on Israel that claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people, including 46 American citizens. Iran-backed Hamas terrorists also took more than 250 people hostage, including a dozen American citizens, 4 of whom remain in captivity. No one connected to these barbaric attacks should be allowed in this country. Yet, under President Biden and Vice President Harris, that risk remains sky high.

Earlier this year, Canada began issuing visas to Gazans with little to no vetting, meaning aliens with potential ties to Hamas could enter our country not only from the southern border but also the northern border. Instead of addressing the threat, however, President Biden issued an Executive order earlier this year that prevents many illegal aliens from Hamas-controlled Gaza from being deported.

A growing terror threat would be bad enough, but under this administration, we have also seen tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens reach our border. These are people who have committed crimes, some of the worst imaginable--homicide, sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, and more.

As a result of this influx, we are seeing a surge in violent gang activity across America, including in my State of Tennessee. Just last week, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation warned that the violent Venezuelan gang we are all hearing about, Tren de Aragua, is ramping up its human trafficking operations in Tennessee's largest cities. This is the same gang that has taken over entire apartment complexes from San Antonio to Colorado for drug dealing, sex trafficking, and other violent crimes.

Make no mistake, our country cannot afford 2 more months of this administration's broken immigration policy. By the way, that is why you are seeing all this influx, all the numbers we have talked about: the 400 suspected terrorists, the nearly 100 that have been released into this country, 55,000 criminal illegal aliens, people that are convicted of these crimes, 2,200 gang members. Why does it happen? Because this administration's border policy is an open border. That is their policy.

Last week, reports emerged that human traffickers and these human trafficking cartels in Mexico are telling everybody: You better be running to that border right now and get in before Biden leaves office.

(Ms. ROSEN assumed the Chair.)

Thankfully, the Senate can pass legislation today that would secure our border and protect our country from terrorists and criminals. Here are some pieces of legislation I have:

The PRINTS Act, which I introduced last year, would combat trafficking by giving Border Patrol the authority to fingerprint noncitizens under the age of 14 so we can protect them from being trafficked.

The CONTAINER Act, which I introduced in January, would empower border States like Texas to place temporary barriers on Federal land in order to protect their communities.

The CLEAR Act, which I introduced in March, would ensure that State and local law enforcement officials have the tools they need to help the Federal Government deport criminal illegal aliens.

The bipartisan No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act, which I recently introduced alongside Senator Rosen, who is currently serving as the Presiding Officer, would ensure that no migrant tied to Hamas and the horrific terrorist attack on October 7 is ever allowed to set foot in this country.

The bipartisan Border Smuggling Crackdown Act, which I introduced last week alongside Senator Ossoff, would ensure human smugglers are held accountable for every life they endanger.

With the growing threat of an illegal immigration surge ahead of Inauguration Day, the Senate should pass these bills immediately and send them to President Biden's desk.

Madam President, this year, Tennessee lost a great leader, public servant, and American: Judge A. Andrew ``Andy'' Jackson.

For 33 years, Judge Jackson served as judge of the juvenile and probate Court of Dickson County, where he worked to safeguard the interests of his community while putting the juvenile offenders in his courtroom on the path to becoming responsible, law-abiding citizens. While on the court, Judge Jackson became a leading figure in our State's juvenile justice system, helping author Tennessee's first rules of juvenile procedure and serving as president of the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

Beyond his legal career, Judge Jackson was an exemplary friend and neighbor whose generosity, patriotism, and passion for life inspired so many who knew him. From his early days as an Eagle Scout to pursuing his love for deep-sea fishing, hunting, marksmanship, aviation, cattle rearing, agriculture, or just telling jokes, Judge Jackson lived a life in full.

On behalf of all Tennesseans, I extend my heartfelt condolences to Judge Jackson's family, including his beloved wife Elaine, daughters Kelly and Sally, and grandchildren Evelyn, Michael, and Catherine. While our State has lost a great man, Judge Jackson's legacy will endure in Dickson County and across Tennessee for many years to come.

Madam President, I rise today to honor an exemplary community leader, public servant, and Tennessean: Judge Duane Slone, who tragically passed away at the age of 61.

For 26 years, Judge Slone served on Tennessee's 4th Judicial District Court, where he pioneered innovative efforts to combat drug addiction and the opioid crisis. In 2009, he founded his district's first drug recovery court, which provides many east Tennesseans the resources and support they need to end their substance abuse and become law-abiding citizens. Four years later, Judge Slone built on this effort by founding the Tennessee Recovery Oriented Compliance Strategy, which provides similar support to those struggling with addiction but who do not qualify for recovery court.

Judge Slone's work has been credited with decreasing crime and substance abuse while keeping vulnerable Tennesseans, including countless pregnant women and single mothers, out of jail. Replicating his success, 14 Tennessee counties now use Judge Slone's Tennessee Recovery Oriented Compliance Strategy, which has helped more than 1,000 people. In recognition of his work, Judge Slone in 2019 received the National Center for State Courts William H. Rehnquist Judicial Excellence Award, the Nation's highest honor for State court judges.

We join all Tennesseans in mourning the loss of this incredible leader, who had such a profound impact on our State and every person who passed through his courtroom.

Madam President, I rise today to honor an incredible Tennessean: Dr. Mildred Thornton Stahlman, whose research and innovations transformed how generations of physicians have saved newborn lives.

In 1961, Dr. Stahlman established one of the first intensive care units for newborns in the country at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. There, Dr. Stahlman pioneered the use of miniature iron lung machines--typically used for children with polio--to treat premature babies suffering from respiratory lung disease. By helping the newborns draw air into their lungs, Dr. Stahlman's innovation significantly improved outcomes for babies who otherwise faced little chance of surviving.

As head of the hospital's neonatology unit from 1961 to 1989, Dr. Stahlman led lifesaving medical research, including on pulmonary function and respiratory distress syndrome. At the same time, she developed an emergency response system that brought premature babies to VUMC for treatment from community hospitals across 30 counties in Tennessee, a groundbreaking endeavor that saved countless lives.

After a life full of care, generosity, and courage, earlier this year Dr. Stahlman passed away at the age of 101. We join all Tennesseans in mourning the loss of this truly remarkable woman, whose legacy will live on for generations to come.