Floor Statements

Mr. President, I have six 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 rise today to honor an exemplary leader, dedicated public servant, and distinguished soldier: Brigadier General Scott D. Wilkinson. Since 2024, General Wilkinson has served as both military deputy chief of legislative liaison and as chief of legislative liaison. In these roles, he has helped maintain strong relations between military and congressional leaders, ensuring that Congress is well informed of our Armed Forces' critical missions. He brought a wealth of experience to these positions, having previously served as chief of the Senate liaison division.

Throughout his time working with Congress, he has demonstrated a commitment to our national security that has remained constant throughout his more than 30 years of military service. He deployed in support of Operations JOINT ENDEAVOR and JOINT GUARD in Bosnia- Herzegovina; to Operation ATLANTIC RESOLVE in Eastern Europe; and to combat in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, FREEDOM SENTINEL, IRAQI FREEDOM, INHERENT RESOLVE, and YUKON SCEPTER. His awards include the Legion of Merit with three bronze oakleaf clusters, the Bronze Star Medal with four bronze oakleaf clusters, and the Meritorious Service Medal with silver oakleaf cluster, among numerous other decorations.

Tennessee is lucky to call General Wilkinson one of our own. He served for many years at Fort Campbell, ultimately assuming the positions of commander of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and deputy commander for Support of the 101st Airborne Division. Prior to his service in the legislative liaison office, he most recently served as commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command. Throughout his assignments, his exemplary leadership has set a standard worthy of recognition and emulation by the soldiers he led and mentored.

As General Wilkinson's time at the Office of the Chief Legislative Liaison comes to a close, I extend my deepest thanks to General Wilkinson, his wife Mindy, and their family for their extraordinary service and sacrifice to our Nation.

Mr. President, before I begin my remarks that I wanted to speak on today about law and order, I do have a couple of comments I wanted to make that came to mind as my colleague was speaking.

You know, I think that they are suffering not only from Trump derangement syndrome but a little bit of Democrat amnesia. I think they have forgotten that under Joe Biden, inflation hit 9 percent. It was the highest it had been in over four decades. They didn't seem to be concerned about costs or affordability, and every single day, Republicans work to get down the cost of gas and groceries. Every single day, we work on affordability.

Even a year ago, we had not one single colleague from the other side of the aisle--not one--vote for the Working Families Tax Cut, the Big Beautiful Bill. They all voted against it because they wanted a $4 trillion tax hike.

Now, why did my colleagues on the other side of the aisle vote in lockstep--every single Democrat? They want more money, more of your money that they can spend. They want to control it. They want you to give them the power so they can micromanage your life.

Inflation? They are all for it. When you talk about prices going up, they are all for it. Even Barack Obama said: Oh, your electric bills are necessarily going to go up because I am pushing the Green New Deal. And, boy, did they ever.

So I think that it is interesting. I wish that they would actually focus on the issue of affordability. I wish they would actually work with us when it comes to getting costs down, but they don't because they want more of your money.

Isn't it so interesting? They never get enough of the taxpayers' money. It is a gimme, gimme, gimme every single day. Money and power-- they are all about it.

Mr. President, we are looking at Memorial Day weekend and certainly on Monday taking that time to pause and reflect on the brave men and women from Tennessee and, indeed, across the entire country who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defending our freedoms right here.

Tennessee is really so blessed to have a very strong military community. In our State, we have more than 400,000 veterans that call Tennessee home. They, indeed, enrich our communities with their records of service and sacrifice.

We also have several major military installations in our State. There is Fort Campbell, which primarily sits in the State of Tennessee. There is Arnold Engineering Development Center, an

Air Force base which is in Tullahoma. In Millington, we have the naval air station. We also have our Army and Air National Guard facilities across our State.

To each and every one of these individuals that call Tennessee home, that raise their hand, take that oath, and serve, we say thank you.

It is an honor to represent so many servicemembers and veterans in our State. These veterans and servicemembers do represent the best of what this Nation has to offer. They are leaders, public servants, warriors who put their lives on the line every day. And the loss of any single one of them is deeply felt in their home communities and across our State.

Last June, we lost CW3 Dustin Wright. He was a pilot assigned to the 101st Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade, and he was lost during a helicopter training accident at Fort Campbell. His brigade commander said that he ``cherished every opportunity to be outside and support ground troops . . . with strength and honor.''

He was a member of the Mosaic Church in Clarksville, TN, where he served on the security team.

His awards included the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal with ``C'' Device, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters, and the Army Achievement Medal with three oak leaf clusters. He had many other awards also.

We must never forget his legacy and the legacy of each of these that have served across our State and have lost their lives in service to our Nation. We can never repay that sacrifice, but we must always honor their service.

Mr. President, here in DC this week is Police Week, and we are reflecting on the brave men and women who serve us in Tennessee and also across this country, where they are serving our communities every day with courage, with integrity, and with honor. We so appreciate their service. Every day, they put their lives on the line to protect their families, their friends, their neighbors. They enforce the law, and they keep the peace; and for that, they deserve every American's enduring gratitude.

Few places better capture the magnitude of their sacrifices than the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial that is here in our Nation's Capital. Engraved on that memorial are the names of every fallen officer in our country going back to the year 1850. This memorial contains 24,775 names. This week, 363 heroes are being added, including 3 from Tennessee: Hugh Carlen of Putnam County, whose watch ended February 24, 1912; James Hood of Jonesborough, who fell in the line of duty August 26, 1928; and Deputy Sheriff Justin Bradford Mowery, of Blount County, whom we tragically lost on December 28.

This week's candlelight vigil will provide a powerful moment to reflect on their sacrifices and their stories and those made by the thousands of other officers on the Roll Call of Heroes.

There is a reason our officers are called the thin blue line: They are the only force separating us from chaos, disorder, and anarchy. They take pride in their responsibility, but to do their jobs, they need the support of their communities, their States, their country. They need the support of this Chamber, and for too long, they have lacked that support from Democrat leadership. Instead of funding the police, the Democrats have worked to defund the police and, indeed, all law enforcement. But, under President Trump, the Federal Government is backing the blue from one side of this country to another.

In Tennessee, we have seen this much needed support in Memphis. For years, Memphis, which is an iconic American city, has struggled with rampant crime. In 2024, it had the highest crime rate per capita of any city in the country. Memphians truly suffered. Indeed, all West Tennesseans suffered. Many could not walk outside of their homes without fear of being robbed, assaulted, or murdered in Memphis.

Under the President's leadership, those days are coming to an end. Since launching the Memphis Safe Task Force last year, crime in Memphis has plummeted. In the first quarter of this year, overall crime was down more than 40 percent compared to 2025. Indeed, since the task force began 7 months ago, the crime rate has been cut 50 percent.

The way this happened was in coordination with local, State, and Federal resources. The task force has done a great job in getting criminals off the street and behind bars. In total, authorities have made more than 9,000 arrests, including 996 for narcotics, 838 for firearms offenses, 105 for sex offenses, and 67 for homicide. They have also seized 1,500 illegal firearms, and they have located 150 missing children. Every single American--indeed, every Member of this Chamber-- should applaud this success.

In the Senate, Republicans are working to support the administration's effort. My Restoring Law and Order Act would increase funding for law enforcement and help keep violent criminals behind bars.

The Protecting Law Enforcement Officers from Doxxing Act would make it illegal to dox Federal law enforcement officials and put them in harm's way.

The Safer Prisons Act would double the maximum term of imprisonment for assaulting a Federal Bureau of Prisons correctional officer.

While Republicans work to support our brave officers, unfortunately, many of our Democratic colleagues are trying to do everything in their power to undermine law enforcement.

For 76 days, they shut down the Department of Homeland Security, left the Secret Service, Coast Guard, TSA, FEMA, and other critical Agencies without funding, and they jeopardized our Nation's security at a time of heightened threats from the world's largest sponsor of terrorism, Iran.

And the reason? Well, they had a petty reason. They used our Federal law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security as a trading chip. What they were trying to do was to abolish ICE, end the enforcement of our immigration laws, and defund Federal law enforcement.

Thank goodness they were not successful. They got nothing for their little fit. President Trump brought this charade to an end late last month by signing into law legislation that reopened DHS and restored its vital operations.

Now Republicans are moving forward with a public security bill that will fund ICE and Customs and Border Protection for years to come. We are accomplishing this through the reconciliation process, and that is the same process we used to pass the Working Families Tax Cut last year. We are going to make certain we can fund these vital Agencies.

Our colleagues across the aisle can continue to oppose the rule of law, and they can side with criminals over law enforcement. They can continue to side

with illegal aliens rather than citizens, and they can continue to champion the same radical policies that unleashed chaos at the border and across the country during the Biden administration, but that will not stop Republicans from saluting our men and women in uniform, from backing the blue, from standing with the thin blue line, and making certain that law enforcement has what they need to provide safety for American citizens in communities coast to coast.

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

Mr. President, every American should be grateful that President Trump, Vice President Vance, the Cabinet, and thousands of other attendees were not harmed during Saturday's disturbing shooting that took place at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

We now know that the shooter was attempting to kill the President, and this was the third assassination attempt we have seen on his life in the past couple of years.

Now, some Democrats--and I would include former President Obama in this--some have claimed that we don't have details about the suspect's motives, but we do have plenty of details, and we know that the shooter actually laid a good bit of this out. He did a manifesto, and he sent that manifesto to his family shortly before the attack. The shooter said he was going to target administration officials ``prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.'' It shows you he thought this through. Now, his reason for this, he said President Trump is--and I quote his wording here again--``pedophile, rapist, traitor.''

Now, this is unhinged rhetoric. It is completely in line with the lies that the Democrats have repeated on just about a daily basis every day regarding President Trump. We have heard it on TV, on podcasts, on social media, in their speeches, and it is something else that they continue with this rhetoric.

And Gov. Tim Walz who, of course, was the VP nominee in the last election once said:

No one has ever been more dangerous to this country than

Donald Trump, and he is a fascist to his core.

Again, that was Gov. Tim Walz.

Now, some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have called the President an ``existential threat to democracy,'' ``the most significant threat to American democracy since the Civil War,'' and an ``authoritarian.'' And some of them have chosen to compare him to historical figures, and that historical figure they usually use is Hitler. And, of course, Kamala Harris once compared him to a ``communist dictator.''

This is reckless rhetoric. This is the kind of rhetoric that needs to stop because this places a target on our President, and this is the type of rhetoric that has no place in civil public life.

Now, we are celebrating America 250, and we are looking at how this Nation has remained strong and free. Indeed, I think that as you look at our history, those tenets of faith, family, freedom, hope, and opportunity have served us well. And how do we achieve that American dream? Well, we have kept ourselves free and focused on achieving that dream for each and every person. They all look different. Everybody's dream is different of what they want, what their goals are, the type of community they want to live in. They are all different.

But we arrive at decisions of what kind of communities we will have, what kind of country we will have--those issues of importance--we arrive there through robust, respectful, bipartisan debate. We don't get there by exercising reckless rhetoric, some of which I have quoted. It is so disappointing to hear this from some of our colleagues and then to see the type of vitriol that this spurs.

Now, when we have robust, respectful, bipartisan debate--I share my opinion; someone else shares their opinion--what this does is to empower not only us, but the people that we represent, to enter into that debate, to be a part of the public square, to defend our freedoms, to build consensus, and to serve the American people and to preserve the freedoms that we enjoy.

Now, without it, without having that marketplace of ideas, without that robust, respectful debate that leads to exchange and asking: What if we did this? What if we did that? If we did not have that, then this Nation would head to a very dark place. And this latest assassination attempt on President Trump is another reminder of what can happen when Americans abandon the possibility of working together and instead of settling their differences by debate in the public square, they choose to settle these differences by violence, by reckless rhetoric.

So as we approach our Nation's 250th anniversary, we need to remember that it is this exchange of ideas and this robust, respectful debate that has helped to sustain the freedoms that we enjoy in this country.

Mr. President, now, on a separate but related topic, we go to this issue of Department of Homeland Security funding. It is important that we remember that the Agency that is responsible for protecting our President, his family, our Vice President, his family, our Cabinet members--they all have a security detail--but the Agency is the Secret Service, and the Secret Service is in the Department of Homeland Security, as is Homeland Security Investigations, ICE, Border Patrol, TSA. See, it all comes out of that DHS budget.

And we now are on day 74 of the Democrats' latest shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. It is the third time this Congress that they have chosen to shut down Homeland Security.

Now, to ensure that agents continue to receive their paychecks, President Trump has resorted to using funds from the Working Families Tax Cut--Big Beautiful Bill--that we passed last year, and thank goodness that we did. And I will remind the Chamber: Every single Democrat voted against that bill. Every single Democrat voted against your pocketbook. They voted to increase your taxes by voting no on the Big Beautiful Bill.

Well, thank goodness we got it passed because that is where the President has been able to go and move some money around and pay people that are working without a paycheck.

Now, you know, it makes you wonder how many people would choose to continue to work and not receive a paycheck? But that is what our Democrat colleagues continue to do.

Last night, I did a telephone townhall, and on this townhall was a grandmother who lives in Middle Tennessee. Her question to me was very pointed. She said: Senator Blackburn, my grandson is in the Coast Guard. Have you-all figured out how to pay the Coast Guard?

The Coast Guard. They are funded by DHS. So our colleagues across the aisle have chosen to say to the Coast Guard: Forget it. We are not for paying you.

So think about this. When you talk about going after human traffickers and drug runners, the Democrats don't want to fund that activity.

When you talk about Homeland Security Investigations that helps to find missing children, that locks up pedophiles and predators, that locks up groomers--they don't want to go after them. They are choosing to not fund that Agency.

Well, I had another caller on the townhall last night, and they said: I don't get this. Why don't they want to pay TSA? Why don't they want to pay ICE agents who were picking up people that broke the law to come into the country and have committed crimes and need to be deported? These are people that, by and large, most have orders of deportation already issued against them. They are ready to be deported.

And the answer is disappointing, but it is what the Democrats will tell you. Their goal is to abolish ICE, to open the border back up, and just say: You-all come. Anybody can come. We are going to vacate immigration law.

And their third goal is to defund the police. You know, during Joe Biden's era, they loved the fact--loved it--the border was wide open. And we had illegal aliens entering the country by the thousands and the millions. They liked it that way. They didn't know who was in the country, but they were glad they were here. They wanted more sanctuary cities.

And, again, what we see the Democrats doing, they are putting illegal aliens before citizens. They are not funding--will not fund Federal law enforcement, don't want to fund immigration, don't want to fund the Coast Guard, don't want to fund the TSA. I guess they just think that there should be no scanning and no review.

So we know that that is their goal, and we know also that they don't want a deal on this. They want to continue to have a fight. They want this issue. Their goal is to abolish ICE, to defund Federal law enforcement. That is where they are headed, so they like having a shutdown.

Well, they continue with this political charade, and we have now passed a budget resolution that is going to open the path for us for a targeted public safety reconciliation bill that is going to fund these issues through President Trump's term. We will take this issue off the table.

Now, we did this on the Big Beautiful Bill. We did it through reconciliation. We did it with 51 votes. And as I said earlier, not one single Democrat--not one--voted for the Big Beautiful Bill. And we will make certain that ICE and CBP and these other Agencies are funded, and we will do it without a single Democrat vote.

And also, doing it this way, the Democrats will have none of the reforms they pretended to want when it came to Homeland Security.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, well here we are. And for more than 2 months, our colleagues and friends across the aisle have decided that they were going to hold the Department of Homeland Security shut down, kind of hold them hostage.

And for that same 2 months, Republicans have been trying every single day to negotiate with them in good faith to find a resolution to this.

Well, they claimed, if they could just reform ICE, they would be happy. And, where reasonable, the White House offered to implement updated guidelines for ICE agents, including expanding the use of body- warn cameras, limiting civil immigration enforcement at certain sensitive locations, and enforcing the use of visible officer ID during enforcement actions.

Well, that sounds reasonable. Those were all things they wanted. But do you know what? All of a sudden, that wasn't enough. They rejected every offer to reopen the Department of Homeland Security.

Since February, they have taken 16 votes--not 1 or 2, but 16 votes-- against reopening the Department of Homeland Security.

One thing has become very clear, and it is this: For the Democrats, shutting down DHS is not a means to accomplish other policy goals. It is not a negotiating tactic. Keeping Homeland Security shut down is the goal. That is what they want.

Now, you come to that realization because when everything you put on the table--things they have said they are for, things they have said they wanted to see done--and they reject it all. They reject it all. Nothing suits them because they have wanted to keep DHS shut down.

And their goal is to abolish ICE. Their goal is to defund law enforcement.

So they found out that that was really not that popular with the American people because the American people want safe communities.

They think we should have public safety as a goal and they have watched what the Democrats have done and they have decided they don't like this. They like the fact that Republicans, that President Trump, has been focused on public safety.

You know, that is one of the reasons that the American people sent President Trump back to the Oval Office. It was to make certain that we were focused on our Nation's security, that we were focused on safe communities, that we were apprehending people that were in the country illegally, that individuals that were in the country illegally who had committed crimes were being apprehended and were being deported.

And I will say this: Since Inauguration Day, President Trump has delivered on his promise that he would restore law and order and he would bring law and order to the southern border after 4 years of solid chaos down there and, what we know, at least 10 million illegal aliens coming into this country.

For 11 consecutive months, CBP has released zero--zero--illegal aliens into our country, think about that, 11 months in a row. Now, under Joe Biden, border apprehensions were soaring, and what we saw last month was the stat that border apprehensions were down 97 percent from the same time in Joe Biden's term.

For most Americans, they like this, and they like the fact that the border is secure. They like the fact that drug dealers and sex traffickers are not coming into the country. They like the fact that people have to go to a port of entry, and they have to show their documents if they want to come into our precious country.

But you know what? That isn't what the Democrats want. They want to end President Trump's success at the southern border. They want to abolish ICE. They want to bring back the Biden years of rising crime, crime in your community's streets. They want to bring back drug trafficking. They want to bring back human trafficking and sex trafficking and lawlessness.

If you look at where their priorities are and where they spend their time and the votes they cast, that is what you see. Open the border, abolish ICE, defund the police, bring back the Biden years of rising crime, chaos, drug trafficking, human smuggling, sex trafficking, and lawlessness.

Now, as Republicans, we have said we are not going to stand for this, which is why we are moving to fully fund ICE and CBP for years to come through this reconciliation.

Our budget committee is chaired by Senator Graham, and he has introduced the budget resolution that is going to unlock a pathway for a public safety reconciliation bill.

Now, I don't see who can be against public safety. This is a targeted, focused bill, focused on public safety, something everybody should want not only for our Nation but for their cities and States.

Now, by doing this public safety reconciliation bill, we can fund these vital Agencies, and we can do it with a simple majority vote. This is how we were able to pass the Big Beautiful Bill with the working families tax cuts, and, indeed, I think many people have taken advantage of those extra tax cuts that were in that bill as they filed their taxes this year.

Now, every single Democrat who votes against funding for border enforcement is going to have to explain to their constituents why they put the concerns of illegal aliens before the concerns of the citizens who voted for them.

Tennesseans are really sick and tired of the games that are being played up here, primarily these games by the Democrats where they are not funding DHS. And they are frustrated when they see that Congress isn't getting things done.

This week, I did a telephone townhall. I love doing these. We have thousands of Tennesseans on the line with us, and some of the questions that I got were: Why can't we fund border enforcement? We should want to keep the border closed so we know who is coming in here. Who could be opposed to that?

Why can't we pass the SAVE America Act? You know, 83 percent of the American people, not just Republicans or Independents or Democrats, but 83 percent of the American people want us to pass the SAVE America Act.

It is very simple. If you are going to register to vote in our country, you have got to prove that you are a U.S. citizen--common sense. Most every country does that. You have got to be a citizen if you are going to vote in their elections.

And next, they want to make certain that when you go to vote, you show an ID. Thirty-six of our States require already that you show an

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a milestone for one of west Tennessee's greatest treasures, the Memphis Zoo. Earlier this month, on April 4, 2026, the Memphis Zoo celebrated the 120th anniversary of its founding. I am delighted to acknowledge this important occasion for one of the world's first-class zoos, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the globe every year.

On April 4, 1906, the Memphis Park Commission allocated $1,200 to establish the Memphis Zoo. Over the past 120 years, the Memphis Zoo has expanded to include over a dozen exhibits, including Cat Country, Animals of the Night, the Herpetarium, the Aquarium, the Northwest Passage, Teton Trek, and the Zambezi River Hippo Camp. Additionally, in April 2003, the zoo opened a noteworthy exhibit that was home to two giant pandas for nearly 20 years. In total, the Memphis Zoo contains more than 3,500 animals representing over 500 different species.

Because of these world-class exhibits and facilities, the Memphis Zoo has consistently been ranked as one of our Nation's premier zoological attractions, including earning the ranking of ``#1 Zoo in the U.S.'' in 2008, as well as multiple Top Zoo rankings from various publications. Located in Overton Park in the heart of Memphis, the zoo has served for over a century as one of Tennessee's finest tourist attractions. I congratulate the Memphis Zoo on this historic anniversary, and I recognize its tremendous benefit to the Memphis community.

Mr. President, well, today is tax day. It is not a day that conservatives usually celebrate, but this year it is a little bit different. And that is thanks to the working families tax cuts, the Big Beautiful Bill, that are allowing individuals to keep a lot more of their hard-earned money.

And as we have this discussion on tax day, it is imperative that we remember government doesn't create jobs, it creates the environment for jobs growth.

Government is not the one that is generating income. All of that comes from hard-working taxpayers. They send their hard-earned tax dollars here to Washington, DC. And today is a day we should be mindful of the imperative that we should be good stewards of the taxpayer dollar.

Now, one of the things that we heard so much about during the Biden administration was, every time you turned around, taxes were going up; inflation was going up because taxes were going up; and government spending was going up.

Well, things have changed. Things have changed. And as I said, because of the tax cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill, what we know is, citizens are seeing more money stay in their pocketbook without having to send it to DC.

What we also know is, tax refunds this year are up 24 percent, just over $3,500--$3,500--for most refunds. A big reason why is that almost half of the filers are claiming new tax breaks that were created in the working families tax cuts, Big Beautiful Bill.

So think about that. Half of the filers are benefiting from the bill that every single one of our Democrat colleagues voted no on that bill.

Now, Americans who claim these added deductions are seeing refunds that are $775 higher than they were last year, and as we think about that, that is more money in your pocketbook for groceries, for gas, for car payments, for education expenses, for clothing, for things that your family wants to do with your hard-earned money.

Now, earlier today, we heard from our IRS head, and what we heard from

Mr. Bisignano is that they are really executing the mission that was put before them to drive efficiency, to process these claims, to answer questions, and to make certain that people know they can set those withholdings lower, and when they have got a deduction coming, they know how to claim that deduction, and that they get those refunds faster.

We should keep in mind that all of this is happening because of President Trump and because Republicans, indeed, have put the American people first.

They have put these hard-working taxpayers first. That is what people want to see, put them at the first of the queue. They deserve it.

Now, if we had not passed the working families tax cuts, Big Beautiful Bill, last spring and summer, we would have had a $4 trillion tax hike. Think what that would be doing to you right now if your taxes had gone up, if those escalation rates had kicked in, things had gone up. And what we do know is that while our colleagues across the aisle, the Democrats, wanted to see Americans pay more in taxes, that what that equates to is, there would be fewer jobs; there would be lower wages; and I think one of the big ones, especially when you talk about a State like mine, Tennessee, where small business is your largest employer, then there would be less opportunity.

But because we passed that bill last summer, there is more opportunity. And our small business employers, people that are there on Main Street, are prospering, and businesses are growing.

Now, I do want to highlight some of these provisions that our Democratic colleagues chose to vote against. What we put in the working families tax cuts, the Big Beautiful Bill, that is yielding these deductions that about half of the tax filers are taking is this--this is one that I have worked on for years--and it is the bonus deduction for every senior. And for 88 percent of our Social Security recipients, it has eliminated all the income tax they have on that Social Security.

Now, I actually printed out that page from the 1040 form, and I think it is so important to see. Section 5 has that enhanced deduction for seniors. So it is, for every senior, a $6,000 deduction. If you and your spouse are both over 65, that is a $12,000 deduction, but it is part 5, when you get to the point that you are filling out this form, and all the instructions are right there. That is a really big deal. And what we know is that because of this provision, seniors are saving $670.

Now, think about that. If you are a senior and you are using that deduction and you are represented by Democrats, they voted against that. They voted against allowing you to have a $6,000 bonus deduction. And what we know is that 30 million seniors have already used that--30 million seniors. According to Mr. Bisignano, it is the most used of all the deductions. It is money in your pocket.

Now, there are millions of workers who are seeing lower taxes on tips and overtime. With the new tips deductions, senior filers are seeing a savings of $1,370. Some have gone as high as $5,500. These are savings that are leaving money in your pocket.

But, again, every single Democrat in this Chamber, every single one voted against that. So if you are a worker who uses and receives tips, they voted against that. If you are a senior who works with tip income, they voted against your senior deduction, and they voted against your deduction with tips.

Now, we also know that children that are born can do Trump Accounts. They are eligible for that $1,000 seed account. These accounts will grow all through that child's life. This is a way they can have money for education or for a first home or keeping that account and letting it grow until they are ready for retirement.

But if you have a baby that was born this year, a child or a grandchild, every Democrat voted against--against--their having that nest egg.

So how wonderful it would be if these children came out of college debt-free. How wonderful would it be if they had that money for a downpayment. And think about overtime work. We have so many Americans that work overtime. Again, they are benefiting, but the Democrats voted against no tax on overtime.

And they also voted against the enhanced child tax credit, which benefits more than 40 million American families. So if you have children that are under 18 and you are taking that enhanced child tax credit, you are looking at that, and you see when you get to that bottom line and you look at your total deductions, your total credits, Democrats voted against that.

You know, it is so interesting, they think they should have the right of first refusal on your money. They think they know better what to do with your money than you do. They say: Send more of it to DC, and we will put it where we want it. But what we know is that the American people want to keep their money and keep it in their pocket.

Now, we also have a deduction for interest that is paid on ``Made in America'' vehicles. That is an important thing. So if you bought a car this past year, that interest on that car payment, you are going to be able to deduct every penny.

The Democrats also voted against the permanent extension of the lifetime gift tax exemption. Now, in Tennessee, this was very important to us for family farms. We raised that to $15 million per individual for a couple that has a family farm or maybe a small business manufacturing company. That is $30 million. So they will be able to pass that company and its assets on to their children and grandchildren so that they can continue to run this business.

But, bear in mind, every Democrat in this Chamber voted no. They voted against your being able to take what you have worked hard for, to build, to build that company, to carry on the legacy of that farm.

They voted against your being able to do that. They voted against an increase to the standard deduction. That is used by 90 percent of all filers. So as you fill out your tax form, remember, the Democrats said you don't deserve it, they do. They want your money. They don't want you to keep your money so they voted against raising the standard deduction.

They voted against the permanent extension of the 2017 tax cuts for businesses, which fueled investment across America.

You know what, they really have been the ``no'' caucus when it comes to cutting taxes. They have been the ``no'' caucus when it comes to allowing you to live your version of the American dream.

What they want, they want that control; they want that power. They want to be able to say: Give it to us. Let us decide what to do with your money. And, oh, by the way, they want more of it. They want you to have less.

They want more so they can waste it in the name of programs that by and large many have outlived their usefulness for the American people.

So this is tax day. We should be grateful for President Trump's leadership. Without him, there would be no Working Families Tax Cut; there wouldn't have been that Big Beautiful Bill. So instead of celebrating historic refunds, Americans, if the Democrats had been in charge, if they had their way, would be struggling to pay another $4 trillion in taxes. Think about that one.

I am so pleased that we were able to get these taxes passed, signed, sealed, delivered, and signed into law, and that on this tax day, tens of millions of Americans are celebrating increased deductions, increased tax credits, and more money in their pockets because of larger refunds.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I have 11 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:

I ask for the yeas and nays.