WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) delivered floor remarks regarding President Biden's budget proposal.

 

To watch Senator Blackburn’s speech, click below or here.

 

 

You can read the transcript below or in the Congressional Record.

 

Madam President, it appears the White House had good

reason to wait until the Friday before Memorial Day to release their

budget proposal. They couldn't afford a full week's news cycle any more

than the American people can afford to fulfill the wish list items

President Biden is asking them to pay for. It is a very long list.

I think it is safe to say my Democratic colleagues are trying to make

the most of the next year and a half. They know that time is not on

their side nor are the American people. There really is something for

every faction of the left. Here are a few of the items that are

contained in this Biden boondoggle of a budget.

The environmental lobby did a great job these past few months. They

are more than taken care of with more electric car subsidies and a $936

million payout toward environmental justice initiatives.

We also have more funding to expand the Department of Education. If

you think that more government is what your child's educational

experience has been missing, well, this is the budget for you. Yet, if

you are fed up with the way teachers unions have treated children in

the classroom, if you are fed up with schools that have been in

lockdown, you will want to pay close attention to what I am talking

about today.

Apparently, the good people over at the Department of Health and

Human Services have time on their hands. Bear in mind, it is your money

that is paying them to do the job at which they have time on their

hands. Now, they will be switching gears from pandemic response to a

new focus on environmental extremism, reparations, and gutting the

Second Amendment.

What is in this budget? Bigger government, a higher deficit, and

runaway inflation.

What is out? According to this budget, national defense is no longer

a priority for the Biden administration or for the Department of

Defense. Border security is also on the back burner along with the

family-friendly tax policies we implemented under President Trump.

President Biden and the Democrats are doubling down on every mistake

they have made so far. Instead of doing their jobs, they are paying lip

service to struggling businesses, to struggling stores on Main Street

in your hometown, to crumbling bridges--like in Memphis, TN--and

roadways, and to future generations of Americans who will come into

this world owning their own, personal chunk of our skyrocketing

national debt. That is right. If you have a child or a grandchild born

this year, their share of the national debt is going to be about

$80,000. Think about that.

Think about what has happened to this debt. From President Washington

to President George Bush, it was about $10.6 trillion. During the

Obama-Biden years, that debt doubled. Then it was added to through the

pandemic. Now one would be led to believe that this administration had

decided it was going to take the credit cards and swipe them so many

times they would run the numbers off of them

Yes, this is the Biden surcharge at work--forcing the American people

to pay a premium just to live. Cradle to grave, daylight to dark, they

have got a list of tax hikes and increased fees for you. You hard-

working Americans, you cannot escape it, and what a world they have

decided they want to leave for future generations. I think it is awful.

I will tell you what--this budget is such a terrible representation

of what America actually needs that, back home in Tennessee, as I was

home last week, people would come up to me and ask me if this was

really a serious budget. It is so extreme. It is so huge.

They would say: Surely, your Democratic colleagues are not serious

about this. Surely, President Biden is not serious about this budget.

Still, my colleagues across the aisle are so eager to get this done

that they are prepared to, once again, throw regular order out the

window.

My Democratic colleagues are living in an alternate reality. It is

the only explanation for why they continue to insist that this country

will be better off under a government that strips away your freedoms

rather than guarantees them and one that tries to tell you how to live

your life every minute of every day--from the time your feet hit the

floor in the morning until the time you brush your teeth and get in bed

at night.

No, Madam President, when it comes to the Biden administration, Big

Government is its theme not only of the day but of every day. It is the

theme when it comes to spending, to regulations, and even to intrusions

into constitutionally mandated State authority.

Before the State work period, the majority leader indicated that he

intended to use this month to shove through yet another wish list item.

My Democratic colleagues have tried several times to skip debate and

sneak through various provisions of their S. 1 election takeover bill.

They tried to do this for the same reason President Biden released his

disastrous budget on a Friday after everyone had already left town. It

is because the bill could not survive a fair news cycle once the

American people knew what was in it.

To my Democratic colleagues, remember the American people know--

after we went through ObamaCare and the Affordable Care Act--that the

current Speaker of the House had then said: Well, we have to pass this

bill so we can read it and find out what is in it.

They know that this is the way you like to operate.

I am sure many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would

dispute my characterization of the bill. So, for the benefit of the

record, let's go through a few of the provisions they are absolutely

convinced will somehow expand freedom and secure our elections. This is

what you will find in their S. 1 election takeover bill:

It would require States to allow ballot harvesting and no-excuse

mail-in balloting, which we know from experience will open the door to

fraud. We know this. So are they intentionally trying to open the door

to fraud? You are right; people are correct in asking that question.

It would also overrule State-level voter ID laws--another great way

to guarantee rampant fraud. So, yes, you heard me correctly. They want

the Federal Government to tell your State that you cannot require

someone to prove his identity, to show an ID in order to--what?--vote

in an election. How about that?

It would weaponize the FEC against minority parties, mandate donor

disclosure, and require the Federal Government to match private

contributions. You heard me right. They want your tax dollars to fund

people who are running for office even if you don't agree with their

opinions. Your money would be going to them to match the contributions

that they are raising. By the way, it is a 6-to-1 match. Pretty

convenient, isn't it?

I call it insanity, and anyone who has ever staffed a polling place

or has helped to count ballots knows this. Yet here we are, staring

down yet another attempt to put this bill on the fast track--taking

away the States' authority to run elections in their States.

Here is what I say to my Democratic colleagues: You are not going to

get the benefit of a quiet news cycle on this. America is watching and

listening, and they are paying attention.

Your attempts to whip the Senate into a state of partisan warfare

over a bill you don't have the votes to pass will not go unnoticed.

Your attempts to make another run at the filibuster and invent a

mandate the voters refuse to give you will not go unnoticed.

Your attempt to sneak through this unconstitutional, partisan power

grab is not going to go unnoticed. People are paying attention, and my

Republican colleagues and I are going to stand up against it. Members

of your own caucus have said they will not stand for it.

Most importantly, the American people are watching, they are

listening, they are paying attention, and they do not stand for what

you are seeking to do.

I yield the floor.