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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, there was such an interesting occurrence that happened down the street a bit at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue last weekend, and it is when White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki unveiled the scheme that her colleagues in the West Wing had worked out with Big Tech.

Well, what they are setting about to do is to remove--and I am quoting her--``problematic'' content from Facebook and other digital platforms. That is right. They, the White House team, have decided that they are going to work with Big Tech, and they are going to remove ``problematic''--their term--content from Facebook and other digital platforms.

Now, I am certain that the White House was very confident that the press would treat this rather bizarre admission like they have treated other blatant oversteps coming out of this administration. After all, they, the press, have provided reliable cover for this White House since Inauguration Day.

But here is the problem. It is no longer Inauguration Day. There is now a record to consider, and I will tell you what, no matter what they do, the mainstream media is not going to be able to turn the clock back on this overstep.

In just 6 months, the Biden administration has done an admirable job showing the American people exactly who they are. We have seen enough at this point to take the admission of being in cahoots with Big Tech at face value. The administration has intentionally overwhelmed the airwaves with big promises that are conveniently light on details.

And there is a good reason for that. What President Biden and the Democrats are trying to do would fundamentally transform this country into something that we, the people, would have a very difficult time even recognizing.

They got off to a great start toward their goals by killing jobs in the name of climate extremism and opening the border to a flood of illegal immigrants with no plan at all to manage the influx. They just said: Let's send them to the States, and let local communities and States cover this cost.

They tried to dupe the American people into getting behind a so- called infrastructure plan that was anything but infrastructure. Then they doubled down on a brazen attempt to extend the Federal Government's control over schools and homes. They labeled this spending spree the American Families Plan to provide cover for yet another attack on, what else, the nuclear family.

Then they launched an all-out war on the ballot box in the name of the people. And now we see that they worked out a perfect system to force the opposition to shut up--just throw a flag on your opponents and watch their digital footprint and their freedom of speech evaporate.

There is a way to shut them down. It is called government-approved messaging. Obviously, somewhere in the White House, they tucked their realities that they alluded to back in January, and now this is what we are seeing.

I know we already have members of the mainstream media who are running defense on behalf of this little collaboration between the White House and Big Tech, but it is time to get serious about what is going on here. The President of the United States is using the full force of his administration to silence his political opponents. That is correct.

This isn't just dystopian. It also raises serious questions about how much pressure the Federal Government can put on a private entity to restrict political speech. Think about that. This administration, working with Big Tech, is going to deem certain messages government approved and others as being open to censorship. It is, indeed, a complete violation of the trust the American people put in Joe Biden when they sent him to the White House.

But as the new majority has made clear, to tear down and rebuild the United States in their own image is something that is a goal. And in order to do that, they attack the foundation. They have to get rid of all the things that make America so incredibly special: our commitment to safety and security, the importance of the family, and the near sacrosanct promise of free speech and open debate.

They have gotten off to a pretty good start, those Democrats. But for their vision to take hold, the Democratic majority must convince a critical mass of their countrymen to adopt their same narrow viewpoint. Fortunately, the American people are not accustomed to doing what they are told simply because an authority figure said go do it.

Here is a quote that former President Reagan made regularly, and I know we have heard it and seen it on this floor several times so far this year:

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It has to be fought for and defended by each generation.

That is so important for us to remember. It is important because it is something that we are seeing really kind of lived out right now. We have to take this as something of a warning when you look at the steps that this administration is taking. If anything, they are taking big steps to see just how far they can push the limits of democracy: How much will the people take? How much freedom are they willing to give up?

Just about every single policy coming out of this White House has been used by the Democrats as a weapon to diminish freedom in the name of a preapproved socialist fantasy. And in that fantasy, there is no room for free speech or dissent. Censorship becomes normalized. It is expected. Collectivism replaces individualism. The philosophies of democracy and self-determination fall victim to the moving goalposts of a living Constitution, and freedom is reduced to an outdated trope that only the unenlightened cling to.

I wonder, how many people in this country do you think actually have that as a goal? How many do you think are wanting to give up their free speech and their freedom and hand it over to the government and let the government decide what they are going to give back to them, how much freedom they are going to allow them to exercise over their daily life, over their children's education, over the education that they want to have, or the job they want to have, or the home they want to live in, or the car that they want to drive? Do you really think that Americans want to give their freedom up?

Since the 2016 election, the left has existed in a state of perpetual hysteria. It has been over the threat that our God-given freedom poses threats to their radical, socialist agenda. But instead of taking the conventional route of persuasion, they chose a high-pressure guilt campaign to force people into a prepackaged American experience. They want everyone marching in line with the daily talking points because we want calm, they say. Democracy is too messy. It is too unpredictable. No one wants to exist in that system, they say.

But I differ in my opinion. Yes, it is messy, but this big, beautiful, diverse mess is what sets this country apart. It makes us strong and successful and unites us under the common cause of freedom. And as we are all well aware, it has also turned this shining city on a hill into a magnet for criticism from nations foundering under the disastrous consequences of their great socialist experiment.

I would implore my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to stop trying to fit in with these failing systems. Stop diminishing the cause of freedom because it inconveniences you. Abandon your fear of open debate. This constant refusal to engage says much more about the strength of your policy positions than it does about ours. Above all, stop ignoring the American people. They didn't vote for this. They do not want this.

It is so interesting to me every weekend to go home and listen to Tennesseans who talk about the changes that they have seen in the Democratic Party and the policies that are coming forward that they are rejecting because they do not want to give up their freedom. They are willing to fight for their freedom so that their children and their grandchildren know the promises of the American dream and have the opportunity to live their lives in freedom.

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