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Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. 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.

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