Floor Speech2026-03-25

SCARPER RIDGE GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT ACT

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Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 56 (Wednesday, March 25, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 25, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S1605-S1609] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SCARPER RIDGE GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT ACT The Senate proceeded to consider the bill (S. 1142) to adjust the boundaries of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area to include the Scarper Ridge property, was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was read the third time, and passed, as follows: S. 1142 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Scarper Ridge Golden Gate National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Act''. SEC. 2. SCARPER RIDGE BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT. Section 2(a)(2) of Public Law 92-589 (16 U.S.C. 460bb- 1(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(F) Land generally depicted as `Proposed Boundary Addition' on the map entitled `Golden Gate National Recreation Area Proposed Boundary Addition', numbered 641/ 193973, and dated July 2024.''. Mr. JUSTICE. How about that, guys? Now we are rolling. So at the end of the day, I could go through this wonderful speech that I had, but really and truly, we are there. God bless each and every one of those unbelievable heroes that have delivered for this great Nation. And, Madam President, I thank you so much. It has been a big-time honor flying with you. So proud--can't be more proud than I am right now. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee. Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I so appreciate our colleague from West Virginia and his commitment to our Nation's veterans and today, on Medal of Honor Day, that he was taking the time to recognize them. We are grateful for that and grateful for their service and their sacrifice, and know that we are able to continue the work we do for our great Nation because of the service that they have rendered to our Nation. Department of Homeland Security Madam President, on Monday, I had the honor of joining President Trump in Memphis. This was his first visit to our great State after launching the Memphis Safe Task Force, last year. And we were so thrilled with this. The task force has been working in Memphis for the last 6 months. And as we put that task force into place, what we saw is a city that has really transformed for the better. Now, the reason the task force came to be is because Memphis, TN, in 2024 had the highest per capita crime rate of any city in this country. There were over 100 gangs that were there, vehicle thefts, carjackings, cargo theft. The list went on and on--aggravated assault, violent crime, murder. What we saw was a rising crime rate, and regardless of how much energy local law enforcement put into this, apprehending criminals, there was a Soros-backed DA. It was a revolving door, and nothing seemed to get better. Well, as Kash Patel and AG Bondi came before me before their Judiciary Committee hearings, I presented each of them with a crime stat sheet. These were the crime stats of Memphis. I asked for their help. They committed for their help. At their hearings, they publicly committed for that help. And last summer, we started Operation Viper, and then, what we saw was a success. And because of that Operation Viper success with the FBI working with local police, then, last September, we started the Memphis Safe Task Force. It is local, State, and Federal elected officials working with local, State, and Federal agencies, all working together: the mayor of Memphis; Chief Davis, the chief of police; our National Guard; Tennessee Highway Patrol; Tennessee Bureau of Investigations; 30 Federal [[Page S1606]] Agencies; our U.S. marshal; our U.S. attorney. And, yes, a difference is being made. Residents had talked a lot about Memphis in 2024. They honestly could not walk outside their houses. Kids could not play outside. They were concerned about being robbed, assaulted, murdered, and seeing criminal gangs turn their community into a war zone. Now, the fact that we have had such success in Memphis in dropping that crime rate by nearly 50 percent--50 percent--we are the example, the model, of how you can get in behind this and change what is happening with crime. Some of the stats are that we have seen a 40-percent drop in sexual assault in Memphis, a 56-percent drop in robbery, a 68-percent drop in motor vehicle theft, a 36-percent drop in murder. That is what happens when your mayor, your police chief, and your agencies are working in partnership getting criminals off the streets. Now, since September, these combined agencies have made over 9,000 arrests, and more than 3,300 of those were for violent criminals, violent offenders. Among them are hundreds of warrant arrests for domestic violence, aggravated assault, weapons crimes, as well as dozens more for sexual assault and homicide. These criminals are among the worst of the worst. In late February, in 1 day, the authorities arrested a 26-year-old woman wanted for killing a 2-year-old baby. You know, that is pretty hard to hear. The Presiding Officer and I are grandmamas. We love these little ones. Hard to fathom somebody would kill a 2-year-old. This is the type criminal they have taken off the streets. They also arrested a 23-year-old man facing charges of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon and a 24-year-old man wanted for drug distribution and possession of prohibited firearms. Members of the task force are working every single day to apprehend these individuals, and while they are apprehending them, they have recovered more than 2,200 illegal firearms, 1,200 stolen vehicles, and--get this--they have rescued more than 150 missing children. You know, in the Biden administration, they lost track of about 500 children. Everyone said: Well, where are these children? What could have happened? Because of the good work of these Federal, State, and local agencies and law enforcement, yes, indeed, 150 missing children. This operation has been so successful in Memphis. It really ought not to surprise anyone in this Chamber. Sixty-two percent of Memphis citizens say the initiative has been effective at reducing crime, and 86 percent support hiring more police officers. Imagine that. Everybody working together regardless of your political party, regardless of whether you are State, local, Federal. You have 86 percent of the population of the city saying: Let's do more of this. Seventy-seven percent say: Let's build a new jail so we can keep these criminals off the street. I am incredibly optimistic about the future of Memphis. I am so grateful to President Trump, Director Patel, AG Bondi, and Secretary Hegseth, along with all the other Federal Agencies, for their commitment. Department of Homeland Security Madam President, you know, as we have heard on the floor today, it is the 40th day of the Democrats' shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. This is already one of the longest shutdowns in our Nation's history, and what we know is that our DHS employees have gone 46 percent of this fiscal year without a paycheck. This is something that is immoral. Our colleagues across the aisle have voted not once or twice but seven times not to fund our DHS employees. So I think that it is incredible that they are doing this because they have two goals, and we know these are their goals because they have been on TV talking about this. They have talked to their base about these goals. Goal No. 1, abolish ICE. They are all about it. They want to abolish ICE. Goal No. 2, they want to defund law enforcement. Now, they have been on this for years. They had told their base that they were going to find a way to do this, so they think that not paying TSA workers is a way to do this. They think that not paying DHS employees is a way to get to their goal. Well, they are sadly mistaken, and the American people are figuring this out, that what they are doing in order to punish ICE for upholding the rule of law and removing violent criminals from communities--that it is OK to make people hurt, to make people suffer. I think that it is so immoral, what they are doing. Now, of course, they are fully aware that ICE is funded through 2029. If they had read the Working Families Tax Cut, the Big Beautiful Bill, they would be aware of this. But, no, they didn't take the time to read the good things that were in that bill because they had made their minds up. They were going to vote no. Regardless of what happened, they were going to vote no. So they think it is OK to punish Secret Service agents, TSA officers, coastguardsmen, our cyber security professionals, and our homeland security investigators so that they can try to abolish ICE. Now, President Trump is doing everything he can to alleviate the pain the Democrats are causing. You see Republicans have made concessions. It was: We want a change of leadership at DHS. Well, that change has taken place. We want to end the Minnesota surge with ICE. That has ended. We want to end roving patrols. That has been done. We want to change policies around protesters. We want to change policies at detention facilities. All of that has been done. Body cameras--that has been done. What they continue to do is move the goalposts. Nothing is ever good enough because the only thing they want--abolish ICE and defund law enforcement. So regardless of what we bring forward, regardless of what is offered, they have decided they are a big, fat, whopping no. They do not give a ripping flip what happens to TSA agents and their families--people that are sleeping in cars, people that can't pay their mortgage, people that can't pay for childcare, people that are not able to go to work because of this. They are not concerned abou

Referenced legislation: SJRES103, S1142

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