Mr. President, there can be no doubt, Elon Musk is a patriot. He has revolutionized entire industries, whether it is PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink. Across his businesses, there are so many things that he could be working on, but when President Trump asked him to join the administration, he answered that call. He said yes, and he committed himself to serving the American people and helping get this fiscal house in order. In many ways, he is tackling one of the biggest threats to our Nation's sovereignty, and that is our debt--$36 trillion in debt. He understands that our fiscal path is unsustainable. And today we are spending more money to service our debt than to fund our entire military. As this debt grows, it will become more and more difficult to fund basic government functions. That is why he is leading the Department of Government Efficiency, trying to rein in reckless spending and to get this country back on the track to fiscal health. Now, so far DOGE has had a lot of success. In just 2 months, they have identified $130 billion in potential savings by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse across the Federal Government. They hope that that number--and they fully expect that number--to reach $2 trillion by the time we get to Independence Day next year, which, by the way, will be our 250th birthday. Every American should be applauding this effort. Our children and grandchildren's future depends on a free America. But because he has been helping President Trump, he has become a target for the radical left, which has launched a domestic terrorism campaign against his company Tesla. In Las Vegas, suspects set Tesla vehicles on fire with Molotov cocktails; in Oregon, a man shot up a Tesla dealership; and across the country, Tesla owners have had their cars destroyed with arson and vandalism. Now, some of these Democrat-aligned groups are organizing a ``Global Day of Action'' on Saturday to target Tesla. The reason for this campaign is simple. In November, the American people rejected the left's radical agenda. They said: Enough of this. Well, our friends across the aisle have lost the debate, but instead of making a better pitch to voters, they are trying to stop Republicans with violence and intimidation. The Democrats spent the last 4 years denouncing domestic terrorism and supporting EVs, yet now they are eerily silent. And when they do comment, they celebrate Tesla's setbacks. Tim Walz, Democrats' failed VP candidate, claimed he gets a daily boost from checking on Tesla's stock price, which has declined amid the terrorism campaign. Democrat ally and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel seemed to endorse the violence, sarcastically telling his audience: Don't ever vandalize Tesla vehicles. Last week, Democrat Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett said all she wants for her birthday is to ``see Elon taken down.'' This rhetoric is inexcusable. And as the world's greatest legislative body, we should jointly condemn political violence. That is why I am asking for unanimous consent to pass the resolution that condemns the horrific acts of violence, arson, and domestic terrorism committed against Tesla dealerships and facilities. There is no reason why Democrats should oppose this resolution. Mr. President, as if in legislative session, and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 146, which is at the desk; further, I ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? The Senator from Connecticut. Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, reserving the right to object. Listen, come on, this resolution is not about violence or domestic terrorism. It just isn't. This is a resolution that says one thing and one thing only: Elon Musk is in charge. He matters more than anybody else. Musk is subject to a different set of rules than everybody else. The Trump administration serves him, not us. The Republican Party serves him, not us. Elon Musk, right now, is effectively stealing from the American people. He is combing through our government, awarding himself contracts and canceling contracts for his competitors. He is shutting down Agencies that stand in the way of his business, its growth. He is giving himself access to secret information about government enforcement actions against his competitors. He is also, at the same time, currently the largest funder of Republican politics in the Nation. He spent a quarter of a billion dollars backing President Trump's campaign. He recently told the President that he would contribute another $100 million to the President's political arm. And guess what? At that same time, the President stood on the White House lawn to give a taxpayer-funded commercial for Elon Musk's cars. That is corruption at a scale that we have not seen before in this country: the integration of the Trump White House and the Republican Party and the business interests of the richest man in the world. It is wrong. Now, this resolution claims to say something about domestic terrorism, but the only terrorism, the only violence it mentions is violence carried out against--you guessed it--Elon Musk. On an annual basis, there are 11,000 reported incidents of domestic terrorism--11,000. Only a handful of them impact Tesla dealerships, but they are the only acts of violence mentioned in this resolution. And 52 percent of the reported attacks were based on racial or ethnic targeting by radicalized attackers, but they aren't mentioned in this resolution. Only Elon Musk is mentioned in this resolution because a different set of rules applies to him, because he is in charge and he deserves protection that no one else gets. He deserves a White House TV commercial for his cars. He deserves to give himself contracts and steal from his competitors. He deserves to have his own resolution. And people are asking why? Why does the richest man in the country get this special treatment? To most people, it feels pretty fishy. It definitely feels wrong. Now, I hate violence of any kind, whether it is perpetrated against right, left, or center. I have spent my life on this floor fighting violence, but I also hate inconsistency. So I am going to make my colleague a pretty reasonable offer here. At the same time that President Trump is saying that he is going to vigorously pursue people that attack Tesla dealerships, he is giving pardons to the people who beat the hell out of Capitol Police officers. So I don't think that we should consent to a resolution that says we care about violence but only when it is committed against the business interests of the richest man in the world. And I have a way to solve that problem. Senator Murray has a really simple resolution, a resolution that expresses our disapproval of the pardons that were issued for the very specific set of individuals who on January 6 brutally attacked Capitol Police officers. Now, I understand that many of my Republican colleagues think the people who trespassed here shouldn't have been prosecuted. Let's set aside that disagreement. This resolution just says that the specific set of people who viciously attacked police officers--the ones that hit the police officers over the head with metal poles--that those people shouldn't have been given a ``Get Out of Jail Free'' card. And so why don't we just be consistent? Why don't we say that violence matters when it is committed against Elon Musk's dealerships, and it matters when it is committed against the people that protect us? And so my offer is to just pass both resolutions, right now, right now. We could just agree by unanimous consent to your resolution, and we could agree as a body that you shouldn't pardon the people who brutally beat the people who show up every day to protect us. They matter too. Elon Musk isn't the only person that matters. Capitol Police officers matter too. Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 56 (Thursday, March 27, 2025) Unanimous Consent Request--S. Res. 42 Mr. President, so I would ask the Senator to modify her request to add the following: that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 42, a resolution condemning the pardons for individuals who were found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police officers, that the resolution be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. If we agree to move forward on this unanimous consent, I think we can move forward on the Senator's request as well. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Moreno). Is there objection to the modification? Mrs. BLACKBURN. I object. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard. Is there an objection to the original request? Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, there is. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard. Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, to speak on my objection, I think it is important to note that the resolution I presented does not mention Elon Musk. The ``Resolved'' title in this--and by the way, it is really short is that the Senate condemns the horrific acts of violence, arson, and domestic terrorism committed against electric vehicles, car dealerships, and charging stations across the United States. Now, for years, my Democratic colleagues have come to the floor and supported EVs. Just last year, my colleague from Connecticut claimed, and I quote him, ``if we want to cut emissions and save the planet, we need more electric cars on the road.'' And as domestic terrorists target the largest EV company in the world, they refuse to condemn the violent actions. And in the past, he has also condemned vandalism and political violence. Now, as BLM rioters rampaged through American cities in the summer of 2020, he posted on X that ``Looting and property damage is bad.'' He deleted that post, but I will give him credit, his sentiment was right. And after an assassin's bullet almost took the life of then- Candidate Trump, he said: There is no room in America for political violence. He was right on that quote. And as we see a wave of political violence in our country today, Democrats should have no problem condemning it. Now, to the resolution from my colleague in Washington, I find it interesting that they want to talk about lawlessness. For years, they pushed policies that weaken law enforcement and promote crime. As BLM rioters rampaged through Seattle in 2020, my colleague called on the Department of Homeland Security to remove Federal agents from the city who were trying to quell the unrest. The U.S. Senate should be able to stand up to violence and support law and order. And today, they are stopping us from doing that. And when it comes to pardons, I think we should talk about pardons. In his final weeks in office, President Biden abused his pardon power to protect family members, free violent criminals, and make our country less safe. For years, President Biden claimed he would not pardon his son Hunter; yet, in December, Biden gave him an unconditional pardon for any Federal crimes he may have committed over the course of a decade. Such an abuse of Presidential pardon power has never happened in our Nation's history. Just months before, Hunter had been convicted of Federal gun crimes and tax offenses totaling $1.4 million. At the same time, evidence continued to mount that Hunter sold access to his father in foreign countries, including China and Russia. This was a multimillion-dollar influence peddling scheme and a Biden family affair. That is why just minutes before leaving office, the former President also pardoned his siblings and their spouses. They joined more than 8,000 people who received pardons and commutations from Joe Biden, including many violent criminals and murderers. With one foot out the door, before leaving office, he commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 men on Federal death row, including-- get this--Thomas Sanders, who kidnapped and then shot a 12-year-old girl, and he cut her throat. That is who Joe Biden decided to commute a sentence on. Anthony Battle, who murdered an Atlanta prison guard with a hammer in 1994 while serving a life sentence for raping and murdering his wife. And Kaboni Savage, who was convicted of committing and ordering the deaths of not 1 person or 2, 12 people--12 people, including 4 little children. If we should be condemning any pardons, we should start with violent criminals. To be clear, Senate Republicans strongly oppose any violence, especially toward our Nation's brave law enforcement. Our resolution states that all acts of violence are entirely unacceptable in the United States. I would encourage my colleagues to join me in passing this resolution. Instead, they have decided to play games with a sham counter resolution. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington. Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I have been unequivocal in saying: In this country, we use our voices and our votes--not violence--to advocate for change. I have said it many times. I will say it many times more. And I say it today. But you are sorely mistaken if you think I am going to sit here feet away from our Capitol Police officers and let the Senate say we stand by the richest men on the planet before saying we stand by the men and women who keep us safe every single day. Where is the solidarity for our officers here? And where, by the way, is the plaque that Congress passed into law honoring their sacrifice on January 6? Do I have to march down to Speaker Johnson's office, put it up on my own? You can hang it on my door. You just bring up the plaque; I will go get the nails and do it myself because I am not going to let anyone ever erase this history, and I am not going to let them paper it over with outrage on behalf of the richest man in the world. I have no problem condemning violence. I will do that any day of the week. I condemn attacks on our car owners and salespeople. I condemn destroying other people's personal property. This is not a new position for me. But you will have to excuse me if I don't take some Republicans seriously when they make this big show about law and order at the same time they are letting this President stab law enforcement in the back. I am not going to let Republicans get by selling a charade not weeks after they voted to freeze funding levels for law enforcement in a bill-- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Your time is expired. Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask for 3 additional minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered. Mrs. MURRAY. I am not going to let some Republicans get by selling a charade not weeks after they voted to freeze funding levels for law enforcement in a bill where House Republicans slashed DC's budget for police officers; not months after Trump tried to halt COPS grants and many Republicans didn't breathe a word about it; not when Trump is still in the middle of firing just about as many Federal law enforcement workers as he can get away with; and certainly not when some of my Republican colleagues are still ignoring how our lawless President continues to champion the very people who attacked our Capitol Police. Just this week, mere days ago, President Trump speculated about compensating people who committed crimes on January 6, about rewarding their violence with taxpayer dollars. Where is that outrage? Where is the condemnation? What are some of you waiting for? Don't you try for a single second to say: Oh, he is not talking about the violent ones. You all know better. We know better. Remember when you tried to say that about pardons? Remember how that worked out? Trump pardoned people who violently attacked police. They are back on the streets--except for the ones who already committed new crimes. I don't know how my colleagues keep forgetting what happened on January 6. I don't know how on Earth it is not burned into their memories. But President Trump is talking about people who attacked this building, our offices, our staff, our democracy. He is talking about people who smashed windows in that we walk by every day, people who brought bats and weapons to the halls where we meet our constituents, people who beat the Capitol Police who keep us safe every day, the Capitol Police who are standing guard even now, who sit right outside this Chamber. These are violent criminals, and President Trump is talking about them like heroes. He wants us to write them a check. Over my dead body, Mr. President. And I am going to say it again and again. Unlike some of my Republican colleagues, I will say the same for the people who burn Teslas and for the people who smash windows here at the Capitol. I am tired of watching this. I know our constituents are. We need to demand that Speaker Johnson hang that plaque that he-- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time is expired. Mrs. MURRAY. It is not too much to ask, and I hope this body recognizes that violence is violence, and we should condemn the attacks on January 6. I yield the floor. Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 56 (Thursday, March 27, 2025) Vote on Lawrence Nomination