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Sen. Blackburn Meets with Local Leaders
Blackburn
Pictured from left are Smithville Alderman Beth Chandler, DeKalb Solid Waste Director James Goff, DeKalb County Mayor Matt Adcock, EMS Director Hoyte Hale, Smithville/DeKalb Chamber of Commerce Suzanne Williams, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Republican Party Clint Hall, Smithville Manager Hunter Hendrixson, Smithville Mayor Josh Miller, DeKalb Property Assessor Shannon Cantrell, DeKalb Director of Schools Patrick Cripps, and Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins.



U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn made a stop in Smithville last Thursday afternoon as part of her 95-county tour across Tennessee. During a meeting at Smithville City Hall, Blackburn met with local city and county officials to hear their concerns for Tennessee and the local communities.

While the contents of the meeting were considered off the record, after the meeting, Sen. Blackburn talked with the Smithville Review about some of the high-profile hearings she has been involved in recently, including the recent impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Sen. Blackburn said that Mayorkas’ failure to secure the U.S-Mexico border led to the action.

In a historic rebuke, the House impeached Mayorkas 214-213. With the return of Majority Leader Steve Scalise to bolster the GOP’s numbers after being away from Washington for cancer care and a Northeastern storm impacting some others, Republicans recouped — despite dissent from their own ranks.

“The House moved forward to impeach him because our borders are not secure,” Sen. Blackburn said in an interview. “He has failed. His job description is to protect the sovereignty of the nation and he has failed in that regard. He then came to congress and told a little white lie, sitting down for his hearings and saying that the border is secure.”

Sen. Blackburn said that Democrats are asking for new legislation to tackle the crisis, but that it could be solved with laws already in place.

“Joe Biden, in his first 100 days in office, he carried out 94 executive actions that weakened immigration protections, weakened immigration law, and opened up the border. This is a crisis of Joe’s making,” Sen Blackburn explained.

“He could rescind every one of those 94 actions and he could do it with the stroke of a pen. He’s chosen not to do that and now he’s trying to blame Republicans for the open border, and say, ‘If you’ll just pass one more bill then I’ll go secure the border.’ Well, he can secure it today.”

Sen. Blackburn also said that she voted against a bill to help fund Ukraine, Israel, and Tiawan due to the administration’s stance on immigration. “I was a “no” vote on that because I feel like we need to tend to our borders before we tend to the borders of Ukraine, Israel, and Tiawan. I want to support all of those, and I want us to do our part for them, but the very first thing we need to do is secure our borders.”