Washington, D.C. – Today is Memorial Day, an opportunity to pause and reflect on the brave men and women from Tennessee and across our country who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedoms. More than 400,000 veterans call our state home, and it is truly an honor to serve and represent so many service members in the U.S. Senate.
They are the best that our country has to offer, and the loss of any single one of them is felt deeply across our state. We can never repay their sacrifice, but we can make certain our nation does not forget their service. I hope this Memorial Day, every American takes time to reflect on the service of our fallen heroes.
As a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I am committed to ensuring that our service members and veterans receive the care, honor, and respect that they have earned. Read more about my work to support veterans here. Watch the remarks I delivered on the Senate floor ahead of Memorial Day here.
Weekly Rundown
Those helping law enforcement in the fight against child sexual exploitation must be able to securely store evidence of these horrific crimes. Third-party law enforcement vendors need the ability to store and handle this investigative material without facing criminal or civil liability. This week, the Senate passed my bipartisan Safe Cloud Storage Act to ensure investigators can securely handle and store evidence of child sexual abuse material in the cloud by providing limited liability protections. This builds on my REPORT Act, which was signed into law in 2024. I’m pleased this bill is one step closer to becoming law and holding vicious predators accountable for vile crimes. Read more here.
This week, I introduced a revised version of my bipartisan Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act to protect the voice and visual likenesses of individuals and creators from the proliferation of digital replicas created without their consent. AI should empower innovation–-not give scammers and online predators a free pass to exploit someone’s voice and visual likeness without permission. From artists and songwriters to students and everyday Americans, people deserve meaningful protections against deceptive deepfakes and digital impersonation. The NO FAKES Act would establish clear guardrails that protect the creative community in Tennessee and nationwide, and we are grateful to have more support than ever before for this bipartisan and bicameral legislation. Read more here.
On Wednesday, I led a hearing examining the rapid expansion of sports betting in the United States, the industry’s growing impact on the integrity of games, and the need to protect vulnerable young people from gambling addiction. Our young men are in crisis—with over a third of boys between the ages of 11 and 17 admitting to gambling in the last year. Sixty percent of those who have seen gambling content online said they had it surfaced through social media algorithms. This isn’t safe, and it needs to stop. Click here to watch the full hearing. Read more here.
On May 1st, 2019, Mason Bogard had just hugged his parents goodnight. Moments later, his parents found his lifeless body after he recorded himself trying a viral social media challenge called the “choking game.” Mason hadn’t searched for the video. YouTube’s algorithm pushed it into his feed. Last week, I led an important hearing, where Mason’s mother testified to demand accountability from Big Tech giants that put profit over children’s safety. While the recent verdicts out of California and New Mexico prove that courts can punish past harms, it is up to Congress to prevent future ones. That’s why Congress must give minors the same protections in the virtual space that we require for every other industry. Read my weekly column about this here.
Marsha’s Roundup
ICYMI
Last week, 363 heroes’ names were added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial here in our nation’s capital—including three from Tennessee: Hugh Carlen of Putnam County, James Hood of Jonesborough, and Deputy Sheriff Justin Bradford Mowery of Blount County. The candlelight vigil provided a powerful moment to reflect on their sacrifices. See more here.
I spoke at a rally in front of the U.S. Capitol, where I joined mothers and fathers who have lost their children to social media harms to urge Congress to pass the Senate version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) following Mother’s Day. Read more here.
