{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/9/crime/technology/icymi-blackburn-joins-my-view-with-lara-trump-to-discuss-memphis-crime-crackdown-kids-online-safety-act-and-charlie-kirk", "ICYMI: Blackburn Joins \u2018My View with Lara Trump\u2019 to Discuss Memphis Crime Crackdown, Kids Online Safety Act, and Charlie Kirk", "2025-09-22", "2025", "2025-09", "Republican", "Senate", "TN", "Marsha Blackburn", "B001243", "www.blackburn.senate.gov", "blackburn", "https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/news/cc8c80c1-d564-4bbb-93a4-f1d772346ae0", "scraper", "NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2013 U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Fox News\u2019 My View with Lara Trump to discuss President Trump\u2019s crime crackdown in Memphis, her legislation to combat juvenile crime, the urgent need to pass her Kids Online Safety Act, and the political assassination of Charlie Kirk. Excerpts of Senator Blackburn\u2019s interview are below, and video can be downloaded here.\n\nClick here to download Senator Blackburn\u2019s interview with Lara Trump.\n\nEXCERPTS OF INTERVIEW ON \u2018MY VIEW WITH LARA TRUMP\u2019\n\nOn President Trump\u2019s Crime Crackdown in Memphis:\n\n\u201cWe are so grateful to President Trump and his administration. When Kash Patel came here to talk with me about his nomination [and] confirmation, I gave him a sheet of crime stats, and it was Memphis. I said, \u2018We need your help.\u2019 And he\u2019s been true to his word. So has AG Bondi and President Trump.\n\n\u201cKash went in very quietly this summer. They arrested over 500 gang members, got over 100 indictments, confiscated over 100 illegal firearms, and that has paid big dividends for Memphis. That was phase one. This is phase two.\n\n\u201cHaving the National Guard\u2026 and also ATF, DEA, Homeland Security, [and] U.S. Marshals all there to back up the Memphis police force and help them sustain this great work of the FBI, this is how we\u2019re going to Make Memphis Safe Again.\n\n\u201cThe stats we saw from this August were the best stats that Memphis has had in years so we welcome the help, we welcome the [National] Guard, and we\u2019re grateful to the President for his commitment.\u201d\n\nOn Combating Juvenile Crime and Carjacking:\n\n\u201cThe truancy policy for Memphis city schools is not enforced, [and] that needs to be enforced. We\u2019ve spoken with local leaders about that. Gangs recruit in those 3:00-6:00 o\u2019clock hours\u2026 We need these children to be in school, and after school, we need somewhere for them to go until parents get home.\n\n\u201cWe have so many juveniles that are recruited by the gangs so the gang leader has the juvenile go commit the crime and do the carjacking or the smash-and-grab, and then they go to juvenile court when they\u2019re apprehended and then they\u2019re let right back out to go back to the gang and carry out another crime.\n\n\u201cRaising carjacking to the felony offense so that we can actually prosecute and we can make certain that these juveniles are going to be put into a program where they\u2019re not going to be back out committing crimes [and] these gangs are not going to be able to prey on these children and have them do the dirty work.\u201d\n\nOn Senator Blackburn\u2019s Kids Online Safety Act:\n\n\u201cAs a mom and a grandmother, I see firsthand what happens to children in the virtual space. We have laws in the physical space that protect children from harm. We don\u2019t have anything in the virtual space.\n\n\u201cThe Kids Online Safety Act would put that duty of care on the social media platform. They would have to provide a toolbox for kids and parents so that they can delink from these algorithms.\n\n\u201cIf a child is going to meet a drug dealer, a pedophile, a human trafficker, a predator, it is most likely going to happen in the virtual space\u2026 When children are online, they\u2019re the product.\u201d\n\nOn Charlie Kirk\u2019s Political Assassination:\n\n\u201c[I am] heartsick and just devastated being someone that spoke at Turning Point events, knew Charlie [and] cheered for him. [I was] thrilled when he met Erika and know that she was just such an important part of his life, and we grieve with them in this season of sorrow.\n\n\u201cThere is no place for this kind of political violence in our society, and I encourage my colleagues across the aisle [to] stand up against this [and] speak out against this. It has to come to a stop.\u201d\n\nRELATED\n\nVIDEO: Blackburn Pays Tribute to Charlie Kirk, Reflects on His Personal Impact and National Legacy\n\nVIDEO: Blackburn Joins President Trump at White House for Announcement of \u201cMemphis Safe Task Force\u201d to Combat Crime\n\nBlackburn Applauds President Trump\u2019s Decision to Send National Guard to Memphis", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/9/crime/technology/icymi-blackburn-joins-my-view-with-lara-trump-to-discuss-memphis-crime-crackdown-kids-online-safety-act-and-charlie-kirk"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.396847052499652, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}