U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn on Tuesday celebrated the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” by the U.S. Senate in a statement released hours after she successfully passed an amendment to kill a controversial part of the bill.
“Senate Republicans kept our promise to the American people and accomplished a once-in-a-generation victory for our country,” Blackburn said in a statement obtained by The Tennessee Star after she voted to pass the bill. “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act prevents the largest tax hike in American history and secures the largest tax cut ever for individuals and families who endured four years of crushing inflation and reckless spending.”
She said the bill would invest in the United States, strengthen border security, and provide relief from the Biden administration’s “failed economic agenda,” before encouraging the U.S. House to “finish the job and get this bill to President Trump’s desk by July 4th so Americans can celebrate a freer, safer, and more prosperous nation.”
The Senate passed this bill 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance being the tiebreaking vote.
Her remarks came just hours after Blackburn’s amendment to remove a proposed 10-year moratorium prohibiting states from creating laws regulating AI was successfully passed, with just Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) voting against the proposal.
The bill will now need to be approved by the House a second time to unify the language, as its version contained the controversial AI moratorium, as well as other elements that were changed in the Senate.
Despite their support for the bill, some House lawmakers have expressed doubts, with U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) confirming she was not aware of the moratorium when casting her vote.
“I am adamantly opposed to this and it is a violation of state rights and I would have voted no if I had known this was in there,” said Greene early last month. “We have no idea what AI will be capable of in the next 10 years and giving it free rein and tying states’ hands is potentially dangerous. This needs to be stripped out in the Senate.”
Although some have argued that the moratorium is necessary to prevent states like California, where Democrats hold a trifecta and many Big Tech companies are located, from setting the regulatory standard for AI, others have argued that it would provide a boon to Silicon Valley.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti made such an argument during a press conference with Blackburn last month, when he warned the House version of the bill, “leaves us completely at the mercy of tech companies, with no possible check on it.”
Notably, a moratorium would also prohibit the enforcement of Tennessee’s Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act, which aims to protect musical artists and creative professionals from having their likeness stolen by AI.
After the House passed its version of the bill, containing the proposed moratorium, State Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixson) said he was concerned about possible federal overreach.
“States like Tennessee have been working at this for a couple of years now. In Tennessee, we established the AI council, and have enacted laws around issues like Deep Fakes, images, and pornography,” said Watson. “States are much more nimble and agile than the federal government in addressing regulations around AI. Big tech would love to subject AI to the glacial pace at which Congress moves rather than the efficiency of the States.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Marsha Blackburn” by Marsha Blackburn.
