The headline reads, "These 7 State Senators Put Joe Biden's FBI Before Tennesseans." And there's my picture, along with a handful of my colleagues, who - along with me - are considered among the most conservative state legislators in the nation.

So what did we do? We didn't give a motion or second on a bill that was claimed to keep the FBI out of Tennessee. The text went on to say, "TN's Senate Judiciary Committee just KILLED a bill that would empower democratically elected law enforcement officers & stop the weaponization of the FBI. State Republicans can't just hope that the FBI will fix itself...they must take concrete actions to defang Biden's woke and weaponized federal agencies." That's a big claim. Is it true? Read on...

Here is the bill followed by the amendment that the sponsor was going to use to rewrite the bill:

SENATE BILL 2804 By Hensley

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38, Title 39 and Title 40, relative to criminal offenses.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 38-6-102(a), is amended by deleting "two (2)" and substituting "one (1)".

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.

Now the amendment the sponsor presented to rewrite the bill:

AMEND Senate Bill No. 2804 by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting:

SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38, Chapter 8, Part 1, is amended by adding the following new section:

In the event a law enforcement agency within this state nominates personnel to be deputized as a federal task force officer on a joint terrorism task force, the chief law enforcement officer from the nominee's respective law enforcement agency must approve each national security investigation in which the nominee participates.

SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2024, the public welfare requiring it.

There you go. That's it. That's what was presented to us by the sponsor; no other language was presented. It has nothing to do with keeping the FBI out of Tennessee or stopping the weaponization of the FBI. If we thought it could, we would have voted for it. Thanks for reading, Kerry