Marsha Blackburn

As Senate Republicans continue advancing their legislative agenda following the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, colleagues are remembering the South Carolina Republican not only for his decades of public service but also for the issues he championed during his final months in office.

Speaking with The National News Desk, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn said Graham's work on election integrity remained one of his top priorities.

"We did have some legislation that we were working on because it is important to get the SAVE America Act passed," Blackburn said.

According to Blackburn, Graham believed ensuring the integrity of federal elections was fundamental to maintaining public confidence in the voting process.

"To Lindsey, this was vital to make certain that each person knew their vote was going to be counted and that it was not going to be canceled out by people that were in the country illegally," she said.

Blackburn also highlighted her own Election Security Partnership Act, legislation she said would encourage states to verify voter registration lists using the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE database.

The system contains information on the immigration status of individuals living in the United States.

"If you check your voter roll against that, it will boot out people that are not eligible to vote," Blackburn said.

Under her proposal, states that use the system would receive additional federal grant funding.

"It's incentivizing people for doing the right thing and following the rule of law," she said.

The interview also addressed the Senate confirmation process for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Although questions remain about whether all Republican senators will support moving Blanche's nomination forward, Blackburn expressed confidence he will ultimately be confirmed.

"In the Senate Judiciary Committee, we will have the vote to move Todd Blanche out of committee," she said. "He will be confirmed as the attorney general."

Blackburn praised Blanche's performance during his confirmation hearing.

"I thought he did such a solid job yesterday," she said. "He was ready for it, and he handled the questions well."

The discussion then turned to Blackburn's proposed Ban Birth Tourism Act, legislation aimed at restricting the practice commonly referred to as birth tourism.

Blackburn argued that organized businesses help foreign nationals travel to the United States for the purpose of giving birth so their children receive U.S. citizenship.

"Birth tourism is an activity that really circumvents the U.S. citizenship protocol," Blackburn said.

According to Blackburn, the practice primarily involves wealthy individuals from China and Russia.

"A woman will come into the country, she will give birth, she will get the Social Security number, the birth certificate, the passport for the baby, and then she will exit the country," she said.

Blackburn said she believes the practice undermines the nation's immigration system.

"Ending this sale of our U.S. citizenship is imperative," she said.

The interview concluded with a discussion of a newly released platform from the Democratic Socialists of America that includes proposals such as abolishing the U.S. Senate and granting amnesty to immigrants in the country unlawfully.

Blackburn sharply criticized those ideas.

"The Democrat socialists have gone to the far, far left," she said.

She argued that most Americans do not support those proposals.

"That is not what we, the people with a capital 'P,' want to see happen," Blackburn said.

Looking back on the nation's recent America250 celebrations, Blackburn drew a historical comparison while warning about what she sees as the ideological direction of the far left.

"Two hundred and fifty years ago, the battle cry was 'The British are coming,'" Blackburn said. "Two hundred and fifty years later today, the battle cry is 'The Communists are coming,' and the Democrat socialists are leading the way on this."

As Senate Republicans continue advancing nominations and legislative priorities, Blackburn said she believes Lindsey Graham's work on election security and national policy will continue influencing the conference long after his passing.