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This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio
On Tuesday, I joined Fox and Friends to discuss Senate Republicans’ HEALS Act, which includes my new small business relief package, the presidential election, the possibility of a safe return to youth team sports in the fall, and COVID-19 cases in South Florida. Watch the full interview here.
On Monday, Representative Frederica Wilson (D-FL) and I applauded the House for passage of the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys Act, which will establish the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys. The Commission will be housed within the United States Commission on Civil Rights’ Office and is tasked with recommending policies to improve current government programs. The Senate unanimously passed the bill on June 25, 2020 and it now heads to the President for signature. Read more here.
On Tuesday, I led the Florida congressional delegation in urging U.S. Air Force Assistant Secretary John Henderson to consider eight Florida locations for the future home of the United States Space Command (SPACECOM). Read more here.
On Wednesday, I joined Shannon Bream on Fox News to discuss the NBA’s involvement in China, human rights abuses against the Uyghurs, the possibility of the United States disengaging from China, and the Senate’s efforts to pass an additional federal relief package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch the full interview here.
On Monday, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I joined Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, in introducing the Continuing Small Business Recovery and Paycheck Protection Program Act , a federal relief package that builds on the success of the bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and other small business relief programs in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The package aims to ensure small businesses, including minority-owned firms and those in underserved communities, have the necessary resources to weather the COVID-19 pandemic. The nearly $60 billion long-term recovery loan program would target low-income communities, minority-owned, and seasonal businesses. Read more here.
On Wednesday, Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) and I announced that the HEALS package of legislation includes the Safeguarding American Innovation Act , which seeks to stop foreign governments from stealing American taxpayer-funded research and intellectual property developed at U.S. colleges and universities. The inclusion of the Safeguarding American Innovation Act will safeguard the billions of taxpayer dollars included in the HEALS package for vaccine, treatment, and other COVID-19 related research and will help ensure that we are doing everything possible to protect this vital research and to safeguard the investment of the American people. Read more here.
On Monday, I published an op-ed in USA Today discussing the need for Congress to consider adaptive funds not only to open schools safely, but also to make sure our nation’s high school athletes have a chance to compete this fall. Read the full article here.
On Thursday, I spoke during a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Hearing on the Review of the FY2021 State Department Budget Request, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Read the full transcript of my remarks here and watch a video of my remarks here.
On Thursday, as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations’ Subcommittee that oversees human rights and democracy and author of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act , I issued the following statement after Hong Kong’s government announced it was barring 12 pro-democracy candidates from running in the upcoming Legislative Council election. Read more here.
On Friday, I issued a statement after the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, imposed sanctions against Sun Jinlong, a former Political Commissar of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and Peng Jiarui, the Deputy Party Secretary and Commander of the XPCC for their their links to egregious human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Additionally, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the XPCC for their connection to forced labor and the mass interment of Muslim minorities in the XUAR. Read more here.
On Tuesday, I joined Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Rick Scott (R-FL) in sending a letter to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf expressing concern over the Chinese social-media service, TikTok. Specifically, we wrote that TikTok could enable the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to engage in influence operations against the United States, including operations designed to interfere with our elections. Read more here.
On Friday, I released a statement following reports that the Trump Administration will soon order ByteDance to divest of its ownership of TikTok’s U.S. operations. Read more here.
On Tuesday, as Acting Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I joined Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) in making public newly declassified material as part of the report titled “Review of the Intelligence Community Assessment,” the fourth and penultimate volume in the Committee’s bipartisan Russia investigation. The newly declassified material comes as a result of recent Department of Justice (DOJ) and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) disclosures. Following the release of the material, Senator Warner and I released a joint statement. Read more here.
On Wednesday, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and I released statements after the Department of State issued its report on the state of restitution of Holocaust-era assets. This report is required by a law co-authored by Senator Baldwin and I, the Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act and is the U.S. government’s first-ever comprehensive review of its kind. The report highlights the progress and challenges among certain European countries on the return of, or restitution for, wrongfully confiscated or transferred Holocaust-era assets. Read more here.
On Friday, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and I sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging the State Department to designate Vietnam a Country of Particular Concern for its religious freedom violations and consider enacting Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act sanctions to reverse its declining human rights situation. Read more here.
On Sunday, as Acting Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I joined Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in issuing a statement in support of the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), Bill Evanina. Read more here.
On Wednesday, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I named Hydra Engineering and Construction of Crawfordville, FL as the U.S. Senate Small Business of the Week. Read more here.
Legislation Introduced
- On Monday, I joined Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) in introducing a bipartisan resolution calling for a free, fair, and transparent presidential election in Belarus taking place on August 9, 2020, including the unimpeded participation of all presidential candidates. Read more here.
- On Wednesday, following the State Department’s decision to close the Chinese Consulate in Houston in response to evidence of espionage and intellectual property theft, I joined Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) in introducing the Protecting America from Spies Act , a bill that would allow the Department of State to deny visas to individuals who have committed acts of espionage or intellectual property theft against the United States. Read more here.
- On Thursday, Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mitt Romney (R-UT), and I introduced legislation that would provide increased Economic Impact Payments (EIP) to American families by equalizing EIPs per person, regardless of age or dependent status. This legislation also includes an eligibility provision from Senator Rubio’s American Citizen Coronavirus Relief Act , which would amend the CARES Act to allow American citizens who are married to a foreign national to also receive EIP. Read more here.
- On Thursday, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and I introduced the Air America Act of 2020 (S. 4380), bipartisan legislation that would allow Air America employees to be eligible for federal retirement benefits. The legislation is identical to an amendment that I filed to this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and continues my past support for these Americans. Read more here.
In Case You Missed It...
“Rubio: We need safe team sports this fall. Let's help schools protect young athletes.” (USA Today, 07/27/20)
“‘He can suggest whatever he wants. The law is what it is. We’re going to have an election that’s legitimate, it’s going to be credible, it’s going to be the same as we’ve always done it,’ Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters.” (Republicans flat-out reject Trump’s suggestion to delay election, POLITICO, 07/30/20)
“Congress passes Wilson, Rubio bill to study societal forces affecting Black men” (Miami Herald, 07/27/20)
“Sen. Marco Rubio: Passing next COVID-19 relief package won't be easy but we'll 'get there'” (Fox News, 07/28/20)
“Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Susan Collins introduced legislation Monday that would commit $190 billion for small-business relief, including allowing the hardest-hit small employers to receive a second forgivable loan.” (Senate GOP proposal would give second round of forgivable loans to hardest-hit small businesses, Washington Examiner, 07/27/20)
“The Republican-controlled Senate released its proposal for further aiding small businesses during this unprecedented downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Of course, the seven-page detailed outline released by Senator Marco Rubio’s office will probably be different in the bill’s final form. But let’s hope not too different. That’s because it offers up at least three big things that will significantly help many struggling small businesses.” (The Guardian, 07/29/20)
“‘Restitution for those individuals whose property was seized during the Holocaust is long overdue,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. ‘We must continue to press our friends and allies in Europe and ensure survivors are provided the justice they deserve and are able to live out their days in dignity.’” (US hits Poland, others in Europe over Holocaust claims, Associated Press, 07/29/20)
“Optimistic signs on Venezuela for Sens. Marco Rubio, Rick Scott” (Florida Politics, 07/30/20)
“Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio Team Up on Protecting America From Spies Act” (Florida Daily, 07/29/20)
“McConnell, Rubio defend senior intel official over remarks on election interference” (The Hill, 07/26/20)
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