This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio Last Saturday, I surveyed the damage caused by Hurricane Sally and met with local officials to discuss recovery efforts in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties. Read more here.  On Wednesday, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and I applauded the House passage of legislation to name a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic in St. Johns County, Florida after Private First Class Leo C. Chase, Jr., the first man from St. Johns County to be killed in the Vietnam War. I introduced this legislation in May 2019 alongside Representatives John Rutherford (R-FL) and Michael Waltz (R-FL), who introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives. The bill now heads to the President’s desk for signature. Read more here.  Last Friday, I issued a statement after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Read more here.  On Monday, I released a statement regarding President Trump’s intent to submit a nominee to the Senate to fill the current vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States. Read more here.  On Sunday, I joined Sunday Morning Futures to discuss Florida’s role in the 2020 election, the possibility of a deal between TikTok and Oracle, and the actions of the FBI in the Russia investigation. Watch the full interview here. 
On Wednesday, I joined the Hudson Institute for a conversation on U.S. foreign policy, common good capitalism, and the future of the Republican Party. Watch the full interview here.  On Tuesday, as Acting Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I released a statement after speaking on the Senate floor regarding Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) obstruction of Senate committee business, including an SSCI scheduled briefing with the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) Bill Evanina. Read more here.  On Friday, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I released a statement after Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blocked a bipartisan resolution, cosponsored by 38 Senators, recognizing the week of September 20, 2020 as “National Small Business Week.” The bipartisan resolution has passed the Senate every year since 2005. This is the 57th year the designation has been made by the President of the United States and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Read more here.  On Wednesday, I issued a statement after the Trump Administration announced amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), which is targeting sources of revenue for corrupt members of the Cuban dictatorship and military. Read more here.  On Thursday, Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) and I applauded the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs for reporting our bipartisan legislation to increase funeral benefits for eligible veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Our Burial Rights for America’s Veterans’ Efforts (BRAVE) Act would update the current burial benefit to treat all non-service connected deaths equally, regardless of where the veteran passes away. The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration. Read more here.  On Tuesday, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I named Beckwith Electric Company of Largo, FL as the U.S. Senate Small Business of the Week. Read more here. 
Legislation Introduced- On Thursday, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I joined Senator Angus King (I-ME) in leading a bipartisan group of our Senate colleagues to introduce the Providing Resources for Emergency Preparedness and Resilient Enterprises (PREPARE) Act . The legislation would reauthorize the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Pre-Disaster Mitigation Pilot Program to give small businesses the opportunity to take out low-interest loans for the purpose of proactively implementing mitigation measures to protect their property from future disaster related damage. Read more here.
- On Monday, I joined Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, in introducing the Combating Trafficking of Cuban Doctors Act . This new bill seeks to strengthen accountability for the Cuban regime’s documented human trafficking and exploitation of Cuban doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals through the so-called ‘foreign medical missions’. Read more here.
- On Thursday, Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and I were joined by Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Mitt Romney (R-UT), and Chris Van-Hollen (D-MD) in introducing the bipartisan Holding Russia Accountable for Malign Activities Act of 2020. This bill would impose targeted sanctions on Russian officials complicit in brazen violations of international law, including the recent poisoning of opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny. Read more here.
- On Friday, Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and I introduced the bipartisan Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act of 2020 to establish national standards for sustainable offshore aquaculture. Read more here.
In Case You Missed It...“Hurricane Sally: Sen. Marco Rubio meets with Pensacola community and officials” (Pensacola News Journal, 09/19/2020) “Marco Rubio encourages President Trump to press forward with Supreme Court nomination” (Florida Politics, (09/21/20) “Rubio on peaceful transfer of power: 'We will have a legitimate & fair election'” (The Hill, 09/24/20) “[Marco Rubio] has been advocating for an industrial policy for the past year, saying there’s an urgent need for American policymakers to set and pursue economic priorities in order to counter a growing China. He called it the 21st Century Pro-American Industrial Policy.” (Voice of America, 09/22/20) “Plans are almost final to name the new St. Johns County VA clinic after Leo Chase Jr., a local man who died fighting in the Vietnam War. This week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation, which U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz and Sen. Marco Rubio introduced.” (Bill to name VA clinic after Leo Chase Jr. advances, The St. Augustine Record, 09/24/20) “Rubio on potential TikTok deal: If CCP continues to control coding, company location doesn't matter” (Fox News, 09/21/20) “Rubio says every intelligence agency warned FBI not to rely on 'ridiculous' Steele dossier” (Washington Examiner, 09/20/20) “Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-NJ) introduced legislation on Monday that would require the U.S. government to investigate the Pan-American Health Organization’s (PAHO) role in helping Cuba enslave thousands of doctors, an industry that generates billions for the communist regime.” (Senate Bill Demands Probe into U.N. Role in Cuba’s Billion-Dollar Slave Doctor Industry, Breitbart, 09/22/20) “The bill, introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) with a companion bill in the Senate by Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), requires corporations to prove with ‘clear and convincing evidence’ that products from China's Xinjiang region ‘are not made with forced labor.’” (House votes to ban U.S. products made with forced labor in Xinjiang, Axios, 09/22/20) “Rubio Says Schumer Threw ‘Temper Tantrum’ To Block Intel Briefing On Election Interference” (Daily Caller, 09/22/20) | 
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