This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio On Monday, I visited Jacksonville Classical Academy, a trailblazing tuition-free public charter school, to learn about the school’s curriculum and philosophy. I toured the facility and spoke with New4Jax to discuss school choice and my staunch support for safely reopening our nation’s schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure in-person learning. Read more here.  On Monday, as the former Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the author of the historic Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), I visited Jacksonville’s Rethreaded, a local small business and PPP recipient, that employs human trafficking survivors. Thanks to its PPP loan, no one had to be laid off due to the pandemic. During my visit, I recognized Rethreaded with the official Congressional Record acknowledging them as a Small Business of the Week. Read more here.  On Monday, I met with local leaders and constituents in The Villages and held a forum on my legislative efforts. Read more here.  On Monday, I visited Chop House at Lake Sumter, a small business in The Villages. Read more here.  On Tuesday, I held a bilingual roundtable discussion with local small business owners from diverse industries in the Orlando area who received forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans during the pandemic. The small business owners and entrepreneurs described how this historic program helped underserved and minority-owned small businesses stay afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here.  On Tuesday, following the roundtable, I spoke to the press about current events and the important issues I had discussed with local small business owners. Read more here.  On Tuesday, I toured Walter Farms in Polk County to discuss my efforts to counter the influx of blueberry imports due to unfair trade practices by countries like Mexico. I also held a roundtable with the Florida Farm Bureau and the Polk County Farm Bureau to discuss a range of issues including seasonal produce, farm labor issues, and natural resource management. Read more here.  On Tuesday, following the tour and the roundtable, I was humbled to receive the Friend of Florida Farm Bureau Award for my leadership on Florida agricultural issues. Read more here.  On Thursday, I released a statement after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against Florida in Florida v. Georgia regarding water flow into Florida's Apalachicola Bay. Read more here.  On Monday, I sent a letter to U.S. Department of the Navy Acting Secretary Thomas Harker urging the U.S. Navy to use the USS Bonhomme Richard as an artificial reef in the waters off Florida, which would be a more economically and ecologically productive alternative to scrapping the vessel and a more fitting way to honor those who served on the ship. Read more here.  Last week, I joined The American Conservative’s podcast, Right Now, with Helen Andrews, Arthur Bloom, and Ryan Girdusky to discuss Amazon, dignified work in America, and how best to support working families across our country. Listen to the full interview here.  On Thursday, I sent a letter to Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian calling on the airline to “speak out against the Chinese Communist Party’s genocide and immediately unravel your business relationship with the genocidal regime.” Read more here.  On Monday, I sent a letter to Isabelle Guzman, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), urging the SBA to provide flexibility to small businesses with multiple locations when assessing their eligibility for COVID-19 relief programs administered by the SBA. Read more here.  On Monday, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and I sent a letter, along with more than a dozen of our colleagues, to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra requesting that the agency evaluate its ability to expand the existing organ donation network to include preterm and stillborn infant donors, so as to provide an ethical alternative to aborted fetal tissue. The letter also makes it clear that under no circumstance should scientific research and experimentation use cells or tissues derived from abortion. Read more here.  Last week, I joined Yahoo Finance to reflect on the first anniversary of the Paycheck Protection Program and discuss its successes. Watch the interview here.  On Wednesday, I issued a statement after the U.S. Department of State published its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Read more here. 
Legislation Introduced- Last Thursday, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and I reintroduced the Fair Trade with China Enforcement Act , legislation that would safeguard American assets from Chinese influence and possession and help to blunt China’s tools of economic aggression. Read more here.
- Last Thursday, Senators Rick Scott (R-FL), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Kennedy (R-LA), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Barrasso (R-WY), and I introduced the Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act, to prohibit federal funds from being used to buy solar panels from companies based in China, or entities controlled by or tied to the Communist Party of China which are known for using forced labor. Read more here.
In Case You Missed It...“[A]s Marco Rubio, who has become the national park's most vigorous champion in the Senate, said in a letter to President Biden earlier this month, a healthy Everglades has other vital uses as well.” (Biden’s Chance to Save the Everglades, New York Times, 03/27/21) “Just days after voting to extend the nation’s Paycheck Protection Program, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, made a stop in The Villages Monday to see for himself how the program helped save businesses and jobs locally.” (Payroll aid recharges Villages businesses, The Villages Daily Sun, 03/30/21) “Sen. Rubio meets with small business leaders in Orlando” (Click Orlando, 03/30/21) “Rubio touts school choice in visit to Jacksonville charter school” (News4Jax, 03/29/21) “Senador Marco Rubio conversa con comerciantes del área” (Telemundo 31 Orlando, 03/31/21) “‘The damage caused by Hurricane Michael was catastrophic,’ Rubio said in a statement to News 13. ‘It is completely unacceptable that the federal bureaucracy is slow walking the distribution of critical resources and grinding the recovery to a halt. FEMA leadership needs to answer for its failure to work with our local communities.’” (Senators respond to local FEMA frustrations, WMBB Panama City, 03/26/21) “Marco Rubio Urges Navy to Use Damaged Ship as Artificial Reef Off Florida Coast” (Florida Daily, 03/30/21) “Rubio Faults Delta on China After CEO Critiques Georgia Law” (Bloomberg, 04/01/21) “Rubio, who has been sanctioned and banned by the Communist Party of China, commented that ‘Beijing has made it clear that to do business in China, you must leave American values behind.’” (Senate Bill Bans Communist Chinese Manufactured Solar Panels, The Floridian, 03/31/21) “Sens. Scott, Rubio join bipartisan group to reintroduce veterans service dog bill” (WTXL Tallahassee, 03/28/21) | 
No comments:
Post a Comment