FLORIDA - SENATOR MARCO RUBIO eNEWSLETTER 04/30/2021

 

This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio  On Thursday, I sent a letter to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge requesting immediate action to ensure sanitary and safe living conditions for constituents living at Eastside Terrace Apartments and Eastside Gardens Apartments in Jacksonville, Florida. The letter further raises concern that other properties may be in similar condition throughout Florida, and calls for the Secretary to resume affordable housing inspections of HUD assisted properties, which have been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here.     On Wednesday, Senators Rick Scott (R-FL), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and I filed an amendment to the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 to modernize the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). The CWSRF is a critically important federal funding mechanism that provides low-interest loans to states to upgrade and construct wastewater infrastructure. Unfortunately, the formula by which CWSRF monies are provided to the states has not been notably modified since 1987. As a result, the current formula is inequitable and disadvantages states with growing infrastructure needs. On Thursday, I released a statement after the Senate rejected my amendment, which would have benefited 35 states, including Florida, in addition to territories and Native American Tribes. I also spoke on the Senate floor before the vote. Read more here.     On Wednesday, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and I urged U.S. Department of the Navy Acting Secretary Thomas Harker to repair facilities at Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) and to hold Balfour Beatty accountable for failing to repair on-base housing that was damaged by Hurricane Sally. Read more here.     On Thursday, I published an op-ed in the Orlando Sentinel discussing the critical role that the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which I co-authored, has played in keeping businesses open amid the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 430,000 businesses across our state received forgivable PPP loans, and 3 million Floridians remain employed because of them. Read the full article here.    On Sunday, I published an op-ed in the New York Post explaining why woke corporations that undermine American values no longer deserve GOP support. Read the full article here.     On Tuesday, I joined Fox & Friends to discuss woke corporations and reports that Former Secretary of State John Kerry leaked intelligence to Iran. Watch the full interview here.    On Wednesday, I released a video message ahead of President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress outlining the steps I have taken to make life more affordable for hardworking American families in order to secure a more prosperous future. Watch the video here.    On Thursday, I joined America’s Newsroom to discuss President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress, the border crisis, and more. Watch the full interview here.    On Wednesday, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and I released a joint statement in response to President Joe Biden’s proposed child allowance plan, which would represent a return to the failed welfare system of the 1990s. In our statement, we called on our colleagues in Congress to join us and pursue meaningful, bipartisan relief for working families by building on our plan to once again dramatically expand the child tax credit. Read more here.     On Thursday, I issued a statement following President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress, during which the president failed to mention the ongoing crises caused by the Díaz-Canel/Castro, Maduro, and Ortega regimes. Read more here.    On Friday, as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and I released a joint statement regarding the Committee’s ongoing investigation of mysterious direct energy attacks against United States Government personnel. Read more here.     On Monday, Congressman David McKinley (R-WV) and I, along with several of our  colleagues in the House of Representatives, urged U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to work with President Joe Biden to establish a rare-earth metallurgical cooperative to develop domestic metallurgical capabilities for manufacturing critical products composed of rare-earth elements to end our dependence on China for this critical supply chain. Read more here.    On Tuesday, I joined Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Susan Collins (R-ME), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Ed Markey (D-MA) in urging the Biden Administration to impose powerful new sanctions on the Myanmar military regime in response to its coup and vicious crackdown on widespread protests. Read more here.    On Thursday, Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and I, along with several of our Senate colleagues, sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to investigate allegations that John Kerry, former United States Secretary of State and current Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, disclosed covert Israeli actions against Iranian interests in Syria to Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Read more here.    Legislation Introduced On Monday, Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rick Scott (R-FL), and I reintroduced the Disaster Assistance Simplification Act , legislation that would prohibit the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from penalizing victims of qualified natural disasters who apply for, but decline, Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loans. Read more here.  On Tuesday, Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and I reintroduced the Bioeconomy Research and Development Act of 2021 , legislation that would strengthen America’s bioeconomy by championing research and development, encouraging biomanufacturing, strengthening the bioeconomy workforce, and supporting an ethical research framework. Read more here.  On Tuesday, Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Rob Portman (R-OH), Tom Carper (D-DE), and I introduced the Homecare for Seniors Act, which would allow seniors to use Health Savings Account (HSA) funds for home care expenses, saving seniors money, providing relief to family caregivers, and empowering seniors to remain in their own homes. Read more here.  On Wednesday, Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Rick Scott (R-FL), Mike Braun (R-IN), and I reintroduced the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act, legislation that recognizes the sustainable and economically valuable fishing practices of U.S. shark fishermen and promotes U.S. standards for shark conservation and humane harvest abroad. Read more here. On Wednesday, Senators Ron Wyden, (D-OR), Dick Durbin, (D-IL), John Boozman, (R-AR), and I introduced a resolution condemning the Iranian regime for persecuting the 300,000 members of the Baha’i faith. Read more here.  On Thursday, Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS), U.S. Representative Greg Murphy (R-NC), and I, along with 24 other Senators and 62 Representatives, introduced the Abortion Providers Loan Elimination (APLE) Act, which requires the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) affiliates to return the more than $80 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans it illegally applied for and received. It would also ensure Planned Parenthood affiliates, and other abortion providers, remain ineligible for future PPP funding and instruct the Small Business Administration (SBA) Inspector General to investigate how this national organization was able to receive funds from the program. Read more here. On Thursday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and I introduced the Preserving Accountability for National Assets Act of 2021 (PANA Act) . The bill would take assets seized from individuals connected to the Chavez and Maduro regimes who are convicted of corruption and place them in a “Venezuela Restoration Fund” that the U.S. State Department can then use to build up Venezuelan democracy and civil society. Read more here.  On Thursday, I introduced the Fair Access to Small Business Lending Act, which would encourage small business growth in underserved communities by creating new pathways through which they can obtain access to capital under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 7(a) loan program. Read more here. On Thursday, Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and I, along with 41 colleagues, introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2021 . The legislation would expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare by making certain COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities permanent, which would make it easier for patients to connect with their doctors, improving patient health outcomes. Read more here. On Thursday, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rick Scott (R-FL), and I reintroduced the World Bank Integrity Preservation Act of 2021 , legislation which seeks to curb China’s access to the World Bank’s low-rate debt financing intended for developing nations. Read more here. On Thursday, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and I introduced the Recognizing Military Service in Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Act , bipartisan legislation to expedite student loan forgiveness for service members. Read more here. On Thursday, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and I reintroduced the World Press Freedom Protection and Reciprocity Act , which seeks to protect and promote worldwide press freedom and enhance reciprocity for U.S. news and media outlets. Read more here.  In Case You Missed It... “Sen. Rubio: Paycheck Protection Program still helping small business | Commentary” (Orlando Sentinel, 04/29/21)  “Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rick Scott: NAS Pensacola children deserve more - STARBASE would give it to them | Guesteview” (Pensacola News Journal, 04/26/21)  “Marco Rubio: Corporations that undermine American values don’t deserve GOP support” (New York Post, 04/25/21)  “Sen. Rubio: ‘Unsafe and unsanitary’ living at Eastside apartments” (News4Jax, 04/30/21) “Rubio said the CDC’s sped-up timeline for restarting cruises is ‘certainly progress’ and that most cruise companies want to have their passengers and crew vaccinated.” (Miami Herald, 04/29/21)  “Rubio leads GOP effort to revive shark trade bill” (E&E News, 04/29/21)  “Rubio and Lee call for boosted child tax credit that maintains earnings requirement” (Washington Examiner, 04/28/21)  “Marco Rubio Blasts Joe Biden for Ignoring ‘Evil’ Leftist Regimes in Latin America in Speech to Congress” (Breitbart, 04/29/21) “Senators Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, and four others urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter to ‘explore new avenues to support the people of Burma in their ongoing struggle for democracy in the face of escalating crimes against humanity.’” (Senators urge Biden to impose more sanctions on Myanmar junta, Reuters, 04/28/21) “Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) led a bipartisan group of lawmakers on April 26 in calling on the Biden administration to establish a ‘rare-earth metallurgical cooperative’ to reduce the nation’s reliance on Beijing for the specialized minerals used to build electronics, military weapons, and other high-tech equipment.” (Lawmakers Urge Biden Administration to Reduce Reliance on China for Critical Minerals, The Epoch Times, 04/27/21) Keep up with me on Facebook and  Twitter.