FLORIDA - SENATOR MARCO RUBIO eNEWSLETTER 05/21/2021

 

This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio  On Tuesday, I gave a speech on the Senate floor describing the need for a strong, American industrial policy in Congress’s ongoing efforts to confront the historic challenge posed by the Chinese Communist Party. Read a transcript of my remarks here, and watch the video here.    On Tuesday, I sent a letter to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge to direct the Department’s attention to numerous Florida properties that participate in the Project-Based Section 8 Rental Assistance program under HUD with failing Real Estate Assessment Center scores. In my letter, I called attention to 29 properties in Florida that have not been inspected in several years, including prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter also requests an answer as to why HUD’s Uniform Physical Condition Standards have not been appropriately applied to these properties. Read more here.    On Wednesday, I joined Mornings with Maria to discuss China, the success of Operation Warp Speed, and unidentified aerial phenomena. Watch the interview here.    On Thursday, Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Rick Scott (R-FL), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Tim Scott (R-SC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and I sent a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell to ensure the agency is prepared for a potential workforce shortage ahead of the 2021 hurricane season. Hurricane season begins on June 1 and ends November 30. Read more here.    On Thursday, as Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I filed an amendment to the China legislative package currently being debated on the Senate Floor. The amendment would establish a counterintelligence screening process to protect the United States against China’s and other adversaries’ efforts to engage in economic espionage and misappropriate America’s intellectual property, research and development, and innovation efforts. The amendment is co-sponsored by Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Jim Risch (R-ID), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Ben Sasse (R-NE), all members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Read more here.     On Thursday, I joined Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Chris Coons (D-DE) in filing an additional amendment to the China legislative package. The amendment seeks to add a provision to the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act to ensure Hong Kongers who peacefully protested Beijing’s corrupt justice system and have a well-founded fear of persecution are eligible for Priority 2 Refugee status. Read more here.    On Tuesday, I charged my Judicial Advisory Commission (JAC) for the 117th Congress to begin accepting applications. The JAC closely resembles my bipartisan commission for the 116th Congress. Prior to that, I partnered with then-Senator Bill Nelson for eight years on a similar bipartisan commission. Read more here.     On Monday, I joined Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) and colleagues in sending a public comment letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra, urging HHS to withdraw the Proposed Rule on the Title X family planning program, which would eliminate the Trump Administration’s 2019 Protect Life Rule. If finalized, the Proposed Rule would direct tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to enrich Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry. Read more here.    On Tuesday, I issued a statement after reports indicated that the Biden Administration would waive sanctions on the company constructing the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. Read more here.    On Wednesday, I published an op-ed in El Nuevo Herald urging the Biden Administration not to fall into Nicolás Maduro’s trap by engaging in dishonest negotiations with the corrupt narco-regime. Read the full article here.    On Thursday, I joined Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and U.S. Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL), María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), and  Carlos Giménez (R-FL) in commemorating Cuba’s independence day. Watch the video here.     On Thursday, I joined Senators Jim Risch (R-ID), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Mitt Romney (R-UT), John Barrasso (R-WY), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) in releasing a joint statement ahead of South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s summit with President Biden. Read more here.    Legislation Introduced On Tuesday, I joined Senators Rick Scott (R-FL), John Kennedy (R-LA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Braun (R-IN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Boozman (R-AR), Joni Ernst (R-IA), John Hoeven (R-ND), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Todd Young (R-IN), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Barrasso (R-WY), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) in introducing a resolution condemning the attacks against Israel by Hamas, an Iranian-backed and -funded terrorist organization, and reaffirming the United States’ unwavering commitment to our ally Israel and its right to take whatever means are necessary to stop the murder of its citizens and foreign nationals residing in Israel. Read more here.  On Wednesday, I reintroduced the SBA Cyber Awareness Act and the Small Business Cyber Training Act, legislation to protect America’s small businesses from the threats of cyber crimes. Read more here.  On Wednesday, I joined Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) in reintroducing the Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks (HAVANA) Act , a bipartisan effort to support American public servants who have suffered brain injuries from probable microwave attacks. Read more here.  On Thursday, I joined Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) in reintroducing the No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act . This legislation would prohibit U.S. courts from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any assertion of rights by an individual of a trademark that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated by the Cuban government, unless the original owner of the trademark expressly consented to the transfer of the trademark. Read more here. On Thursday, I introduced the Genomics Expenditures and National Security Enhancement (GENE) Act and the Genomics Data Security Act, two bills to counter the growing threat caused by the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to collect American’s genomic data through both legal and illegal means. Read more here. On Thursday, I joined Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Todd Young (R-IN), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in reintroducing the Foreign Agents Disclosure and Registration Enhancement Act of 2021 , legislation that would bring further transparency and accountability to efforts by foreign interests to influence American policy and public opinion. Read more here.  On Thursday, Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and I, along with U.S. Representative Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), introduced the Protecting America from Spies Act, legislation that would allow the U.S. 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 Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Todd Young (R-IN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and I reintroduced the bipartisan, bicameral Taxpayers and Savers Protection (TSP) Act , which would prevent the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) from steering federal retirement savings to China. Read more here. On Thursday, Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and I introduced the Emergency Resupply for Iron Dome Act of 2021 , a bill to authorize the Executive Branch to redirect U.S. foreign assistance to help Israel replenish its highly effective missile defense interceptors. Read more here.  On Thursday, I joined Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and colleagues in reintroducing bipartisan legislation to create a Congressional Charter for the National American Indian Veterans (NAIV), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to advocating for tribal veterans. Read more here. On Thursday, Senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and I reintroduced legislation to establish the National Center for the Advancement of Aviation. Read more here. In Case You Missed It... “Marco Rubio: Maduro y sus secuaces son expertos en manipular negociaciones | Opinión” (El Nuevo Herald, 05/19/21) “Rubio told 60 Minutes that unidentified aerial phenomena detected by our military are ‘not ours,’ and he's concerned they might represent a foreign surveillance threat.”  (Navy pilots recall "unsettling" 2004 UAP sighting, CBS News, 05/16/21) “The award to Web LLC, doing business as WEBCO, came three weeks after U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., wrote Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker to ask that the Navy’s budget request include sufficient funding to construct the replacement control tower.” ($15 million contract awarded for new NAS Whiting Field control tower, Northwest Florida Daily News, 05/21/21) “Sen. Marco Rubio points out that the majority of small business owners used the PPP loan money correctly and relied on it to keep their businesses open during the height of the pandemic.” (Special inspector general to COVID con artists: ‘We will catch you’, News4Jax, 05/17/21) “Rubio Wants More Guardrails for Research Funds in China Bill” (Bloomberg, 05/16/21)  “American investments in Chinese companies tied to military threatens national, economic security: Rubio” (Fox Business, 05/19/21) “Rubio dubs Apple’s business practices in China as ‘woke behavior at its worst’” (Fox Business, 05/18/21)  “Rubio: Operation Warp Speed ‘one of the Great Chapters in American History’” (The Floridian, 05/17/21) “The new Senate legislation is sponsored by Collins, Senate Intelligence Chairman Mark Warner of Virginia, the panel's top Republican, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, and New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.” (Lawmakers unveil legislation to give 'Havana syndrome' victims better medical care, CNN, 05/19/21) “Sen. Marco Rubio, in a 2019 address at the Catholic University of America, drew on Catholic social teaching to condemn the excesses of free-market capitalism and managerial-state socialism.” (‘Common Good’ Conservatism’s Catholic Roots, Wall Street Journal, 05/20/21) Keep up with me on Facebook and  Twitter.