FLORIDA - SENATOR MARCO RUBIO eNEWSLETTER 06//11/2021

 

This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio  On Wednesday, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and I introduced and the Senate unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the fifth anniversary, and honoring the 49 victims of the tragic terrorist attack on Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. I also spoke on the Senate floor to observe the anniversary and memorialize the lives lost in the attack. Read more here, and watch the speech here.    On Tuesday, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and I sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to protect Florida’s citrus growers by re-implementing a prohibition on the importation of five varieties of citrus fruits from China. Read more here.    On Thursday, I joined The Story with Martha MacCallum to discuss Dr. Fauci’s loss of credibility with the American public and Critical Race Theory. Watch the full interview here.    Last Saturday, I published an op-ed in Fox News to explain why President Biden must make good on his promise to “choose science over fiction” by firing Dr. Fauci. Read the full article here.     On Tuesday, I released a statement after voting against the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021, which fails to address many of the most serious challenges facing the United States in its competition with the Chinese Communist Party and Government. Read more here.    On Tuesday, I released a statement after voting to maintain the prevailing wage requirement, commonly known as Davis-Bacon, in the CHIPS Act funding. As an original cosponsor of the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, I pushed for full funding of the new law earlier this year. Read more here.     On Thursday, I published an op-ed in National Review discussing the Senate passage of the United States Innovation and Competition Act, which effectively gives Beijing carte blanche to keep exploiting America’s capital markets. Read the full article here.     On Wednesday, I joined Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and colleagues in applauding the Senate’s unanimous passage of our bipartisan effort to support American public servants who have suffered brain injuries from probable directed energy attacks. The Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks (HAVANA) Act authorizes additional compensation for injured individuals and is applicable to U.S. State Department or Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employees at the discretion of the agency head. Read more here.     On Tuesday, I led a group of 16 Republican Senators in pressing the Biden Administration to adhere to U.S. law and refrain from reopening the Mission of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem for the Palestinians. Read more here.    On Sunday, I released a statement after Daniel Ortega and his regime detained opposition candidates in yet another attempt to undermine Nicaragua’s rule of law and democracy. Read more here.    On Monday, I joined Senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Steve Daines (R-MT), and colleagues in sending a letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging them to bring the Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act to the Senate floor for a vote during the June work period. Read more here.    On Wednesday, I released a statement after the Biden Administration announced it would revoke Trump-era bans on TikTok and WeChat and order yet another security review. Read more here.    On Thursday, I spoke during a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Joint Subcommittee Hearing on the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang against Uyghurs by the Chinese Communist Party. Watch the video of my remarks here.     On Thursday, I joined Senators Jim Risch (R-ID), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), John Cornyn (R-TX), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Todd Young (R-IN), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) in sending a letter to President Joe Biden encouraging his administration to hold the Ortega-Murillo regime accountable for undermining democracy, violating the rule of law, and committing gross human rights abuses in Nicaragua. Read more here.     On Friday, I released a statement after the Biden Administration repealed sanctions on several companies involved in shipping and trading petrochemical products as well as former senior Iranian officials. Read more here.     On Friday, I  released a statement after Chinese ride-hail company Didi filed for an initial public offering. Last year, Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) and I worked to pass the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable (HFCAA) Act into law. The HFCAA subjects Chinese and other foreign companies listed on American exchanges, like Didi, to the same audit oversight standards as all other U.S. listed firms. The law requires that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delist and ban over-the-counter trading for firms that are out of compliance with U.S. regulators for a period of three years. In other words, because the Chinese Communist Party prevents the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) from conducting an audit, Didi would be delisted from American exchanges in three years. Read more here.     Last week, I joined Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and a bipartisan group of 38 senators in a letter to Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Chairman Jon Tester (D-MT) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL) calling for $500 million to fully fund U.S.-Israel cooperative missile defense programs in the Fiscal Year 2022 Defense Appropriations bill. Read more here.    Legislation Introduced On Tuesday, Senators  Rick Scott (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and I reintroduced the bipartisan, bicameral American Space Commerce Act . This legislation would continue to bolster U.S. leadership in the space industry, enhance public-private partnerships with American companies, and further increase U.S. innovation. Read more here.  On Tuesday, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and I introduced a bipartisan resolution remembering the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests and their violent suppression. The resolution also condemns the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chinese Government’s ongoing violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Read more here.   On Wednesday, I joined Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) in introducing the U.S.-Greece Defense and Interparliamentary Partnership Act of 2021 , which seeks to bolster support for Greek military modernization, authorize new transfers of American military equipment, and foster increased multilateral engagement among the legislatures of Cyprus, Greece, Israel, and the United States. Read more here.  On Thursday, I  introduced the TSP Fiduciary Security Act to update the fiduciary duty of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB), which is tasked with managing the retirement savings of federal civil servants through the nearly $800 billion Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), to include national security considerations. Read more here. On Thursday, I  reintroduced the Terrorism Survivors Student Loan Deferment Act , legislation that would allow survivors of terrorist attacks to receive automatic deferments of their federal student loan payments. Read more here.  On Thursday, Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), John Kennedy (R-LA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and I reintroduced the Small Business Credit Protection Act , legislation that would require credit bureaus to inform small businesses of a nonpublic personal data breach within 30 days. The bill would also prohibit credit bureaus from charging small businesses for a credit report within 180 days following a breach. Read more here.   On Thursday, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and I, along with Representatives Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) and John Curtis (R-UT), introduced the Justice for Victims of Kleptocracy Act of 2021 , which directs the U.S. Department of Justice to publish and update the amount of money that has been stolen by the authoritarian leaders of kleptocratic regimes and recovered by U.S. law enforcement. Read more here.  On Thursday, Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and I, joined by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Todd Young (R-IN), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Rob Portman (R-OH), reintroduced the Central American Women and Children Protection Act to address the protection and safety of women and children in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. The bipartisan legislation seeks to decrease and deter violence against women and children in the Northern Triangle and increase safe access by female and child survivors of violence to adequate, appropriate, and coordinated support services. Read more here.  On Thursday, I reintroduced the State Accountability, Flexibility, and Equity (SAFE) for Hospitals Act, which would overhaul the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) program to create equity for all states. Read more here. On Friday, I joined Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) and colleagues in introducing the Iran Nuclear Treaty Act , which would require the president to submit any renewed nuclear deal with Iran to the Senate for ratification. Read more here. In Case You Missed It... “Sen. Marco Rubio: If Biden believes in science, he must fire Fauci” (Fox News, 06/05/21) “Marco Rubio: The Senate’s Missed Opportunity to Counter China” (National Review, 06/10/21) “Rubio may still want to be president one day. He's content to wait out Trump.” (NBC News, 06/07/21) “Exclusive — Marco Rubio: Shift in Hispanic Vote Toward GOP Under Trump ‘Permanent’ Unless Republicans Revert to Pre-Trump Ways” (Breitbart, 06/07/21) “Sen. Marco Rubio, who co-sponsored the bill alongside Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), expressed condolences for those affected by the tragedy, calling it the ‘deadliest attack on American soil’ since Sept. 11, 2001.” (U.S. Senate designates Pulse nightclub as a national memorial; bill headed to President Biden’s desk, Orlando Sentinel, 06/09/21)  “While seasonal fruit and vegetable dumping from Mexico and South American has been a concern for Florida farmers in recent years, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott on Wednesday urged the Biden administration to reverse a 2020 decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that let five varieties of citrus fruits be imported from China.” (Outlook for Florida’s citrus growers improves, Click Orlando, 06/10/21) “Senator Marco Rubio, who has frequently criticized American companies for doing business with the police in Xinjiang, said that ‘no U.S.-based company should be selling surveillance equipment or other technologies to security forces anywhere in China, especially Xinjiang.’” (China Still Buys American DNA Equipment for Xinjiang Despite Blocks, New York Times, 06/11/21)  “Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Susan Collins of Maine first introduced the bill, titled the Havana Act, in December 2020, a step that marked the first formal acknowledgment from Congress of the mysterious attacks.” (Senate passes bill to compensate ‘Havana Syndrome’ victims who suffered brain injuries, Miami Herald, 06/09/21) “Sen. Rubio: Schools Pushing Critical Race Theory Are Part Of A ‘Concerted Effort To Rewrite The Story Of America’” (Daily Caller, 06/10/21)  “‘The bottom line is, either [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro should unconditionally turn them around, or we should force them to turn around,’ Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a brief interview.” (Defense secretary ‘concerned’ about Iranian ships transferring arms to Venezuela, POLITICO, 06/10/21)  Coming up… My staff will host Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their communities. More information and locations near you here. Keep up with me on Facebook and Twitter.