This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio
On Thursday, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I released the following statement regarding the lapse in funding for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program, which provides forgivable loans to small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Read more here.
On Thursday, I joined Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo to discuss China’s coverup of the coronavirus and Democrats’ decision to block additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, jeopardizing the jobs of millions of Americans and small businesses as a result. Watch the full interview here.
On Tuesday, I joined CNBC’s Squawk Box to discuss the Paycheck Protection Program and the process of reopening the American economy following the coronavirus outbreak. Watch the full interview here.
On Thursday, I released the following statement after President Donald Trump selected me to serve on the Opening Up America Again Congressional Group. Read more here.
On Thursday, I published an op-ed in TIME Magazine reminding Americans of the inherent dignity of work and the urgency to move forward in planning for our nation’s economic recovery. Read the full article here.
On Thursday, I joined Fox News’s Martha MacCallum to discuss the origins of the coronavirus in China and the need to restore America’s domestic supply chain. Watch the full interview here.
On Thursday, Representative Donna Shalala (D-FL) and I, along with 23 bipartisan members of the Florida congressional delegation, and Representative Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (R-PR), urged Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma to equitably disburse the next tranche of Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund (PHSSE) monies to Florida hospitals. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act appropriated $100 billion for the PHSSE, of which $30 billion has been distributed to providers based on the Medicare Fee for Service (FFS) payments. Read more here.
On Tuesday, I published an op-ed in Barron’s Magazine highlighting the success of the Paycheck Protection Program and emphasizing the need to ensure that the program receives additional funding in order to ease the financial pain for our nation’s employers and their employees. Read the full article here.
On Wednesday, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and I, along with 25 bipartisan members of the Florida congressional delegation, urged U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to expedite guidance for the disbursement of $300 million in funds made available by the CARES Act for fishery related businesses. Florida’s recreational and commercial fishing industries are critically important to Florida’s tourism-based economy, as well as for the state and nation’s food security and have been hit especially hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here.
On Monday, I joined Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), and Joni Ernst (R-IA) in urging Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Kelly Craft to address the crackdown of free speech in China and in countries across four continents including Turkey, Bangladesh, Niger, and Cambodia, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here.
On Tuesday, I joined Senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Todd Young (R-IN) in urging Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to issue regulations as soon as possible confirming that U.S. participation in 5G standards-setting is not restricted by export control regulations. Read more here.
On Wednesday, I joined Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Senate colleagues in urging the Trump Administration to maintain pro-life protections during the search for treatments and cures for COVID-19. The letter, which was signed by 35 senators, pushes back against abortion advocates seeking to capitalize on the COVID-19 crisis by requesting waivers to prohibitions on the use of fetal tissue obtained through elective abortion for coronavirus research. Read more here.
On Wednesday, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and I urged NASA Administrator James Bridenstine to expand partnerships with the private sector to support the Artemis program and NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program. In the letter, we highlighted the importance of continued lunar exploration to support the goal of developing a sustainable presence on the Moon. Read more here.
On Thursday, I led a group of Senate colleagues in urging President Donald Trump to “work with our allies and partners such as Japan, South Korea, and European nations to pursue an open and transparent investigation into the origins of COVID-19, as well as the WHO’s decision-making related to the crisis.” As the international community combats the COVID-19 outbreak and confronts the increasing challenges presented by the Chinese Communist Party, we also urged the President to appoint a high-level Envoy to lead international coordination efforts both for COVID-19 response and for related investigations. Read more here.
Last Friday, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and I, as Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, sent a letter to Jovita Carranza, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), asking for the agency to expeditiously fulfill the grant requirements for SBA Small Business Development Center and Women’s Business Center Associations in order to establish a much needed centralized online platform that consolidates available federal resources for small businesses. Read more here.
In Case You Missed It...
“Marco Rubio: In Order to Plan For Our Nation’s Economic Recovery, We Need to See the Human Cost Of It” (TIME, 04/16/20)
“Rubio: The Small Business Rescue Is Running Out. We Need to Save It.” (Barron’s, 04/14/20)
“Marco Rubio On The Effort To Save Jobs (Podcast)” (Bloomberg Odd Lots, 04/14/20)
“After Coronavirus, Marco Rubio Wants to Make Drugs in America Again” (Washington Free Beacon, 04/13/20)
“Rubio, speaking during a video conference with Democratic state lawmakers Oscar Braynon and Shevrin Jones, said the keys to reopening society lie in the availability of rapid testing, the development of an anti-viral treatment, the creation of appropriate but lesser restrictions on communities and the capacity in hospitals.” (‘A delicate situation.’ Plans to reopen Florida begin as COVID-19 deaths top 600, Miami Herald, 04/15/20)
“Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, hit back against Democrats on Thursday, arguing that smaller companies were receiving help from the loan program, as evidenced by the fact that the ‘average loan is only $239,000,’ said Rubio.” (No additional small-business relief funding in sight, McConnell says, Washington Examiner, 04/16/20)
“When Senator Marco Rubio released a report last February warning that the United States risked losing important components of its medical supply chain to China, it barely registered with most Americans. A little over a year later, as the coronavirus rips across the globe, the abstract threat has become a glaring reality with life-threatening consequences as American officials and consumers haggle with Chinese companies for lifesaving supplies like masks and tests.” (China Hawks in Congress See an Opportunity in Coronavirus, NYT, 04/10/20)
“Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chairman Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told CQ Roll Call earlier Wednesday he thinks enough Republicans would go along with additional funds for states and localities suffering from steep budget shortfalls and hospitals reeling from a surge in COVID-19 patients.” (Virus aid talks bleed into Thursday amid small-business funds lapse, Roll Call, 04/15/20)
“Rubio: China will be ‘held accountable’ if coronavirus outbreak originated from Wuhan lab” (Fox News, 04/16/20)
“Marco Rubio, Rick Scott Urge Donald Trump to Keep Pro-Life Protections for Coronavirus Research” (Florida Daily, 04/17/20)
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