This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio On Wednesday, I joined Fox & Friends to discuss supply chain disruptions and the growing national security threats caused by the border crisis. Watch the full interview here.  On Tuesday, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and I applauded the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations’ passage of our bipartisan South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act. The legislation would impose sanctions against Chinese individuals and entities that participate in Beijing’s attempts to aggressively assert its expansive maritime and territorial claims over the South and East China Seas. The legislation now heads to the full Senate for consideration. Read more here.  On Tuesday, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and I applauded the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations’ passage of our bipartisan Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act. First introduced in April, the bill prioritizes the protection of human rights and anti-corruption efforts in Haiti by fostering strong relationships with independent civil society groups. The legislation also requires the U.S. State Department to report on human rights abuses that have taken place in Haiti. Read more here.  On Tuesday, I delayed a vote in the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the nomination of Atul Gawande to serve as assistant administrator of the Bureau for Global Public Health at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for his radical anti-life views. Read more here.  On Wednesday, I published an op-ed in Fox News urging Americans to stand for life following the unjust death of two-year-old Alta Fixsler. Read the full op-ed here.  On Wednesday, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and I applauded the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of our Secure Equipment Act of 2021. This bipartisan and bicameral legislation closes a loophole by directing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt rules to clarify that it will no longer review or issue new equipment licenses to companies on the agency’s “Covered Equipment or Services List'' that pose a national security threat, such as Chinese state-backed firms Huawei and ZTE. Read more here.  On Thursday, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and I sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reiterating our urgent appeal to postpone the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, which are currently scheduled to be held in Beijing in February of 2022. The letter also urges the IOC to prohibit the People’s Republic of China (PRC) national team from participating and rejects the IOC’s previous decision to “remain neutral on all global political issues,” noting that the IOC has a moral obligation to reject the PRC’s participation in the games. Read more here .  On Thursday, I released a statement after the National Institutes of Health (NIH) acknowledged that U.S. taxpayers funded gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, previously denied that taxpayer dollars, funneled through the EcoHealth Alliance, were used in Wuhan for those purposes. Read more here.  On Tuesday, I joined Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in demanding answers from the American electronics company, Universal Electronics Inc. The letter asks a series of questions for Chief Executive Officer Paul Arling with regard to the reported forced labor practices in Universal Electronics’ facilities in Qinzhou, China, where hundreds of Uyghur laborers work pursuant to a labor transfer agreement between the company and the Xinjiang government. Read more here.  On Tuesday, I issued a statement after the Biden Administration’s Department of Labor proposed a new regulation that would redefine the fiduciary duties of fund managers under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to allow fund managers to consider “climate-change related factors” and “progress on workforce diversity [and] inclusion” when investing the savings of fund beneficiaries. Read more here. 
On Wednesday, I joined Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA), Chris Smith (R-NJ) in sending a letter to Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Troy Miller seeking information on whether CBP has stopped imports from companies that have publicly endorsed the use of cotton from Xinjiang and that have advertised its use in their products. Read more here.  On Tuesday, I joined Senator James Lankford (R-OK), Representative Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), and colleagues in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in support of Coach Joe Kennedy in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. The brief asks the Supreme Court to review and subsequently reverse the Ninth Circuit’s decision that allowed Coach Kennedy to be fired for silently kneeling and praying after high school football games. Read more here.  On Wednesday, Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and I led 48 of our Senate colleagues in requesting President Joe Biden receive His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in a manner befitting the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the second largest Christian church in the world. Read more here.  Last Friday, I joined Senators Tim Scott (R-SC), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and colleagues in sending a letter urging Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to protect the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. Read more here.  Legislation Introduced- On Monday, Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and I introduced the Homes for Every Local Provider, Educator, and Responder (HELPER) Act, which would establish a new, one-time use home loan program for law enforcement officers, firefighters, medical first responders, and teachers. Read more here.
- On Tuesday, I joined Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) and colleagues in introducing the Viral Gain of Function Research Moratorium Act to place a moratorium on all federal research grants to universities and other organizations conducting risky gain-of-function research on potential pandemic pathogens. Read more here.
- On Wednesday, Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Senate colleagues, and I introduced the Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2021 and Campus Free Speech Restoration Act. The Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2021 urges greater First Amendment protection at public universities. The Campus Free Speech Restoration Act would protect the First Amendment rights of students at public universities from improperly restrictive speech-codes. Read more here.
- On Wednesday, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Rick Scott (R-FL), Richard Burr (R-NC), and I introduced the Clean Water Allotment Modernization Act of 2021. Read more here.
- On Thursday, I joined Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) in introducing a resolution commemorating Operation Provide Comfort and reaffirming the partnership between the U.S. and Iraqi Kurdistan. Read more here.
- On Wednesday, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and I introduced legislation to designate new postal codes for various communities in Florida. The bill would create new zip codes for the cities of Miami Lakes, Ocoee, the Village of Estero, and Oakland. Read more here.
In Case You Missed It…“Rubio Delays Nomination Of Pro-Abortion Radical Atul Gawande To Top Global Health Position” (The Federalist, 10/22/21)
“Sen. Rubio Says Why He Thinks Biden Admin Will Cause Democratic Party To ‘Suffer Devastating Losses In The Next Election’” (Daily Caller, 10/20/21)
“Rubio Offers Florida as ‘Short-Term’ Solution to Stranded Container Ships; Blames California Laws for Tie-Up” (Breitbart, 10/20/21)
“Republican big guns Scott, Rubio and Blackburn offer advice to minorities looking to run for state office” (Fox News, 10/21/21)
“Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) praised the extradition, commenting that ‘the Maduro regime tried extortion, bribery & even considered an armed raid to avoid the Saab extradition.’” (Lawmakers Praise Extradition of Venezuela’s Alex Saab, The Floridian, 10/18/21)
“Senator Marco Rubio Blocks Vote on Joe Biden’s Radically Pro-Abortion USAID Nominee” (Life News, 10/19/21)
“Marco Rubio: ‘El pueblo cubano sufre mientras la dictadura invierte en hoteles’” (Ciber Cuba, 10/21/21)
“The State Department made it a point Wednesday to recognize International Pronouns Day, much to the frustration of Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican.” (State Department ripped for celebrating International Pronouns Day, Washington Times, 10/20/21)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 .
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