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This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio

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This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio On Wednesday, I chaired a Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing titled, “Made in China 2025 and the Future of American Industry,” Read more here. On Monday, I had named Magellan Transport Logistics of Jacksonville, Florida, as the U.S. Senate Small Business of the Week. Their commitment to local veterans and disaster relief efforts are a great example of the important roll Florida’s small businesses play in our community. Read more here. Hablé con Telemundo 51 sobre la grave situación en Venezuela. Tenemos que continuar con el apoyo al gobierno legítimo de Juan Guaidó y trabajar con la comunidad internacional para proveer ayuda humanitaria al pueblo venezolano. Vea la entrevista aquí. On Spectrum News 13 in Orlando, I talked about the ways to help American workers and small businesses by addressing dividend buybacks. I also discussed the dire situation and humanitarian catastrophe in Venezuela created by the Maduro regime. It is critical that we continue to support Interim President Juan Guaidó and his legitimate government. Watch the interview here. On NBC 6 Miami, I spoke about the arbitrary detainment of Univision’s Jorge Ramos by dictator Nicolas Maduro at the Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela. This is another example of the Maduro regime’s desperate actions during the crisis in Venezuela. Watch more here. On Thursday, I joined Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) in reintroducing the Venezuela Temporary Protected Status and Asylum Assistance Act of 2019. This bipartisan legislation would grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible Venezuelans fleeing the dire conditions in their country and provide support for migration systems in neighboring countries. Read more about the legislation here. On Thursday, I, along with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), reintroduced the Protecting Job Opportunities for Borrowers (Protecting JOBs) Act (S.609). This bipartisan legislation would help to ensure that borrowers are not inhibited from working because they have fallen behind on their federal student loan payments. Read more here. On Tuesday, Senators David Perdue (R-GA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Doug Jones (D-AL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and I introduced a bipartisan disaster relief package. This legislation, with support from President Trump, will provide funding for Florida, Puerto Rico, and other states that are still recovering from recent hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural disasters. Read more here. On Wednesday, I sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment, and Energy, John Henderson, to address the mold issue that dozens of families have reported at privatized housing on MacDill Air Force Base. Read the full letter here. On Monday, I voted to protect infants who survive abortions and denounced the Senate Democrats’ vote against proceeding on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (S. 311). Read more here. Ahead of the second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, I urged American negotiators to push for a strong deal to completely dismantle the North Korean nuclear and missile programs. Read more here. On Monday, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and I were joined by our colleagues in urging Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristjen Nielsen to ban the use of Huawei products in our nation’s energy infrastructure. Read more here. On Wednesday, Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Richard Durbin (D- IL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and I introduced a resolution calling for accountability and justice for the assassination of the late Russian opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, in 2015. February 27, 2019 marked four years since his murder in Moscow. Read more here. On Thursday, I, along with Senator Cornyn (R-TX) and several of our colleagues, sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr urging him to fully implement the Fix NICS Act, signed into law by the President in 2018, to improve the background checks system in determining eligibility for firearm purchases. Read more here. In Case You Missed It... “ Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Bob Menendez introduced the legislation along with Democrats Dick Durbin, Patrick Leahy and Cory Booker. It would immediately grant “Temporary Protected Status” to allow Venezuelans who passed security checks to remain in the United States for 18 months.” (Senators propose bill to let thousands of Venezuelans remain in U.S., Reuters, 2/28/2019) “Rubio warns Venezuela regime in jab at critics over tweets” (Associated Press, 2/26/2019) “Today, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) announced that they are reintroducing the Protecting JOBS Act, which would prevent state licensing agencies from taking away occupational licenses from workers who fall behind on their student loan payments.” (Fall Behind On Your Student Loans? You Could Lose Your Job, Forbes, 2/28/2019) “Marco Rubio, Rick Scott Back $13.6 Billion Relief Effort for Hurricanes Michael and Maria” (Sunshine State News, 2/27/2019) “A bipartisan group of senators, including Florida’s Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, introduced a nearly $14 billion relief package Tuesday for regions affected by recent natural disasters, such as Hurricanes Michael and Florence, the California wildfires and Puerto Rico’s continued recovery after Hurricane Maria. The package has support from President Trump, who is encouraging Congress to pass the legislation.” (Mexico Beach still a debris-filled mess four months after Hurricane Michael, Fox News, 2/28/2019) “Speaking after the vote, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said it was “unconscionable” that ‘protecting innocent, newborn abortion survivors is now a partisan issue. Every infant that is born alive despite a botched abortion deserves the same proper medical care and treatment that doctors are required to give to other newborns,’ Rubio said.” (Born-Alive Abortion Survivors bill fails to beat Senate filibuster, Catholic News Agency, 2/25/2019) “U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the use of gangs to repress civilians. ‘They will soon realize just how badly they overplayed their hand,’ tweeted the Republican senator, who has helped shape U.S. policy.” (Maduro’s Masked Thugs Unleash Terror Along the Venezuelan Border, Bloomberg, 2/26/2019) “Marco Rubio: Feds Need to Make Sure Chinese Tech Company Huawei Not Part of American Energy Infrastructure” (Sunshine State News, 2/25/2019) “Kerns: Rubio Is Right — The 21st Century Is No Place For Dictators” (The Daily Caller, 2/25/2019) “Another leader not content to let the microchips fall where they may is Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. His latest report – “Made in China 2025 and the Future of American Industry” – goes beyond the fight over 5G to address changes in the 21st century economy that have left workers reeling. Labor markets have been disrupted, and China’s record of industrial espionage is making things worse.” (Speeding Up Our Spy- Free Smartphones, Townhall, 2/26/2019) “Marco Rubio and 10 Senate Colleagues Call for Ban of Huawei from U.S. Solar Power Network” (Breitbart, 2/25/2019) “The month before, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced the bi-partisan Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act in response to ‘the gross violations of human rights in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, including the mass internment of over one million Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities, as well as China’s intimidation and threats against U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents (LPRs) on American soil.’” (US speaks up for minority Muslim Uighurs in China - while Islamic countries stay mostly silent, Fox News, 2/28/2019) “Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., urged four universities in his home state and a high school to cancel their Confucius programs last year. The southeast Florida high school is one of 519 secondary education programs that Beijing is funding in parallel to the college-level Confucius Institutes.” (China targeting American kindergartners for influence operations, Washington Examiner, 2/27/2019) “Last year, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio challenged three Florida universities with Confucius Institutes to a debate on topics that are taboo in China, like political prisoners and the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.” (A Senate Report Has Slammed the Chinese Learning Centers Operating at Over 100 U.S. Universities, TIME, 2/28/2019) “U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Elizabeth Warren don't think it's fair at all. They have now introduced a bill that would prevent states from suspending, revoking or denying professional licenses as punishment for falling behind on student loan payments.” (U.S. Senators introduce bill preventing revocation of professional licenses over student loans, ABC Action News , 2/27/2019) “El republicano Marco Rubio y el demócrata Bob Menendez presentaron el proyecto junto a los demócratas Dick Durbin, Patrick Leahy y Cory Booker. La medida otorgaría inmediatamente el “Estatus de Protección Temporal” a los venezolanos que pasen las revisiones de seguridad, lo que permitiría que permanezcan en Estados Unidos por 18 meses.” (Senadores proponen proyecto de ley que permita que miles de venezolanos permanezcan en EEUU, Reuters Latin America, 2/27/2019) Legislation Introduced... • Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and I reintroduced the Venezuela Temporary Protected Status and Asylum Assistance Act of 2019 to grant Temporary Protected Status for eligible Venezuelans fleeing the dire conditions in their homeland and to provide support for migration systems in the countries surrounding Venezuela. • Senators David Perdue (R-GA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Doug Jones (D-AL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and I introduced a bipartisan disaster relief package with funding for Florida, Puerto Rico, and other states that are recovering from recent hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural disasters.
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