News List

I'm saddened to learn that we have already suffered our first death from the Zika virus and my thoughts are with the victim's family. As I've said for months, this is an unfolding public health crisis in Florida and Puerto Rico and soon, other parts of the nation. We need House Republicans to stop dragging their feet on emergency supplemental funding for Zika and join President Obama and Congressional Democrats by taking immediate action to arrest this burgeoning health crisis. Read more »

As a Floridian, it is unconscionable to me that House Republicans have failed to act on the Zika virus. Florida has the most confirmed cases of Zika virus in the continental United States, and further south, Puerto Rico has more than 500 confirmed cases of Zika. This bill helps protect pregnant women, travelers and the general public as we get into mosquito and travel season, and it's time for House Republicans to stop making excuses and work with Democrats to short circuit this rapidly evolving crisis immediately. Read more »

NAPLES DAILY NEWSFeds lay out plans for Everglades bridge to boost water flowBy The Associated PressMIAMI (AP) - Federal officials say they will soon begin the next phase of a multi-million dollar project to erect a bridge across the Everglades in South Florida.Interior Secretary Sally Jewel announced plans to raise a two-and-half mile section of U.S. 41 during a visit Friday to… Read more »

MSNBC: THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW BLOGGOP wants to ‘help’ the Library of Congress with word choiceBy Steve BenenA House Appropriations panel this week took up a spending bill that should have been pretty uncontroversial: the package provides funding for basic federal functions such government printing, the Capitol Police, and congressional operations.But Roll Call reported that… Read more »

ABC NEWS / ASSOCIATED PRESSGOP Takes on Library of Congress on Immigration TerminologyBy ANDREW TAYLOR, ASSOCIATED PRESS Apr 22, 2016, 3:40 PM ETCongress may not be able to reform the immigration system, fix the broken tax code or even pass a budget. But it's telling the Library of Congress how to label immigrants living in the country illegally.That's how conservative Republicans… Read more »

WALL STREET JOURNALFight Brews in House Over Use of ‘Illegal Alien’ by Library of CongressBy KRISTINA PETERSONCongress isn’t going to overhaul the immigration system anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean they can’t fight about it in the meantime.This week a panel of the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill funding the legislative branch spending for… Read more »

People have the right to make their own health care decisions. The Florida's Supreme Court's decision to halt the demeaning state law to force women in our state to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion restores the rights of women to make important health care decisions and is an important step towards women's health care equality. The injunction puts a hold on Governor Rick Scott and Republican lawmakers' insulting presumption that women don't think long and hard before making a decision to terminate a pregnancy. Florida's women should not have to rely on the legal system to ensure their right to have access to a safe and legal medical procedure. Governor Rick Scott and Florida lawmakers supporting this intrusive law should get the message: these so-called "women's health care" laws are unnecessary, intrusive, and unconstitutional. Read more »

I am glad to be spending this Earth Day in the Everglades with U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and a group of dedicated public officials who are actively working together to restore our Everglades for every Floridian and their children. I have worked since my earliest days in the Florida Legislature to restore and support our "River of Grass" and I have been honored to be a congressional partner of President Obama's bold environmental and climate agenda. We must use this important day to rededicate ourselves to the most urgent of causes – the call to save our planet for all those yet to come. Read more »

Sundown marks the beginning of Passover, a holiday of reflection, storytelling, and a recommitment to the values of freedom and liberty. We retell the story of Jews who were held as slaves in Egypt and the miraculous story that led to our redemption. As we go through the traditional Seder, each food we eat and word we say holding significant meaning, we also look to the future. We remind ourselves that many among us in our own communities and throughout the world still yearn for redemption and freedom. There are those among us who are still not free from the shackles of human slavery, nor from the realities of hunger. Read more »

Every child deserves to grow up safe from exploitation and I will continue to be a voice and a vote for our nation's children. Read more »