Senator Rick Scott’s Week in Review
Dear Fellow Floridian,
When I came to Washington, I promised my top priority would be to make Washington work for Florida’s families. It’s total dysfunction up here, and what’s worse is Washington politicians think they should be able to do and spend whatever they want with no concern for the American taxpayer.
I spend every day fighting back against this reckless spending and big government overreach, and I’m thankful to say House Republicans released a responsible debt limit package plan that would help us accomplish this.
Senators Mike Lee, Ron Johnson, Mike Braun and myself applauded Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans’ plan to repeal President Biden and Washington Democrats’ obsession with over-taxing and over-spending while reforming the wasteful practices responsible for bringing America’s debt to $31 trillion. Read our full statement HERE or below.
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Sincerely,
Rick Scott United States Senator To be the first to find out about Senator Scott’s actions and statements, follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. — See more of what Senator Scott has been up to this week below. |
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| Sen. Rick Scott Blasts DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Government Censorship and Disinformation
During a hearing in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Senator Rick Scott blasted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on the Biden administration’s censorship of American citizens, a violation of their First Amendment right. Under the leadership of Secretary Mayorkas, the department and others in the Biden administration are implementing this censorship on the basis of “disinformation.” Yet, the narratives Secretary Mayorkas and the administration peddle, like “the border is secure,” “Hunter Biden’s laptop is not real,” “the withdrawal from Afghanistan was successful,” and a “Chinese spy balloon over the United States is not a threat,” are all actual disinformation. We now know, thanks to the Twitter Files exposing it, that the government is working with and funding non-governmental organizations to censor millions of Americans via Big Tech in direct violation of their First Amendment right. The American people deserve better from this administration. Federal bureaucrats who subvert the law should be held accountable. Watch more HERE or in the video below. Read more HERE.
— Senator Rick Scott joined a group of Republican senators and representatives, led by Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), to call on all members of Congress “to lead by example” by ceasing the use of the China-based app TikTok and urge the House and Senate rules be amended to ban members of Congress from continued use of TikTok. Read the full letter HERE. Read more HERE. — Sen. Rick Scott and Mrs. Ann Scott Support March of Dimes at Gourmet Gala Reception Kick Off Senator Rick Scott and his wife, Mrs. Ann Scott are proud to support the March of Dimes. Senator and Mrs. Scott serve as co-chairs for the March of Dimes’ Gourmet Gala and donated his 2022 fourth quarter Senate salary to the organization. Senator Rick Scott and Mrs. Ann Scott said, “It is a true honor to serve as co-chairs for March of Dimes’ Gourmet Gala and support its incredible work. One of the greatest joys is to bring life into this world and hold your precious child for the first time – an experience more families have thanks to the wonderful work of March of Dimes.” Read more HERE. — Sens. Rick Scott, Marco Rubio & Colleagues Reintroduce Bill to Restore Holocaust Survivors’ Rights Senator Rick Scott joined Senator Marco Rubio and their colleagues to reintroduce the Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act. This legislation would allow beneficiaries of Holocaust-era insurance policies to bring civil action in U.S. district courts against the insurer for the covered policy to recover proceeds due or otherwise enforce any rights under the policy. Currently, countless Holocaust survivors, and their descendants, have been unable to recover their unpaid pre-Holocaust insurance policies. Senator Rick Scott said, “I’m proud to join my colleagues to reintroduce the Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act to continue our support for survivors and their families. The Holocaust is more than a history lesson, it is a stark reminder that evil and hate exist in this world. Our memory and support of all of those who suffered must never weaken. Every generation must heed the call to action in the face of evil, and as U.S. Senator, I will continue to support Israel and take action against those who wish to do them harm.” Read more HERE. — Senators Rick Scott, Ron Johnson, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Lee, Todd Young, Roger Wicker, John Thune, Jerry Moran and Dan Sullivan reintroduced the Broadband Buildout Accountability Act to increase transparency for a $42 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Package (BIF) broadband buildout grant awarded to the National Technology Information Administration (NTIA). This grant is currently exempted from transparency requirements under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Senator Scott’s Broadband Buildout Accountability Act would remove the FOIA exemption and require a full accounting of how the $42 billion of taxpayer money is spent to ensure these dollars are not subjected to fraud, waste, or misuse. Senator Rick Scott said, “Americans deserve to know how the government is spending their money—especially on a $42 billion grant that will help get essential internet services to those that need it most. This is not the government’s money, it is the hard-earned dollars of American taxpayers and they should know exactly how every cent is being spent. My Broadband Buildout Accountability Act will increase transparency and help ensure this taxpayer money is spent with maximum accountability and return on investment. Spending taxpayer dollars should be a crystal clear process. I urge my colleagues to support this bill which increases government accountability and transparency to Americans everywhere.” Read more HERE. Senator Rick Scott joined Senator Marco Rubio in sending a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Chief of Engineers Lt. General Scott Spellmon requesting them to reassess misguided shoreline easement policies under a Congressionally-directed policy review to allow hurricane risk reduction and coastal storm risk management projects to move forward. Earlier this year, the USACE significantly reduced the scope of a federally-authorized hurricane risk reduction project for Fort Myers Beach, which was one of the communities most severely affected by Hurricane Ian. Read more HERE. — Senator Rick Scott joined Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz to introduce a resolution commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the Bay of Pigs operation and remembering the members of Brigada de Asalto 2506 (Assault Brigade 2506). Representative Mario Díaz-Balart will introduce companion legislation in the House of Representatives. Read more HERE. — Following last week’s devastating flooding in South Florida, the distribution of fuel has been significantly impacted; causing gasoline shortages across the region. In an effort to help Floridians, Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio sent a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan supporting the approval of the state’s request for temporary waivers for the distribution of gasoline. Read more HERE. — During this week’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) hearing to consider the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) FY24 Budget, HSGAC Republicans pressed DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his department’s dangerous abuses of power and policies that have caused an unprecedented surge in illegal border crossings. Senator Scott pointed out that there has been little to no accountability on the department’s crackdown on disinformation online. During his questions, Senator Scott pressed the secretary on the department violating the law by censoring Americans, as well as the Biden administration’s coordinated effort to spread false narratives online. He referenced the Twitter Files which revealed the government was working with and funding NGOs to censor millions of Americans through Big Tech, a direct violation of our First Amendment rights. When asked, Secretary Mayorkas refused to accept responsibility for the department’s censorship of Americans. Watch Senator Scott’s questions HERE. Sen. Rick Scott Issues Weekly Update on Biden’s Inflation Senator Rick Scott released a weekly update on his actions to address America’s debt crisis and rising inflation. Earlier this week, Senators Scott, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson and Mike Braun released a joint statement applauding Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans on their sweeping debt limit package that repeals President Biden and Washington Democrats’ obsession with over-taxing and over-spending while reforming the wasteful practices responsible for bringing America’s debt to $31 trillion. Read more HERE. Lea más en español AQUÍ. — |
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| Sen. Rick Scott in Market Watch: The Fed isn’t owning up to its failures. We need to make it accountable.
Senator Rick Scott wrote an op-ed for Market Watch sharing his new bill calling for an independent inspector general at the Federal Reserve. Read more about Senator Scott’s legislation HERE. In the op-ed, Senator Rick Scott wrote, “The Federal Reserve has become a monster. The Fed is the world’s largest and most powerful central bank. It spent years buying up trillions in government bonds, mortgage securities, and other financial instruments. Altogether, its assets add up to a staggering $8.6 trillion… When the Inspector General Act was passed in 1978, the Federal Reserve was a shadow of what it is now. Maybe that’s why the Fed was allowed to get away with appointing its own inspector general, who reports to the Fed’s board. That sets it apart from the more than 30 federal agencies that have truly independent IGs appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Can anyone make a good argument for why the Federal Reserve doesn’t have that level of oversight? I haven’t heard one yet. Thankfully, oversight isn’t a partisan issue, but when I announced my new bill last month with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, to put an independent IG at the Fed it shocked the heck out of hyper-partisan Washington… The Fed’s trillions aren’t its only problem. It’s supposed to oversee banks, but Silicon Valley Bank failed on its watch. It’s clear that we need answers and accountability that cannot be provided by the current system… Having little to no accountability at the Fed is not acceptable and has proven to have disastrous consequences. If we do nothing, we risk repeating 2008, when the federal government failed to do its job, no one at the Fed was held accountable, and no changes were made there… For years, Powell has horribly mismanaged the Federal Reserve. I’ve been calling on the Fed to scale down its massive balance sheet after years of maxing out its ability to purchase treasuries and mortgage backed securities. Neither Powell nor any member of the Fed Board has been able to explain the rationale for a nearly $9 trillion balance sheet… We can’t wait any longer for big change at the Fed. Consumers and American families must not bear the brunt of the failures of gross mismanagement and greed at their banks or the incompetence and misdeeds of the government regulators who are there to protect them. It’s time for Congress to stand up and demand accountability.” Read the full op-ed in Market Watch HERE. — Sen. Rick Scott in Wall Street Journal: The Value of Work for Teens as Well as Adults Senator Rick Scott responded to a recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal with a letter to the editor sharing his story about the value of working hard from a young age and highlighting his Let’s Get to Work Act. Senator Scott grew up poor, in public housing, and to make ends meet he got a job in the second grade to help his family. He refers to the jobs as a blessing—not a burden—because of the strong principles he learned from working hard. In the letter, he highlighted his Let’s Get to Work Act which would encourage able-bodied Americans to enter into the workforce. Senator Scott’s Let’s Get to Work Act ends the current suspension of work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which was put in place during the pandemic, and expands these requirements to apply to all able-bodied adults receiving benefits who are under 60-years-old and do not have children under the age of six or care for incapacitated individuals. This legislation also establishes similar work requirements for individuals receiving federal benefits through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Public Housing and Tenant-Based Rental Assistance programs. In the letter to the editor, Senator Rick Scott wrote, “When I was in second grade, I got a job selling TV Guides door to door to make a little money… I grew up poor, lived in public housing and watched my parents struggle every day to put food on our table, so having these jobs was a necessity for me. But this early introduction to working was a far greater blessing than a burden… these jobs taught me the values of being dependable and working hard… I recently reintroduced my Let’s Get to Work Act to return work requirements … We need every American who can work to do so… We need more Americans to understand that, and I bet if we had more young people in the workforce, our future generations wouldn’t have the same problems we have today.” Read the full letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal HERE and read more about Senator Scott’s Let’s Get to Work Act HERE. — Newsmax: Sen. Rick Scott Grills Mayorkas on ‘Disinformation’ Fox News: Sen. Rick Scott: Joe Biden is not doing his job Fox News: GOP senators urge UN ambassador to denounce report they say is supportive of pedophiles Florida Daily: Rick Scott, Anna Paulina Luna Want Members of Congress Not to Use TikTok The Floridian: Scott and Rubio Slam USACE For Slowness Ahead of Hurricane Ian |
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| Senator Scott’s Team in Sanford
Senator Scott’s team met with leadership and toured True Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center, at one of their Sanford locations. True Health is a community health center with locations throughout Orange and Seminole Counties.
— Senator Scott’s Team in Avon Park Additionally, Senator Scott’s team attended the Homes for Our Troops ribbon cutting and key turning ceremony for Army Specialist Ignacio Arriaga.
— Senator Scott’s Team in Orlando Senator Scott’s team also spoke at the National Asian Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce during their AAPISTRONG Small Business Roundtable.
— Senator Scott’s Team in Kissimmee Senator Scott’s team met with the board of the Dominican American Chamber of Commerce in a roundtable discussion regarding the CAFTA-DR ( Dominican Republic-Central America FTA) free trade agreement.
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