Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic path through northwest Florida, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with local officials and volunteers from Citrus County. Senator Rubio also met with small business owners impacted by the storm. Photos are courtesy of...
Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with first responders, local officials, and volunteers in Pasco County. Photos are courtesy of Senator Rubio’s office. Senator Rubio meets with the Pasco County Sheriff Chris...
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with Cedar Key residents and homeowners who were impacted by Hurricane Helene. Rubio then met with members of the aquaculture industry to discuss the impact multiple hurricanes have had on the industry. Photos are courtesy of...
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) visited the Taylor County Emergency Operation Center (EOC) and Keaton Beach, an area highly impacted by Hurricane Helene. Photos are courtesy of Senator Rubio’s office. Senator Rubio meets with Taylor County Sheriff Wayne Padgett....
After making landfall as a Category 4 storm, Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage along Florida’s Gulf Coast. It’s crucial for Floridia’s farmers to receive the necessary resources for recovery. U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), and...
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host a two day in-person event to assist constituents affected by Hurricane Helene and help navigate applications for FEMA assistance. Food, water, and additional resources will be available at the events. Event...
Washington, D.C.– Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC) Chairman Representative Chris Smith and Co-chairman Marco Rubio in a joint statement today urged the Obama Administration to use the occasion of the U.S.-China Human Rights Dialogue, convening in Washington, D.C. this week, to send the unambiguous message that tangible progress on human rights should be a key goal of President Xi Jinping’s planned September visit.
“Some in the broader human rights community have questioned the utility of the U.S.-China Human Rights Dialogue out of a concern that the dialogue has effectively marginalized human rights issues in our bilateral relations with China, allowing the Chinese government to avoid discussing these critical issues in higher level dialogues and forums. We are sympathetic to this view and are hard-pressed to point to any discernible improvement in China’s abysmal human rights record resulting from this exchange in recent years.
“Nevertheless, because the dialogue occurs so close the planned September visit of President Xi, it affords the Administration a critical opportunity and leverage to press the Chinese government to release prisoners of conscience, abandon problematic new security-related laws, halt the crackdown on human rights lawyers and rights advocates, and end wide-ranging religious freedom restrictions, including the removal of crosses and the demolitions of church buildings currently underway in Zhejiang province. Failure to forcefully and unflinchingly raise these issues only gives the Chinese government license to continue its abusive policies and repression of peaceful dissent.
“The stakes are high for this dialogue, just as they were for the recent Strategic & Economic Dialogue, precisely because the Chinese government would like nothing more than for President Xi’s visit to be a success. The Obama Administration should send a clear and unambiguous message during the human rights dialogue that the Xi visit needs to be accompanied by substantive improvements in this area.
“The U.S. seeks a responsible partner in China and President Xi wants a ‘new type’ of bilateral relations, but this will not happen until basic human rights are protected, censorship of the Internet ends, and the Chinese legal system operates independent of the political control of the Communist Party.”