It’s Time to Remove Hostile Chinese Outposts U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) December 11, 2023 RealClear World …The United States is home to three HKETOs [Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices], all of which enjoy diplomatic...
The United States Should Stand by Argentina’s Milei U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) December 11, 2023 Medium President Joe Biden should welcome [Javier Milei’s inauguration as president of Argentina] because friends are hard to come by in Latin America right now. The...
EE.UU. debería apoyar al presidente electo Milei 10 de diciembre del 2023 La Nación …Milei es un aliado y EE.UU. debería apoyarlo. El presidente Joe Biden debería darle la bienvenida a Milei porque en estos momentos es difícil encontrar aliados en Latinoamérica y el...
The Biden Administration has been slow to implement sanctions under the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, which became law in 2020, and seeks to hold the perpetrators of the Uyghur genocide accountable. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and U.S. Representative Mike...
In-person Mobile Office Hours Monday, December 11, 2023 Jackson County 9:30am – 11:00am CST UF/IFAS Jackson County Extension 2741 Penn Ave. Suite 3 Marianna, FL 32448 Click Here Pinellas County 1:30pm – 3:00pm EST Pinellas Park Chamber of Commerce 5851 Park...
Foreign adversaries, including China, have significantly increased covert tactics to infiltrate American colleges and K-12 schools. They do this to steal research, spread propaganda, and silence students and academics. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and...
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today visited local officials in Fort Myers to discuss the Lake Okeechobee releases and their effects on the Caloosahatchee River. In a media availability following the meeting, Rubio reiterated the importance of getting the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) authorized as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (WRDA), and said decreasing the amount of water released into the lake could help alleviate problems in the short-term.
“The single biggest thing we can do to improve this situation is called the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP). It’s been hanging around for a long time without getting done,” Rubio said. “A couple months ago, I was able to convince the chairman of that committee, Senator Inhofe (R-OK), to finally agree to do it. It’s in the water bill and our work is all focused on getting a vote and passage of it in September. It would not be the final step, but it would be the single biggest step taken on this issue in almost two decades.
“The immediate solution is one of the things that is happening now. It’s not a total solution, but it’s the ability and extent possible to release less water than what’s being released now,” Rubio continued. “So that’s why it was so important that the Governor declared a state of emergency because it allowed him to use some of the land they’ve already purchased north of the lake to hold more water north. That means there’s less water going into the lake, and as a result, less water coming out but that doesn’t solve the problem.”
Because of Rubio’s advocacy efforts, the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) was included in S.2848, the 2016 Water Resources Development Act, which passed in the Senate’s Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee in late April. Passing in committee is the farthest along in the legislative process that the CEPP has been since it was first proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Then earlier this month, Rubio urged Senate Republican leadership to allow WRDA to come for a vote on the Senate floor.
A partial transcript of Rubio’s remarks is below:
Senator Marco Rubio: “The Central Everglades Planning Project will allow the engineers and the experts to go out and actually begin to do the necessary work like the architectural engineering plans to actually build more of this retention capability and set up the transfer plan. We have 15,000 acres of sugar land south of Lake Okeechobee that’s part of that transfer.
“Then you have to go back to Congress and get the money to pay for it, and that will be step two. But you have to do step one and even step one, just the simple planning part of it, has taken forever, much longer than the time I have been in the Senate.
“We are closer than we have ever been to getting it done and now it’s part of the water bill. We have to get that done in September otherwise there’s going to be another year of waiting.”
…
Rubio On The Urgency And Impact On Residents, Businesses:
“We understand, and that’s why there’s a sense of urgency about moving forward on this. We’ve got to start getting people results on this and this has been going on for a long time. This whole debate began when I was still in college. It’s been 20 years and nothing substantial has happened on this magnitude. Again, in September, we will be as close as we’ve been in a long time to taking a major step forward, but it can’t be the last step. There are other things we want to come as a result of it, but we want to get that done in September and hopefully we can rally the necessary support to get that vote.”
…
Rubio On An Immediate Solution:
“The immediate solution is one of the things that is happening now and it’s not a total solution, but it’s the ability and extent possible to release less water than what’s being released now. So that’s why it was so important that the Governor declared a state of emergency because it allowed him to use some of the land they’ve already purchased north of the lake to hold more water north. That means there’s less water going into the lake, and as a result, less water coming out but that doesn’t solve the problem.”