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Next Week: Rubio Staff Hosts Mobile Office Hours

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host in-person and virtual Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their respective local communities. These office hours offer constituents who do not live close to one of...

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Rubio Habla en Maxima 92.5 de Tampa Bay

El senador estadounidense Marco Rubio (R-FL) habló con Nio Encendio de Maxima 92.5 de Tampa Bay, sobre cómo la inflación ha impactado a las familias, sobre las olas de migración ilegal, sobre el juicio político de Biden vs. el de Trump, sobre el canje de prisioneros...

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ICYMI: Rubio Joins All Things Considered

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined National Public Radio’s All Things Considered to discuss his plan to expand the child tax credit for working families. See below for the full transcript and listen to the edited interview here. On the connection between the child...

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Rubio: Driving the American Dream

Apr 8, 2015 | News

As we gather with family and friends this week to mark the Fourth of July, let us keep in mind the defining value that sets this nation apart – the founding principle that stands as our greatest cause for pride and celebration: that every American deserves an equal opportunity to achieve a happy and fulfilling life.

Equality of opportunity is the driving force behind the American Dream. Yet while this Dream was born on a July day in 1776, one of its greatest strides toward full realization came on a July day in 1964. The enactment of the Civil Rights Act 50 years ago today helped bring the American Dream within reach of millions who had been excluded from its promise.

By outlawing discrimination based on race, religion, gender, or country of origin, the Civil Rights Act gave legal backing to our core value of equal rights so that America could begin to heal its racial fractures and, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “live out the true meaning of its creed.”

The movement that gave rise to this legislation was the work of many men and women in many cities and towns around the country, but Florida is proud to be home to one of the central fronts in the entire Civil Rights Movement: the city of St. Augustine.

The struggle against racial discrimination and segregation in St. Augustine lasted for years and attracted nationwide attention. Even today, many are familiar with the images of the marches down King Street, the chaos in the swimming pool of the Monson Motor Lodge, and peaceful integrationists met with violence on the beaches of Anastasia Island.

Many have credited the images of horror and the stories of courage that came out of St. Augustine with helping to awaken the conscience of a nation and propel the Civil Rights Act toward passage.

As we’ve seen in the papers in recent weeks, many of the Floridians who showed outstanding courage in the St. Augustine Movement are with us to mark this anniversary. To them, we say thank you for having the courage to stand up for what was right, and for setting our people and our nation on the path toward equal opportunity for all, and toward a more complete American Dream.

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