News

Washington, D.C. – With the Democrat-led U.S. Senate taking up yet another piece of legislation that does not address the nation’s serious debt crisis, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio announced that he would offer two amendments to S.493 – the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act – aimed at reining in out-of-control Environmental Protection Agency regulations and reducing government spending.

“Last year, when they were in charge, the Democrat leadership refused to pass a budget. Now our government is operating on temporary proposals and we face a serious debt crisis. Yet we still have no serious plan from the Senate Democrat leadership. And the President is completely missing in action,” said Senator Rubio. “It is time to stop funding excessive regulations that will put Floridians out of work. And our government needs to stop spending money it does not have.”

Senator Rubio is offering amendments that would:

• Prohibit appropriations through S.493 or any other provision of law to fund the EPA’s numeric nutrient standards.

• Rescind unobligated stimulus funds.

In 2010, as part of his 12 simple ways to cut spending in Washington, Senator Rubio said that he would propose ending the stimulus program so as to cut spending in Washington.

Furthermore, Senator Rubio announced that he will offer his amendment to defund the EPA’s enforcement of job-destroying numeric nutrients regulations to every major bill until the issue is resolved. “Florida is suffering from double-digit unemployment, but all Washington offers are more regulations that will cost our state billions, destroy jobs, and hurt families, businesses and farmers. It is critical that the Senate act to defund the EPA’s enforcement of standards that will only hurt Florida and our country.”