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Opinion Pieces

Congress must protect the nation’s coastal communities from threats posed by offshore drilling for oil and gas

| Posted in Opinion Pieces

Offshore drilling has no place in our oceans today. This week, Congress has an opportunity to protect our coastal beaches and communities from being subjected to a lifetime of dangerous offshore drilling. The communities we represent and others like them across the country are standing up to the Administration’s plans to open nearly all federal…

Clean Water Act should work every day for Floridians

| Posted in Opinion Pieces

Our Florida economy is still at risk because of the policies of President Trump and his Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, who more often side with polluters and special interests over clean water, clean air and the businesses and families whose health relies on them.

The need to address the growing caregiving crisis with a coordinated national strategy

| Posted in Opinion Pieces

America’s caregivers are finally getting the recognition they deserve, but their support and wages warrant a boost as well. Nationwide, we have more unpaid family caregivers than the population of California; the value of family caregiver hours is more than six times Medicaid expenditures for home and community-based services; and on average, family caregivers spend 20 percent of their total income on caregiving expenses.

Republicans should abandon AHCA, work with Dems to improve ACA

| Posted in Opinion Pieces

The U.S. Senate should scrap the outrageous American Health Care Act (AHCA) bill passed by the House and work with Democrats and anyone who cares about keeping their neighbors' healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and expanding that coverage. I urge my colleagues to start by promoting competition in exchanges in areas of the country that need it and tackling the skyrocketing costs of drugs. These actions and cooperation could strengthen the ACA and expand healthcare coverage and the economic well-being of American families, instead of the drastic cuts in coverage under the AHCA that will turn back the clock and leave millions of our neighbors to fend for themselves and their families.

Here's what Obama did for Tampa Bay

| Posted in Opinion Pieces

In addition to his dignity in office, scandal-free years and economic progress for America, President Barack Obama leaves a tangible legacy for our Tampa Bay families and businesses.