Dear Friend,

On this Memorial Day weekend, we honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for America and our freedoms. We are fortunate to live in a country that values independence and liberty, but we cannot take our democracy for granted. Together, we must work to live up to our values and stand up to extremists who seek to restrict our rights and who favor the interests of the powerful over the people. 

As news is breaking over a deal to avert a manufactured default crisis, I am heartened that President Biden protected our historic legislative accomplishments including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the PACT Act, and our significant economic gains: 12.7 million jobs created and the lowest unemployment rate in more than 50 years. Early outlines show that President Biden successfully protected Medicare, Social Security, and health care, and fought off draconian cuts to law enforcement, public safety, and education. A first-ever default would come with enormous costs, a recession, huge jobs losses, devastated retirement accounts, and higher borrowing costs. Extremist Republicans in Congress tried to hold hostage our economy, working families’ retirements and livelihoods, and the full faith and credit of the United States—and it looks like they failed.

A vote is set for Wednesday.

This week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new policies to address the youth mental health crisis and protect kids online. Families deserve a 21st-century privacy law that safeguards their personal information. 

I recently reintroduced my Kids PRIVACY Act which safeguards our kids and teens’ data online and holds Big Tech accountable for failing to protect children from social media harms. My legislation, paired with the Biden-Harris Administration’s actions, will strengthen digital protections for our youngest neighbors. 

I will keep fighting to protect our children and teens online, and modernize our privacy laws with design standards to keep up with evolving technology. 

In the Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, we discussed the good news story emerging across America as a result of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act. 

These investments bring good-paying jobs and establish the United States as a global leader in clean energy manufacturing. Watch my full statement here.

I also spoke on the House Floor against a Republican-led effort to gut critical clean air standards and risk the health of our communities, our children and our future. We can improve air quality for neighborhoods near interstate highways and industrial areas, but know that Republicans pushed through the House looser standards for big trucks and more pollution. Thankfully, President Biden would veto their bill so that the Environmental Protection Agency can do its job to build healthier communities and save lives. My full speech can be found here. 

I led all Congressional Florida Democrats in urging Governor Ron DeSantis to protect Floridians from surprise medical bills and immediately pause procedural disenrollments of Floridians currently covered by Medicaid during the redetermination period.

In the first month of the redetermination period for Medicaid beneficiaries, Florida’s Department of Children and Families terminated coverage for over 249,426 individuals (or 54% of all beneficiaries reviewed) – 82% of which were terminated for procedural reasons, not because they are ineligible for coverage.

If this continues, experts advise that Florida will experience an unnecessary and harmful increase in the number of uninsured children, postpartum parents, individuals in the midst of complex treatment, including many who may actually still be eligible for coverage. Read the full letter here.

I was honored to present to Sickles High School Junior, Chase Hartman, not one, but two Congressional Awards. Chase earned the Silver and Bronze Congressional Medal for his service to FL14, his goals for philanthropy, fitness, and citizenship and particularly for his innovative non-profit, Eco Brothers, Inc., that he pioneered with his younger brother Zach.

Watch to learn about Chase’s non-profit and the Congressional Awards here.

This week, I reintroduced my bipartisan PREVENT HPV Cancers Act with Representatives Julia Letlow (R-LA) and Kim Schrier, M.D. (D-WA).

This critical legislation would help prevent cancer and save lives by raising awareness about HPV and HPV-related cancers through a national campaign to educate providers, parents, and the public about the life-saving HPV vaccine. It would also boost resources for a federal initiative to provide access to timely cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services for uninsured and underserved individuals. Working with Moffitt Cancer Center and President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative, we have the tools to eliminate HPV-related cancers for good.

This Memorial Day weekend, take time to reflect on the brave Americans that paid the ultimate price for our great country. On behalf of a patriotic and grateful Tampa Bay community, we thank our fallen service members. God Bless America!

As always, my office is here to help by calling (727) 369-0201 or (813) 871-2817 to receive assistance with casework or other concerns. People over Politics, always!