Dear Fellow Floridian,

As I continued my ‘Make Washington Work Tour’ throughout Florida this week, I was once again reminded of the burden Washington’s wasteful spending creates. Small businesses are struggling with rising input costs and families cannot afford record-high prices at the grocery store and gas pump.

Meanwhile, Democrats looked the other way, spending trillions more in a pathetic attempt to dig themselves out of an economic hole by digging deeper. But here’s where that’s left us: businesses forced to close their doors, raise prices or fire employees, families forced to choose between gas or groceries, and an unsustainable federal debt of over $31 TRILLION that’s now breached the nation’s debt limit with no answers, accountability or plan to reverse course from our failed president.

America’s credit card is more than MAXED OUT and a day of reckoning is on the horizon unless we STOP the reckless sending, STOP caving into Democrats’ socialist policies and START living within our means. Every single family and business does that with their money at home. After all this is YOUR money. YOUR tax dollars that Washington politicians are wasting. I know you’ve had enough of Washington’s dysfunction failing to do what’s right time and time again. That’s why I won’t stop fighting to bring fiscal sanity back to Washington and end this raging inflation crisis TODAY.

Read more HERE. 

Sincerely,

Rick Scott

United States Senator

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See more of what Senator Scott has been up to this week below.

Sen. Rick Scott Hosts ‘Make Washington Work’ Roundtable in Panama City on Supporting U.S. Military, Veterans & Families

Senator Rick Scott continued his ‘Make Washington Work Tour’ by hosting a roundtable discussion with military, veteran and economic leaders to hear about their efforts to make Florida’s Panhandle the best place for our military, veterans and their families to succeed. Senator Scott discussed his work as U.S. Senator and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee to support Florida’s military bases, members, veterans and families, and make our nation the most lethal military force in the world. This includes several major wins Senator Scott fought for and secured in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act.

Senator Scott was joined by military, veteran and economic community leaders, including honorary military leaders from Tyndall Air Force Base, Bay County Chamber, Bay County Defense Alliance and One Okaloosa Economic Development Council.

Senator Rick Scott said, “Our great state of Florida is unique with such a strong and active military presence, home to 21 military bases, and a strong and thriving population of veterans who chose to make Florida their home after service. That’s on full display in the Florida Panhandle, and it was great to join military, veteran and economic leaders to hear firsthand about their efforts to support this incredible community, and how I can best support them in Washington. Since coming to the Senate four years ago, I’ve fought hard to secure major investments in America’s defense capabilities and to support Florida’s military bases and our military families. Over the last four years, we’ve secured great wins in the annual NDAA to support our military and defense, but there is still work to do to ensure our nation remains the most lethal military force in the world. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I’ll keep fighting harder than ever to make sure the Sunshine State, America’s national security initiatives, our military, veterans and their families are supported, and to provide the answers we need on Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal.”

Read more HERE.  Lea más en español AQUÍ. 

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Sen. Rick Scott Hosts Press Conference on Biden’s Illegal Immigration and Border Security Crises in Marathon

Senator Rick Scott hosted a press conference regarding the growing illegal immigration and border security crises impacting communities in South Florida. Prior to the press conference, Senator Scott received a briefing from U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Brendan McPherson, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay, and Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Air and Marine Operations on the local response to the migrant crisis in the Florida Keys.

Senator Rick Scott said, “Right now, our country is experiencing record-high levels of ILLEGAL immigration. And what President Joe Biden has done is brought his ILLEGAL immigration crisis that he created on our southern border right to Florida’s front door. What I heard and saw during my briefing and tour with Sheriff Rick Ramsay, Admiral McPherson, and CBP in the Keys today makes me furious and is absolutely heartbreaking. Our brave law enforcement officers, including CBP agents and Coast Guard, are doing everything they can to keep our communities safe, but this administration has completely abandoned them and left them shorthanded. Every state is a border state, and we cannot allow the communist Cuban regime to weaponize our LEGAL immigration system and take advantage. Florida is an immigration state, we encourage and welcome legal immigration—but it must be done LEGALLY. These evil regimes in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua cannot continue to be emboldened by Biden’s appeasement and wide open borders. WHERE IS MAYORKAS? WHERE IS BIDEN? They don’t care, but I won’t stop fighting to fix this. I’m going to keep showing up, keep holding them accountable and not let up until we SECURE THE BORDER.”

Read more HERE. Lea más en español AQUÍ.

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Sen. Rick Scott on PPI Report: Joe Biden’s Failed Presidency Marks Two Years of Rising Inflation, Hurting Families and Businesses Everywhere

Senator Rick Scott released the below statement following the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which showed inflation continued to rise in December increasing 6.2% over the year. Since Joe Biden became president, PPI has risen 15.4% over the past two years.

Senator Rick Scott said, “In the two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, families and businesses across Florida and the nation have struggled as inflation has risen. Meanwhile, Democrats looked the other way, spending trillions more in a pathetic attempt to dig themselves out of an economic hole by digging deeper. But here’s where that’s left us: businesses forced to close their doors, raise prices or fire employees, families forced to choose between gas or groceries, and an unsustainable federal debt of over $31 TRILLION just days away from reaching the nation’s debt limit with no answers, accountability or plan to reverse course from our failed president. America’s credit card is more than MAXED OUT and a day of reckoning is on the horizon unless we STOP the reckless spending, STOP caving into Democrats’ socialist policies and START living within our means – like every single family and business has to. Families have had enough of Washington’s dysfunction failing them time and time again. We need to bring fiscal sanity back to Washington and end this raging inflation crisis TODAY.”

Read more HERE.

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Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio Warn Biden Admin Ahead of Dialogue with Cuban Regime

Senator Rick Scott joined Senator Rubio in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas urging their agencies to use the dialogue to advance the political and economic freedoms of the Cuban people, rather than make concessions to the abusive criminal Cuban regime. Officials from the U.S. Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security are in Havana this week to conduct a “law enforcement” dialogue with members of the Cuban regime, including officials from their Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for gross violations of human rights against the Cuban people.

Read the full letter HERE. Read more HERE.

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Sen. Rick Scott: I Won’t Stop Fighting to Get Back Pay for Troops Kicked Out Over COVID Shot

Following an announcement from the Pentagon that the Department of Defense will not provide back pay to military members kicked out of the service for refusing to take the COVID vaccine, Senator Rick Scott issued the following statement. Senator Scott successfully fought to end the military’s COVID vaccine mandate and will continue to work with his colleagues to secure the option of full reinstatement and back pay for all members removed from service who wish to rejoin the military. As part of this effort, Senator Scott recently led his colleagues in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding that the Pentagon deliver on these issues, and is fighting to pass his Defending Religious Accommodations Act which would require the Government Accountability Office to audit the military’s current process for evaluating and granting religious exemptions for vaccination requirements.

Senator Rick Scott said, “The Biden administration and the Pentagon have turned their backs on America’s service members. The military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate has proven disastrous for America’s military readiness and needlessly destroyed the lives and careers of thousands of brave service members. To now rule out back pay for these heroes is UNACCEPTABLE and I won’t stand for it. I was just in Panama City yesterday and heard firsthand how Biden’s military vaccine mandate is hurting our military members, their families and our communities. These are the folks that put their lives on the line to protect this great country and while repealing the vaccine mandate was a big win, it falls short of fixing the damage done to the thousands who were foolishly discharged from our Armed Forces. Come hell or high water, we will make this right. It’s time for Secretary Austin to stand up for our military members, do what’s right for our readiness and bring these members back with the full pay and benefits they so rightly deserve. If he won’t do it, we’ll put this common sense approach in law.”

Read more HERE. 

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Sen. Rick Scott Urges State and Local Leaders Help Pay Down $31 TRILLION Debt, Return Unused “COVID Relief” Dollars

Senator Rick Scott sent a follow-up letter to state and local government leaders notifying them of a recently passed law that would allow the return of unused or unneeded “COVID relief” funds to the Treasury for the sole purpose of reducing America’s $31 trillion debt. This is a follow-up to Senator Scott’s March 2021 letter where he urged governors and mayors across the United States to reject and return any federal funding in excess of their federally-reimbursable COVID-19 related expenses.

Read the full letter HERE. Read more HERE.

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Sen. Rick Scott Issues Weekly Update on Biden’s Inflation Crisis

Senator Rick Scott released a weekly update on his actions to address America’s debt crisis and rising inflation. Since being elected to the U.S. Senate, Senator Scott has urged government accountability to the American taxpayer. Following this week’s Producer Price Index (PPI) release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Senator Scott released the following statement:

In the two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, families and businesses across Florida and the nation have struggled as inflation has risen. Meanwhile, Democrats looked the other way, spending trillions more in a pathetic attempt to dig themselves out of an economic hole by digging deeper. But here’s where that’s left us: businesses forced to close their doors, raise prices or fire employees, families forced to choose between gas or groceries, and an unsustainable federal debt of over $31 TRILLION just days away from reaching the nation’s debt limit with no answers, accountability or plan to reverse course from our failed president. America’s credit card is more than MAXED OUT and a day of reckoning is on the horizon unless we STOP the reckless spending, STOP caving into Democrats’ socialist policies and START living within our means – like every single family and business has to. Families have had enough of Washington’s dysfunction failing them time and time again. We need to bring fiscal sanity back to Washington and end this raging inflation crisis TODAY.

Read more HERE. Lea más en español AQUÍ. 

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Sen. Rick Scott in the Miami Herald: Biden Plays Checkers as Cuba’s Wily Chess Moves Weaken U.S. Security

Senator Rick Scott wrote an op-ed for the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald on how President Joe Biden’s appeasement and open-border policies have played right into the hands of the dangerous Castro/Díaz-Canel regime in Cuba. For decades, the regime has had a major role in exploiting the United States by stoking instability across Latin America, supporting ruthless dictators such as Nicolás Maduro and Daniel Ortega and driving mass migration as leverage to benefit its illegitimate government and its evil allies in Communist China, Russia and Iran.

Senator Scott also calls on Biden to support several of his bills, the Extending Limits of U.S. Customs Waters Act to help end Biden’s Border crisis by giving Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Coast Guard the tools to stop both illegal migration and drug trafficking off our shores, and his DEMOCRACIA Act to support the Cuban people’s fight for freedom and democracy and punish the illegitimate regime in Cuba and all who support its oppression.

In the op-ed, Senator Rick Scott wrote, “With U.S. Customs and Border Protection reporting a 400% increase in migrant encounters in South Florida since October 2022, and mass arrivals of Cubans to the Florida Keys and the islands making up Dry Tortugas National Park, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay and I spoke with Coast Guard Adm. Linda Fagan and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to press for answers and resources to address the growing crisis.

It is unacceptable that Floridians face yet another devastating consequence of the president’s shameful appeasement of the communist regime in Cuba.

…The Cuban regime has effectively used this playbook for decades.

…But the scope of today’s mass migration from Cuba dwarfs the previous events. Last year, more than 250,000 Cubans illegally migrated to the United States, more than came during the exodus of 1980 and 1994 combined.

…None of this is a coincidence or unexpected. For decades, Cuba has used the appeasement advanced by Democratic presidents to grow its influence and exert its will.

…While the Castro/Díaz-Canel regime is playing chess to grow its influence across our hemisphere, Biden is playing checkers, and America is losing on all fronts. Cuba’s dictatorship is weaponizing mass migration for two reasons: It is terrified of the growing movement for freedom and democracy on the island; and pushing thousands of Cubans off the island and our country helps it get what it wants — more appeasement from the United States, which helps fund its oppression. And Biden is getting nothing in return to help the Cuban people advance their fight for freedom.

Biden first needs to secure our border. An open border benefits Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, which engage with cartels to illegally traffic drugs and innocent people, including children, across the U.S. border. An open border is a gift to these regimes and narco-terrorists and it must end now.

…Biden’s broken border has brought this crisis to Florida’s doorstep. Now, the president should listen to my fellow Floridians, especially those who have lived through and escaped the oppression in Cuba and other dictatorships. He should heed our calls to secure the border and end his shameful appeasement agenda that is threatening America’s national security. It is standing in the way of progress and stability in the hemisphere.”

Read the full op-ed in the Miami Herald HERE

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Univision: “No me gusta la inmigración ilegal”: el senador Rick Scott visita los Cayos de Florida

Daily Mail: ‘Either Biden is a hypocrite or he’s completely clueless’: Senate GOP lawmakers tear into President who is accused of ‘digging a deeper hole’ – as five more classified files are found in his HOME 

Cuba Net: Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott ask Biden not to make concessions to the Cuban regime

WJHG: Sen. Rick Scott to Host ‘Make Washington Work’ Roundtable in Panama City

Local 10: Sen. Scott, Monroe sheriff speak on migrant crisis in Florida Keys

Florida Daily: Rick Scott, Ron Johnson Call on OPM to End Wasteful Spending, Fix Federal Employees Health Benefits Program 

The Floridian: Sen. Rick Scott criticizes Biden’s Cuba agenda

My Panhandle: Florida senator talks military issues in Panama City

My Panhandle: Sen. Rick Scott says debt ceiling problem must be solved without raising taxes

Miami Herald: Sen. Rick Scott went to the Florida Keys over migrant crisis. What he said has to happen

NBC 2: Sen. Rick Scott visits Cape Coral as residents look to restore Cape Coral Yacht Club

WINK News: Sen. Rick Scott tours Cape Coral to see progress after Ian 

Senator Scott in Marathon

This week, Senator Rick Scott visited Marathon to receive a briefing from U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Brendan McPherson, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay, and Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Air and Marine Operations on the local response to the migrant crisis in the Florida Keys.

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Senator Scott in Panama City

Senator Scott also continued his ‘Make Washington Work Tour’ with a visit in Panama City to meet with military, veteran and economic leaders to hear about their efforts to make Florida’s Panhandle the best place for our military, veterans and their families to succeed. 

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Senator Scott in Cape Coral

Senator Scott also visited Cape Coral, where he met with local community leaders and law enforcement to receive an update on the community’s recovery following Hurricane Ian. 

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Senator Scott in Kissimmee

Another stop on Senator Scott’s ‘Make Washington Work Tour’ included a roundtable discussion with pastors and religious leaders to discuss his efforts to  protect religious freedom for ALL Floridians.

 
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Senator Scott in St. Cloud

Senator Scott also visited with law enforcement officers, community leaders and small business owners in St. Cloud to hear how he can work with them to keep Florida’s communities the best place to live, work and raise a family!

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Senator Scott in Marianna

Senator Scott also visited Baggett Farm in Marianna, where he met with Florida growers and agriculture leaders to discuss the upcoming Farm Bill and how he can continue supporting Florida farmers.

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