Blog
This week the River Kidz looked the Army Corps in the eyes and told them that they will no longer tolerate our community being destroyed. Our children shouldn't be forced to do this, but together, I'm confident we can make a real difference.
I see my mission in Congress the same as I saw it in the military: to keep our country and community safe. This week we passed more than 20 bills to combat the opioid epidemic, defend seniors from fraud and fight terrorism.
Last week, we passed dozens of bills to combat the opioid epidemic by improving federal treatment and prevention efforts. But our work to combat this crisis isn’t over. That’s why this week, we continued that effort by passing 20 more bills to enhance opioid addiction treatment and abuse prevention efforts. Read more here:
Our bills will take important steps to empower the healthcare workforce to improve addiction treatment and prevention, expand research into the opioid epidemic, stem the flow of illegal opioids flowing into our country and more.
Our veterans have fought hard to protect our nation, and we should fight just as hard for them when they get home. However, far too often, veterans aren’t provided the support they need to successfully transition back into the civilian workforce, and many are left behind as they struggle with obstacles like post-traumatic stress. That’s why, this week, we passed two bills to increase VA staff for programs that support returning veterans:
115 people die every day in the United States as a result of the opioid epidemic. Clearly, more must be done to save lives. That’s why, so far this week, we’ve passed 25 bipartisan bills to secure resources and support to reverse this horrific crisis. Read more:
It is unacceptable that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would discharge massive amounts of water into our community without knowing whether the water was safe. That's why I'm calling on them to immediately cease the discharges until they can prove that the water is safe!
The Army Corps’ discharges from Lake Okeechobee — which started again last week — are unacceptable. Our community cannot afford more devastation. We cannot afford a status quo that prioritizes everyone else’s interests over ours.
This week we were able to make big progress on a number of top priorities, including our water issues, efforts to stop Brightline, help for veterans and national defense. Read about some of what we got done that you might not have heard about on the news.
I have good news: Congress has heard our pleas, and water infrastructure leaders have now committed to authorizing the EAA southern storage reservoir this year once the Army Corps completes their review. We also secured several big wins for our local water in the Water Resources and Development Act.