Let me cut right to the point: the Army Corps of Engineers’ current priorities for managing Lake Okeechobee and Florida’s waterways aren’t working.

Last summer our communities received discharges containing 495 parts per billion microcystin - that’s 62 times the level considered safe for human contact by the EPA!

Year after year our communities have been exposed to toxic water, putting us at risk for serious health consequences like liver disease and even Alzheimer’s.

So, this week I introduced a bill called the PROTECT Florida Act with one goal in mind: prioritizing the public health and safety of every single person in our state.

Specifically, the bill will require the Army Corps of Engineers to:

• minimize toxic cyanobacteria
• prevent harmful discharges
• ensure the integrity of the Herbert Hoover Dike
• protect our water quality
• restore the Everglades

We cannot allow this man-made human health crisis to continue any longer. Everybody’s health and safety has to be prioritized, plain and simple, and that’s exactly what this bill will do.

Check out this week’s video to learn more about this bill.

In case you missed it, here are a couple other things I worked on this week:

• The Veterans of Foreign Wars joined our fight to pass Harmony’s Law and keep convicted military rapists behind bars.
• Thanks to our efforts, the continued harming and killing of puppies at the VA appears to be coming to an end.