Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) released some literature regarding the year 2023 in the upper chamber. Despite a struggling, sluggish federal government, Sen. Rubio and his staff were able to accomplish quite a bit.
Within the year-in-review release from Sen. Rubio, he acknowledged that it has been “a year of economic hardship and social turmoil.”
About a month ago some Republicans such as Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) pleaded for his colleagues in the House to provide any piece of evidence of progress made by the lower chamber.
“One thing. I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing. One. That I can go campaign on and say we did. One!” said Rep. Roy.
However, in the self-reflection from Sen. Rubio’s office, the Floridian gave a multitude of examples of the work he did this year.
“This year, that meant joining Hurricane Idalia relief efforts and getting approximately 6,500 Floridians’ passports approved—a record number amid record State Department backlogs. It also meant passing bills to expand care for veterans’ families, strengthen our space program, protect international ports from terrorists, and more,” said Sen. Rubio.
Moreover, with a Democrat-controlled Senate, an incredibly slim Republican majority in the House (that spent an unprecedented amount of time picking a Speaker), and President Joe Biden (D) in the White House, Rubio was able to lead his colleagues in passing a fair amount of legislation.
This includes passing the Joint Resolution to Require the Senate’s “advice and consent” to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Led by Rubio and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), the President of the United States cannot withdraw from NATO without the Senate’s permission.
Additionally, Rubio was able to lead his colleagues in advancing the Enhancing Spaceport Operations Act, the International Port Security Enforcement Act, and the Rachael Booth Act.
In May, Sen. Rubio published the 329-page report “analyzing obscure Chinese government documents” about the origins of COVID-19 and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. According to the release, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “knew about the virus before the rest of the world.”
Finally, Rubio’s office assisted over 22,000 constituents in 2023 alone, a 10% increase from 2022.
