Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage throughout Florida’s gulf coast, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with the Florida Farm Bureau as well as local agricultural producers, farmers, and growers to discuss the storm’s impact. Photos are courtesy of...
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Photos: Rubio Visits Barrier Islands Post-Hurricane Helene
Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage throughout Florida’s Gulf Coast, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with local officials and volunteers from the barrier islands to discuss the storm’s impact and current recovery efforts. Photos are courtesy of...
Rubio, Scott, Florida Colleagues to POTUS: Expedite Resources to Floridians
Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm, causing catastrophic damage along Florida’s Gulf Coast. It’s crucial for the federal government to expedite state-requested resources and authorize key policy flexibilities in order for Floridians to make a swift...
Rubio Staff Hosts Hurricane Helene Recovery Assistance
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host two in-person events to assist constituents affected by Hurricane Helene and help navigate applications for FEMA assistance. Food, water, and additional resources will be available at the events. Event...
Next Week: Rubio Staff Hosts Mobile Office Hours
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host in-person and virtual Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their respective local communities. These office hours offer constituents who do not live close to one of...
Rubio, Scott Urge FEMA to Expedite Hurricane Reimbursements
Following the impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Debby, some local governments in Florida face looming budget shortfalls that could disrupt disaster recovery efforts. If these local governments receive reimbursements for past hurricanes from the Federal Emergency...
Rubio Statement on Obama Administration’s Admission Cash for Iran was Contingent on Release of Americans Held Hostage
Miami, FL – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees, released the following statement today after the Obama Administration finally admitted its “$400 million cash payment to Iran was contingent on the release of American prisoners”:
“This Administration has peddled one outright lie after another as it attempts to defend its disastrous nuclear deal with Iran. As I said two weeks ago when the White House was attacking me and other Republicans for pointing out the obvious fact this was a ransom payment, it’s a sad day when Iranian officials appear to be more honest than our own president. Today, the State Department finally admitted what was obvious to everyone all along. President Obama violated longstanding U.S. policy, overrode the objections of senior Justice Department officials, and delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in cash to the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism in exchange for the release of Americans it was holding hostage.
“President Obama stood in front of the American people and acted indignant that anyone would question his official story about how this deal went down. He said, ‘we do not pay ransom. We didn’t here. And we won’t in the future — precisely because if we did, then we would start encouraging Americans to be targeted, much in the same way that some countries that do pay ransom end up having a lot more of their citizens being taken by various groups.’
“The American people weren’t fooled by the president’s claim that he did not pay ransom to Iran, and the world’s worst actors aren’t fooled either. The president’s senior advisors saw it as ransom. The Iranians saw it as ransom and said it was a payment for the hostages. Other rogue regimes and terrorists will see it as ransom too, and now Americans around the world are in greater danger, just as the president said they would be.”
Rubio announced earlier this month his intention to introduce legislation requiring the president to get this money back from Iran and banning any future ransom payments by the U.S. government to countries or groups that take Americans hostage.