NOTICIAS

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today announced several new promotions and staff hires in his Washington, D.C. office.

Lauren Reamy, a member of Rubio’s staff since 2015, has been promoted to Legislative Director. Robert “Bobby” Zarate will lead Rubio’s foreign policy team after joining the staff as Senior Foreign Policy Advisor in December 2016, and Matt Wolking has been promoted to Senior Communications Advisor and Press Secretary.

In addition to the promotions, Olivia Perez-Cubas is rejoining the Senate office as Communications Director after previously serving as Press Secretary on the Senate staff, and Wes Brooks is joining as a Legislative Assistant for energy, environment, agriculture and trade issues.

“I’m grateful for everything Sara Decker, Alex Burgos, and Jamie Fly helped us accomplish in my first term, and for all of their hard work. I wish them the very best in their new endeavors and know they will be very successful,” said Rubio. “I’m proud to welcome the new staff and look forward to the work our new team will be doing to help serve the people of Florida and pursue an important and meaningful legislative agenda in my second term.”

Staff Biographies:

Lauren Reamy – Legislative Director: Reamy has served as Rubio’s deputy legislative director and professional staff member on the Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, as well as advising the senator on energy, environment, agriculture, and trade issues. Prior to that, she was director of government affairs at the Motion Picture Association of America, managing a portfolio that included international trade and economic issues. Earlier in her career, she served six years as a professional staff member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, serving under former Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA), and former Ranking Members Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Reamy is a graduate from the University of Florida and a native of Davie, Florida.

Robert “Bobby” Zarate – Senior Foreign Policy Advisor: Zarate previously served as national security advisor to U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), leading the senator’s efforts to oversee the Menendez-Kirk-Lieberman Iran sanctions laws, and to persuade Congress to appropriate and authorize full funding for IRON DOME and other U.S.-Israel missile defense programs, and to advance the bipartisan Combating BDS Act of 2016. Prior to the Senate, he served as policy director of the Foreign Policy Initiative (2011-2014); legislative assistant for foreign affairs to U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) (2009-2011), successfully leading Fortenberry’s effort to enact the Help Haitian Adoptees Immediately to Integrate Act of 2010 (Help HAITI Act); legislative fellow on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade (2009); and research fellow at the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (2006-2009). Zarate earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Chicago.

Olivia Perez-Cubas – Communications Director: Olivia began her career as a news writer at WSVN, the FOX affiliate in Miami. She first joined Rubio’s Senate office communications team as an intern and quickly became a full-time staffer. She was tapped to move to Rubio’s presidential campaign on day one, where she served as Media Director, booking Rubio and managing his press schedule. She was Press Secretary for the 2016 re-election campaign and spent much of her time traveling the state with Rubio. Olivia is rejoining the Senate office as Communications Director. She is a graduate of Florida State University and was born and raised in Miami, Florida.

Matt Wolking – Senior Communications Advisor and Press Secretary: Wolking has worked in Congress for more than five years, serving in communications roles for U.S. Representative Tim Griffin (R-AR), Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), and Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) at the House Select Committee on Benghazi prior to joining Rubio’s staff. Earlier in his career, he was Executive Producer of Laura Ingraham’s nationally syndicated political talk radio show. A native of Kentucky and graduate of Patrick Henry College in Virginia, Wolking interned for U.S. Senator Fred Thompson’s (R-TN) 2008 campaign for president and U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC).

Wes Brooks – Legislative Assistant: Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Brooks has handled U.S. Rep. Brian Mast’s (R-FL) Transportation and Infrastructure Committee portfolio as well as agriculture, Coast Guard, energy, environment, fisheries, and water resources issues. He earned a Ph.D. in Ecological Science and a Certificate in Government and Politics from Rutgers University, where he authored 18 peer-reviewed scientific research papers on topics including invasive species, citizen science, science education, environmental economics, and tropical dry forest restoration. Brooks also holds Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Political Science from Duke University. He was named an Emerging Public Policy Leader in 2011 by the American Institute for Biological Sciences, and was selected as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Graduate STEM Fellow in 2013 before joining Rep. Ros-Lehtinen’s staff in January 2014. Wes is also an alumnus of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Foreign Policy Fellowship and Cybersecurity Fellowship programs.