NOTICIAS

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio today announced his four committee assignments for the 112th Congress. Rubio’s assignments include the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

In making this announcement, Rubio issued the following statement:

“I’m honored to be a member of these important committees that address some of our nation’s and state’s most important issues. This committee portfolio will enable me to work directly on policies to promote private sector job creation, keep Americans safe and maintain our strong standing in the world.

“In addition to continuing my work with small businesses entrepreneurs I’ve met throughout Florida, I am especially encouraged by the fact that these assignments will allow me to work on many issues of great interest to Floridians, including NASA, free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama, our missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and relations with key allies in our hemisphere and across the world.

“Beyond my committee work, I look forward to delivering on the promises I’ve made to Floridians to fundamentally reform the way Washington spends taxpayer dollars, champion free enterprise policies to help put Americans back to work, and support our men and women in uniform.”

BACKGROUND ON SENATOR MARCO RUBIO’S COMMITTEES

Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation: The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation oversees a vast range of issues under its jurisdiction. These include communications, highways, aviation, rail, shipping, transportation security, merchant marine, the Coast Guard, oceans, fisheries, disasters, science, space, interstate commerce, tourism, consumer issues, economic development, export promotion, technology, competitiveness, product safety, and insurance.

Committee on Foreign Relations: The Foreign Relations Committee is instrumental in developing and influencing United States foreign policy. The committee has considered, debated, and reported important treaties and legislation, ranging from the purchase of Alaska in 1867 to the establishment of the United Nations in 1945. It also holds jurisdiction over all diplomatic nominations. Through these powers, the committee has helped shape foreign policy of broad significance, in matters of war and peace and international relations.

Select Committee on Intelligence: The Select Committee on Intelligence is dedicated to overseeing the U.S. intelligence community – the federal agencies and bureaus that provide information and analysis for leaders of the executive and legislative branches. The Committee is “select” in that membership is temporary and rotated among members of the chamber. As part of its oversight responsibilities, the Committee performs an annual review of the intelligence budget submitted by the President and prepares legislation authorizing appropriations for the various civilian and military agencies and departments comprising the intelligence community. These entities include the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, as well as the intelligence-related components of Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of the Treasury, and Department of Energy. The Committee makes recommendations to the Senate Armed Services Committee on authorizations for the intelligence-related components of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Marine Corps. The Committee also conducts periodic investigations, audits, and inspections of intelligence activities and programs.

Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: The Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship oversees all legislation and issues relating to the Small Business Administration (SBA), as well as studying issues affecting the function of American small business enterprises.