News

Washington, D.C. – If you’re a Floridian having problems with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), proving your identity to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) after having it stolen, or having trouble with Medicare or Social Security issues, you’re not alone.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today released a new report detailing some of the more than 30,000 constituent service cases his office has worked on since 2011 involving these federal agencies and many others. ‎He hopes people facing similar challenges will turn to him and other congressional members for assistance.

For example, Rubio’s constituent service team has helped a young woman stranded in an international airport with an expired passport get a new one in time for her rescheduled flight, a wounded veteran get his disability payments reinstated and a retroactive payment for the benefits he was owed by the VA, and a husband and wife who were victims of tax fraud recover their income tax refund.

“Since I was elected five years ago, my top priority has been making sure Floridians in need of assistance receive the help they need, and I’m proud that we have the best team in the country helping our neighbors and making this goal a reality every day,” said Rubio. “Constituent service can sometimes be as routine as getting a passport expedited immediately in order to make a family vacation possible. But sometimes it makes the difference between paying your bills on time, falling into debt, or even life and death, and we want to make sure people receive the assistance they need from us.”

Rubio’s new constituent service report highlights stories that exemplify the work his constituent service team has done to assist Floridians over the past year and a half. A similar report was released in July 2014 which highlighted the first three and a half years of Rubio’s constituent service program.

Among the report’s noteworthy facts and figures:

• The office has received over 30,000 requests for assistance since Rubio was sworn into office.

• About 95 percent of the cases have been completed or closed thus far.

• Since the first report was released in July 2014, over 8,000 new cases were opened.‎

• Over 500 Mobile Office Hour events were held, totaling more than 1,000 overall since Rubio was sworn into office.‎

• More than16,000 people ‎visited a Mobile Office Hour event during the past five years.

• The top issue areas requested for help by Florida constituents are: immigration and international issues, Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits, Social Security and Medicare, as well as taxes.

Earlier this week, Rubio’s office surpassed an important milestone by hosting its 1,000^th Mobile Office Hour event.