Marco has been working hard all week on behalf of Floridians as the budget negotiations have continued. Even with control of the House, Senate and White House last year, Democrats still failed to pass a budget for this year. As a result, we find ourselves with no long-term budget more than halfway through Fiscal Year 2011. Making matters worse, this lack of leadership has us on a path toward a government shutdown. While Americans know that we must cut spending and begin to tackle our massive debt, many leaders in Washington have still not gotten the message. Marco will continue to make this his top priority to ensure that America’s next 100 years are better than her last 100 years.

Visit the new Rubio.Senate.gov!

On Thursday, Marco unveiled his new website, rubio.senate.gov This new site contains interactive features like the “Putting Florida First” map, issues pages and the Action Center. Check back frequently for new press releases, videos, photos, news stories and more! Click here for a video of Marco greeting visitors to his new site.

A Stronger America…

With a belief that the world is a better place when America is leading, Marco continued to press Washington to take strong positions on Israel and Libya. This week, Marco led his fellow freshmen Republican Senators in sending a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asking that America keep its commitments to its staunchest Middle East ally, Israel:

“As freshmen Senators, we campaigned on the need to restore fiscal responsibility to our government. The current path is fiscally unsustainable and will have negative consequences for economic growth and prosperity. As we work to reduce wasteful government spending, we recognize that providing for the national defense is a constitutional responsibility of the federal government. Therefore, we must continue to prioritize the safety of our nation and the security of our allies, including Israel.”

Marco also released a statement this week in support of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. While the announcement of this agreement is welcome news, Marco notes that it is long overdue. The agreement is particularly good news for Florida with Marco stating that it “will be a boon to our economy, create jobs for Floridians, and help solidify our alliances with these steadfast partners. The agreements with Colombia and Panama in particular will boost Florida businesses, workers and farmers whose livelihoods rely on exports to these countries.”

Fighting For Florida…

This week, Marco voted to repeal one of the most burdensome regulations in the President’s health care law, known as the 1099 provision. This provision would have placed a new burden on businesses to comply with tax filing paperwork by forcing all businesses, charities, and state and local governments to file 1099 forms if they purchase $600 or more in goods and services from another business throughout the year. While repealing 1099 was critical, Marco believes we must repeal and replace the entire health care reform law and he is an original co-sponsor of legislation to do just that.

And in a separate effort to help Florida businesses, Marco voted to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from implementing cap-and-trade regulations that would amount to a national energy tax. While this effort wasn’t successful in the Senate, Marco will continue to ensure that unelected bureaucrats in Washington aren’t able to implement regulations that will hurt job creation and raise energy prices for Floridians. Check out what Marco had to say about this week’s vote:

“The policies coming out of Washington are taking our country in the wrong direction, and the last thing Florida families and businesses need is unaccountable bureaucrats imposing an energy tax through regulation that will increase electricity and gasoline prices. … Cap-and-trade would not pass through Congress today and Obama administration should not be able to put one in place through rules drafted behind closed doors without the consent of the American people.”

Committed to Cutting Spending

As Congressional leaders work to hammer out a budget for 2011 and 2012, Marco and Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) introduced a bill to cut $45 billion in unused taxpayer dollars sitting in federal coffers. As Marco notes, “This bill will mark an important step forward in saving taxpayer dollars. Not only should we cut spending but we should rescind money that remains unspent by federal agencies. The American people can no longer afford a government that spends money needlessly.”

This week, Marco received support for his calls to take our debt seriously. The Daytona News-Journal’s editorial board wrote “Rubio’s right: Confront the national debt now”—a piece that laments the lack of leadership on this issue in Washington and praises Marco for taking a strong stand on the national debt. The column concludes: “Congress ran up a $14 trillion debt by kicking the can down the road, year after year. Marco Rubio says no more of that. He’s just a freshman senator, but he’s ready to do something about the leadership failure President Obama lamented five years ago.”

Marco On “Fox News Sunday”

Last Sunday, Marco spoke to Chris Wallace about the budget debate, the debt ceiling and the unfolding situation in Libya. Watch the video here.