West Palm Beach, FL – Tonight, the two candidates running for the open Florida Senate seat – Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-FL) – will go head-to-head in their second live debate at 7pm.
With over 1.5 million veterans in Florida, in addition to military families, and patriotic citizens, the veterans community makes up a large voting demographic in the Sunshine State – but the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is failing them. That’s why Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) has taken the extraordinary step to expressly advocate on behalf of Senator Marco Rubio, a strong VA reform advocate.
Here are three reasons why the veterans community in Florida should make sure Senator Marco Rubio stays in the Senate this November:
#1: Sen. Rubio has been leading the charge to reform the VA since he took office:
Marco Rubio was a champion for VA reform before the national VA scandal broke and became public knowledge. Sen. Rubio was an early advocate who spearheaded VA accountability efforts with his introduction of the VA Management Accountability Act of 2014 and the VA Accountability Act of 2015 – two Senate bills which would make it easier to fire bad VA employees and would protect whistleblowers who speak up.
#2: Sen. Rubio supports empowering veterans with choice over where and when they can see a doctor:
Sen. Rubio co-sponsored the Veterans’ Access to Care Through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014 and voted in favor of the Veterans Choice, Access, and Accountability Act of 2014. This bill created the Choice Program which aimed at providing veterans who were not able to get an appointment at the VA within 40 days, or who live more than 30 miles from a VA facility, the option to seek care in their community.
#3: Sen. Rubio continues to fight to hold the VA accountable for not providing adequate care for our nation’s veterans:
Sen. Rubio recently introduced the “VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016,” a bill that would strengthen protections for whistleblowers and increase flexibility to remove VA employees for poor performance or misconduct. The bill would also reform the department’s disability benefits appeals process, which is a top priority for VA leaders and many veterans’ service organizations. Just last month, the VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016 (H.R. 5620) passed in the House of Representatives.
The debate, hosted by Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association will be televised on WPBF ABC 25 at 7pm ET from Broward College in West Palm Beach. Watch live here.
###