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Nelson to file bill to hire more mental health counselors in schools

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U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) announced today – in the wake of recent school shootings in Florida and Texas – that he’s filing legislation to hire more mental health professionals in schools across the country.

According to a 2016 report from the Florida Association of School Psychologists, Florida has one school psychologist for every 1,983 students.

The data, compared to the nationally recommended ratio of between 500 and 700 students per psychologist, shows the Sunshine State has only one-fourth of the school psychologists it needs to properly care for its students. And the lack of available mental health professionals in Florida’s schools is one of the reasons why only a small percent of children in Florida who need mental health services receive them.

“We can’t allow what happened in Parkland and in Texas to become the new normal in this country,” Nelson said. “We have to do more to protect our kids in school and ensure that any student who needs mental health services is able to get them.”

The legislation, which Nelson says he plans to file as early as Wednesday, would require the U.S. Department of Education to conduct a study to determine which areas of the country have a shortage of school mental health professionals. The bill would also provide federal education grants to colleges and universities that partner with low-income school districts to train school counselors, social workers, psychologists and other mental health professionals in the underserved school districts that need them the most.

Finally, to encourage metal health professionals to work in these school districts, Nelson’s bill would establish a federal student loan forgiveness program for mental health professionals who work at least five years in a low-income school district.

Nelson says he started working on the measure in the wake of the Parkland tragedy but last week’s shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas created a new sense of urgency in getting it approved.

The lack of mental health professionals at schools in Florida was one of several issues raised in the wake of the tragic shooting in Parkland, Florida earlier this year. In response to the tragedy, the Florida Legislature approved $69 million to provide additional mental health resources in schools in Florida.

Some mental health professionals have said the funding approved by the Legislature is a good first step, but still not enough. They also say even more will be needed to hire mental health professionals in areas that have been traditionally hard to staff, such as rural and low-income school districts.

To help address those issues, among others, Nelson’s legislation would create federal-grant funding and student-loan forgiveness opportunities specifically for the counselors and higher-education programs that work to provide services in the districts that need them the most.

Senate votes to restore Net Neutrality

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Florida Sen. Bill Nelson voted for the measure

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted 52 to 47 to restore Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules prohibiting internet service providers from blocking or slowing down traffic from specific websites and apps.

The measure, supported by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, was backed by all 47 Democratic senators, along with three Republicans and the chamber’s two Independents.

The rules, known as net neutrality, were initially adopted by the FCC under the Obama administration but were repealed by the newly Republican-controlled commission in the aftermath of President Trump’s election.

The resolution approved by the Senate would reverse the FCC’s rollback of the rules, which are set to expire on June 11.

“The American public understands how important these protections are to their lives and the future of the internet,” Nelson said on the senate floor before the vote. “They do not want to have their websites blocked or internet accessed slowed. And, they certainly don’t want their internet providers making those decisions.”

The vote is seen as a victory for consumer groups and small businesses that argued that the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality would ultimately result in internet service providers charging extra to access some online content or have websites load faster.

The resolution now heads to the House of Representatives.

Rep. Rutherford’s Floor Statement on The Protect and Serve Act of 2018

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“Thank you Chairman Goodlatte and thank you Representative Nadler for your support of this legislation.

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5698, the Protect and Serve Act of 2018. This important bill will enhance penalties for anyone who intentionally causes harm to law enforcement officers.

“Mr. Chairman, I can tell you after dedicating more than 40 years of my life to law enforcement, I know what officers go through every day when they put that uniform on, say goodbye to their families, and walk out the door to protect our communities.

“Sadly, we have seen a recent increase in violence against officers, especially in ambush style attacks. In fact, just last month in Florida, Sgt. Noel Ramirez and Deputy Taylor Lindsey were eating lunch, and were specifically targeted and assassinated, simply because they were police officers and wore that blue uniform.

“And they are not alone. So far this year, 87 law enforcement officers have been shot in the line of duty – 28 of whom ultimately lost their lives. Mr. Speaker, this is 75% higher than this time last year.

“For this reason, I introduced bipartisan legislation with my good friend and former Orlando Police Chief, Representative Val Demings, that will ensure that there are the strongest possible penalties for anyone who decides to target and harm not only federal law enforcement officers, but also local and state officers.

“We worked on this bill closely with the Fraternal Order of Police and are proud to have earned the support of the National Association of Police Organizations, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, and the Major County Sheriffs of America, which represent thousands of officers from around the country.

“This week, we remember the officers who have given their lives protecting our communities, and we as members of congress must show the law enforcement community across this country that we support them and the important work that they do, day in and day out. We must also show that those who wish target police officers with violence, that attacks will not be tolerated. I urge all Members to join me today in supporting this legislation.

“And before I yield back Mr. Speaker, I should mention and I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t, that just yesterday morning, in Jacksonville, Florida, as mentioned earlier by my good friend from Washington, Sheriff Reichert, who held a moment of silence for those officers who gave their lives in service to this community.

“And yesterday morning at about 4:00 in the morning, during a horrible storm in Jacksonville, Officer LW gave his life on Police Memorial Day, in service to this community. I have to say, Police Week, and Law Enforcement Memorial Day always remind me of the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said:

‘The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.’

“I offer this bill in memory of Officer Lance Whitaker, who died yesterday morning, living well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield back the remainder of my time.”

Sen. Bill Nelson Statement on President Withdrawing from Iran Deal

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The Florida Democrat is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, and former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) released the following statement today in response to President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran deal:

“We need to put more pressure on Iran with additional economic sanctions to stop them from developing their ICBM missiles. But pulling out of this deal now is a tragic mistake. It will divide us from our European allies and it will allow Iran to build a nuclear bomb within a year, instead of preventing it for at least 7 to 12 years.”

Nelson visits Puerto Rico as post-storm recovery continues

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U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) was in Puerto Rico today to meet with local residents and get a firsthand look at several areas still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria.

The visit was Nelson’s fifth to the island, and third since the storm.

Nelson, who has been an outspoken proponent of providing Puerto Rico additional funding to help the island recover from the hurricane, started the day by meeting with Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Housing Fernando Gil Enseñat in Carolina to get a firsthand look at a recently completed, federally-funded housing project. Local officials thanked Nelson for his help in getting Congress to approve the funding needed for the project.

After seeing the type of work being done to provide additional housing for residents on the island, Nelson headed to Las Piedras, one of Puerto Rico’s most underdeveloped areas where up to 30 percent of the town still does not have electricity after the storm.

“This is unacceptable,” Nelson said about the conditions in Las Piedras. “It’s been eight months since the storm, and we will continue to fight to ensure Puerto Rico is treated the way it should be.”

Before leaving Las Piedras, Nelson got a firsthand look at one of Tesla’s solar energy projects in Barrio Montones. The pilot project, which began in March 2018, provides electricity to 12 homes on top of a mountain that would not otherwise have electricity following the storm. Nelson’s visit to see the solar project comes just days before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is set to hold – at Nelson’s request – an oversight hearing on the island’s ongoing power woes in the wake of Hurricane Maria. The hearing will be held on May 8.

After visiting with residents in Las Piedras, Nelson met with Puerto Rico’s Gov. Ricardo Rosselló and First Lady Beatriz Rosselló.  Nelson expressed his condolences for the nine Puerto Rican Air National Guard members lost this week when their C-130 crashed in Georgia. Nelson and Rosselló then headed to Guaynabo to announce a new housing initiative that will solidify housing for dozens of Puerto Rican families.

Finally, Nelson visited Caño Martín Peña Ecosystem Restoration Project to get a firsthand look at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ project to clean out the once-navigable channel that’s now clogged with debris. Now blocked, the clogged canal poses a serious health threats to the nearly 26,000 residents who live in nearby communities as untreated sewage entering the canal is unable to properly move through it.

Sen. Bill Nelson on rollback of offshore drilling safety rule

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The Trump administration today announced a new proposal to roll back several key offshore drilling safety regulations that the Obama administration put in place after the 2010 BP oil spill.

The Department of the Interior’s proposal would rollback significant portions of the “Blowout Preventer Systems and Well Control Rule” that was finalized and put in place in 2016 to address key safety recommendations made after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The “well control” rule includes several safety regulations that are now in place to help prevent another massive oil spill from occurring such as: increased design and maintenance standards for blowout preventers, requiring real-time monitoring of deep-water wells and requiring drillers to have a mechanism to properly cutoff a drill pipe if necessary.

Following is a comment from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), who filed legislation last week to make the “well control” rule law and prevent the administration from rolling it back:  

“This administration wants to turn a blind eye to history just to help their friends in the oil industry,” Nelson said. “We can’t let that happen. These rules were put in place to prevent another massive oil spill off our coasts. We can’t allow this new administration to take us backwards in time and, once again, expose Florida’s beautiful beaches and  tourism-based economy to such an unnecessary risk.”

A copy of the legislation Nelson filed to prevent the rule from being rolled back is available here.

Background article on today’s announcement:

Rules Established After Deepwater Horizon Disaster Face Revisions

By Ted Mann and Tim Puko
Published: April 27, 2018

Federal regulators next week will unveil proposed changes to a major rule passed in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, which the Trump administration says it can revise to be less of a burden on offshore oil drillers without compromising safety.

The existing rule—six years in the making and known as the “well-control rule”—was completed in the final year of President Barack Obama’s second term, and governs everything from the use of blowout preventers like the device that failed in the Deepwater Horizon spill, to the amount of pressure drillers must maintain to avoid accidents.

But the rule, the broadest of several completed after the 2010 spill, has been a point of contention with the oil-and-gas industry, which objects to some of the costs of complying with its safety measures and what the industry says is an overly prescriptive approach by the government to regulating oil production.

Among the changes in the proposed rule, which is to be sent Friday for publication next week, are the elimination of a requirement that Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement vet the third-party vendors who inspect offshore oil equipment for safety. The agency will leave in place provisions requiring the use of remote-operated underwater vehicles and real-time monitoring of offshore operations, but will tweak them to make compliance easier for companies.

Still, BSEE officials have backed off some of the changes originally intended for the well-control rule. One change the regulators won’t be making: deleting the word “safe.”

In a draft of the proposed changes submitted to the White House budget office late last year, the BSEE proposed eliminating a requirement that the agency affirm that plans for maintaining pressure in wells as they are drilled were safe. The agency argued in that version that the language was “redundant” and might lead regulators to overreach when deciding whether to approve drilling permits.

Instead, according to agency officials and people familiar with the final proposal, the existing rules will remain in place, while BSEE will ask drillers to submit guidance on how the provision could be changed in the future.

Florida lawmakers call on FEMA to expedite reimbursement of disaster-related expenses owed to local governments

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U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Carlos Curbelo (FL-26) today sent a letter to FEMA Administrator Brock Long urging the agency to expedite the reimbursement of disaster-related expenses owed to local governments in Florida and elsewhere.

“Local governments are cash-strapped with little to no funding in their budgets to repair damaged communities,” the lawmakers wrote. “It is critical that FEMA responsibly provide local governments with the assistance Congress appropriated to address current damages and the ability to prepare communities for the upcoming hurricane season.”

Nelson, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, addressed the issue at hearing the panel held earlier today on hurricane preparedness. “There are some areas where we can and must do better,” Nelson said. “Puerto Rico is an example, Florida is an example. That local governments are still not being compensated for the debris pickup that they have advanced – that is unacceptable.”

Here is a link to video of Nelson’s comments at today’s Commerce committee hearing:

A .pdf copy of the lawmakers’ letter is available here.