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Senator Bill Nelson

Nelson files bill to make it easier for ATF to trace guns used in crimes

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U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced legislation today to make it easier for law enforcement officers to solve crimes involving guns.

The legislation would allow the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to create an electronic, searchable database of gun sale records and require all firearm dealers to provide the ATF electronic access to their gun sale records within two years.

Current law prohibits ATF agents from electronically searching gun sales records to determine who purchased a particular firearm used in the commission of a crime. Instead, ATF agents are required by law to physically search through thousands of boxes containing millions of paper files, or manually click through documents stored in non-searchable formats to trace a particular firearm.

“We should be helping law enforcement solve these crimes, not making it harder for them,” Nelson said. “The fact that there is a law on the books that forces agents to comb through millions of files by hand is absolutely ridiculous. This bill will fix that and help bring the agency into the 21st century.”

Local, state and federal law enforcement depend on ATF to trace guns found at crime scenes across the country. But the painstaking process of searching through thousands of physical boxes or having to physically visit individual firearm dealers often creates extensive delays for investigators.

In addition to delays, the fact that these gun sale records are physically stored at thousands of separate locations around the country by federal firearms licensees – instead of in an electronic database – makes them extremely susceptible to being lost or destroyed during a natural disaster – such as a hurricane or flood.

In fact, it was those concerns that led ATF to advise all federally licensed gun dealers in Florida to relocate their records to a secure facility before Hurricane Irma hit last fall. After Hurricane Katrina, gun dealers sent water-logged, mildewing records to ATF’s headquarters, where agents were forced to dry them out in the parking lot.

Previous attempts to modernize the way ATF searches its records have been unsuccessful due, in part, to opposition from gun rights groups, such as the NRA. To tamp down the privacy-related concerns often raised by these groups, Nelson’s legislation would strictly limit how and when ATF agents could use the electronic database.

For example, under Nelson’s bill, ATF agents would only be allowed to use the database to trace guns in connection with a criminal or national security investigation. It would also only allow agents to electronically search the records they already have, and would not give them access to any additional records that aren’t already available to them.

Lastly, agents using the database would only be allowed to enter a firearm’s identifying information to determine who purchased the weapon. It would not, for example, allow ATF agents to enter a person’s information to determine if they purchased a gun.

The legislation is supported the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. It has also been one of the top legislative priorities for Marjory Stoneman Douglas student leaders and the March for Our Lives organization.

The legislation – known as the Crime Gun Tracing Modernization Act – now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.

Here is a link to the legislation.

Nelson on cancellation of North Korea summit

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Following is a statement from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) on President Trump cancelling the upcoming summit with North Korea:

“The cancellation of this summit reveals the lack of preparation on the part of President Trump in dealing with a totalitarian dictator like Kim Jong Un. We’ve seen similar lack of preparation by the president in dealing with the leaders of China and Russia.”

Key Senate panel approves bill to create national panel on seniors and disasters

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A key U.S. Senate panel approved legislation today to create a national advisory committee to look for ways to better prepare and care for our nation’s seniors during a disaster.

By a vote of 22 – 1, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved legislation sponsored by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) to create a 15-member National Advisory Committee on Seniors and Disasters to provide guidance to local, state and federal officials on how to better prepare seniors for an emergency, such as a hurricane or other natural disaster.

Nelson filed the bill last September in the wake of Hurricane Irma and the tragic deaths of eight seniors in a nursing home in Hollywood, Florida.

“What happened in Hollywood is inexcusable,” Nelson said when the bill was introduced. “This bill will require the head of HHS to appoint a panel of experts to provide our state and local leaders with the guidance they need to make sure such a tragedy never happens again.”

The bipartisan measure, cosponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bob Casey (D-PA) and approved today as part of a broader bill, would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a panel made up of federal and local agency officials, as well as non-federal health care professionals with expertise in disaster response.

Once established, that panel would then be charged with creating and providing guidance to local, state and federal officials on how to better prepare seniors for an emergency, how to better evaluate their health needs during an emergency and what steps should be taken when an emergency is declared.

The bill now heads to the full Senate for a vote.

A copy of the bill text is available here.

Controversial Consumer Product Safety Commission Nominee Narrowly Approved by the Senate

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By a vote of 50-45, the U.S. Senate today narrowly confirmed the nomination of Dana Baiocco to serve on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The move is seen as a win for corporate America and a loss for consumers.

Among those leading the charge against Baiocc’s nomination was Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee which oversees the CPSC. Nelson’s opposition to Baiocc’s nomination hinged on her refusal to require portable generators be equipped with devices that limit carbon monoxide emissions or automatically shut off the machines when they reach dangerous levels.

The commission, which regulates the safety of thousands of products, from children’s toys to portable generators, is viewed as one the nation’s top consumer watchdog agencies.

In a floor speech moments before the vote, Nelson said carbon monoxide poisonings from generators were linked to as many as 12 deaths and numerous injuries in Florida following Hurricane Irma.

“Hurricane season begins on June 1st and every day the CPSC fails to act on portable generators equals more Floridians and other Gulf Coast residents at risk,” said Nelson. “Sadly, it seems with the administration’s recent appointments to the CPSC, the commission could soon become known as the ‘Commission to Protect Shareholders and Companies.’”

Baiocco, a lawyer at powerful corporate lobbying and litigation giant Jones Day, was nominated by President Trump to serve on the CPSC last September. Her nomination has in-part come under fire due to her refusal to disclose clients she’s represented or fully recuse herself from matters involving those companies. Previous news reports indicate she has defended a number of manufacturers with interests before the CPSC, including cases involving toys with lead paint and ATVs linked to numerous rollover-related injuries and deaths.

Nelson blasts Florida’s refusal to expand Medicaid

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U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), in speaking on the Senate floor this afternoon, blasted the state of Florida for its refusal to expand Medicaid coverage to nearly 800,000 poor and disabled individuals in his state.

Nelson’s off-the-cuff remarks about Florida’s refusal to expand the program came in response to a speech Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) had just concluded about improving rural health care and Alabama’s “shortsighted decision” not to expand its Medicaid program.

“I also want to thank the senator for his comments about how shortsighted it is that the government, as he stated, of his state of Alabama and certainly the government of my state, the state of Florida, refuses to expand Medicaid and has so for almost seven years,” Nelson said.

“There’s almost $5 billion a year that is sitting on the shelf,” Nelson said, “that is Florida taxpayer money that is going elsewhere,”  “In my state of Florida, that is 800,000 people, almost a million people, poor people, disabled folks that would be getting health care,” Nelson continued. “What do they do? They end up going to the emergency room.”  “And of course, when treated at the emergency room – the most expensive place at the most expensive time – lo and behold it’s ‘uncompensated care’ and the hospital can’t eat all of that uncompensated care,” Nelson said. “What happens? All of the rest of us pay by increases in our premiums.”

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.

Florida lawmakers’ letter to Scott

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U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) joined with 11 other members of Florida’s Congressional delegation in sending a letter to Gov. Rick Scott today urging him to work with them to protect Florida families from escalating health insurance costs.

In addition to Nelson, the letter – which outlined six specific actions Scott should take at the state level to help mitigate rising healthcare costs – was signed by Reps. Kathy Castor (D-FL), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Charlie Crist (D-FL), Val Demings (D-FL), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Al Lawson, Jr. (D-FL), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Darren Soto (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Frederica Wilson (D-FL).

[Read more…] about Florida lawmakers’ letter to Scott

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.

Nelson statement on Haspel nomination to lead CIA

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Following is a statement from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) on the nomination of Gina Haspel to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Nelson, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, met with Haspel Tuesday afternoon to discuss her nomination:

“Gina Haspel has dedicated her life to serving her country and the brave men and women who work at the CIA deserve a career professional, like her, to lead them. Gina Haspel has publicly acknowledged that the CIA’s enhanced interrogation program should not have been undertaken and has vowed to uphold our nation’s laws and values in leading the agency. She has earned the respect and backing of former intelligence chiefs from the Bush and Obama administrations. I will vote to support her nomination to be the next director of the CIA.”

Nelson files bill to train more doctors to treat opioid addiction

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U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced legislation today to help fight the nation’s opioid epidemic by increasing the number of doctors who treat those with an opioid addiction.

The legislation – known as the Opioid Workforce Act – would create 1,000 new Medicare-supported medical residency positions at hospitals throughout the country to train new doctors in addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry or pain management.

“Too many Floridians don’t have access to critical treatments for opioid addiction,” Nelson said. “We need to make sure we have the doctors and resources necessary to help fight this public health crisis.”

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States will have a shortage of between 40,800 and 104,900 physicians by 2030.

In 2016, there were over 5,200 opioid-related deaths reported in Florida – a 35 percent increase from the year before. Florida ranks 45th for the number of available behavioral health professionals to treat Floridians with an opioid addiction, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. There are about 20 behavioral health providers available for every 1,000 Florida adults with a substance use disorder.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only about one in 10 people in the U.S. over the age of 12 who needed substance abuse treatment received treatment at a specialty facility. That same report found that 1.168 million Floridians over the age of 12 needed but did not receive treatment for substance abuse.

If approved, Nelson’s bill would allow eligible hospitals to add up to 25 full-time residency positions in their opioid-related medical residency programs, including three in Florida: the University of Florida School of Medicine in Gainesville, the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and the University of Miami in Miami.

The bipartisan bill (S. 2843) now heads to the Senate Finance Committee for consideration.

The text of the bill can be found here.