 |
| U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-F) |
From time to time, the staff at U.S. Senator Bill Nelson's office compiles and releases a list of news briefs, key issues and hot topics involving Senator Nelson that are of particular interest or concern to the people of Florida. Below is a list of such released today April 2, 2014.
Senator Nelson cosponsors the Paycheck Fairness Act
Senator Nelson became a cosponsor this
week of S. 84, the Paycheck Fairness Act.
This legislation aimed at closing the wage
gap between men and women, amends the
Equal Pay Act of 1963 to make it easier for
employees to pursue legal claims for
unequal pay based solely on the sex of the
employee. It would also allow employees to
share salary information without fear of
retaliation, and increase the amount of
damages that could be awarded in these
types of discrimination lawsuits.
Senator Nelson became a cosponsor this
week of legislation to raise the federal
minimum wage. The bill, the Minimum
Wage Fairness Act (S. 1737), would
incrementally raise the minimum wage to
$10.10 over two years and then index it to
inflation. It would also increase the
minimum wage for tipped employees until it
reaches 70 percent of the minimum wage for
regular employees.
Senator Nelson cosponsors legislation defending human rights in Venezuela
In response to the Venezuelan government’s violent
suppression of protests, arrest and detention of
opposition leaders, and human rights abuses, Senator
Nelson signed on as an original cosponsor to S. 2142,
the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights.
Out of concern for the rising price of food
and gas, Senator Nelson sent a letter to the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which is the federal agency
charged with preventing price speculation in
markets for oil, gasoline, precious metals,
and many bulk foods. BN’s letter supported
the CFTC’s recent proposal for new
regulations that would limit certain
speculative trading activities. The letter
urged the agency to implement regulations
to prevent excessive Wall Street commodity
speculation, which can lead to higher food
and fuel costs for ordinary Americans.
Senator Nelson has long supported such
regulations to protect Americans from
speculative commodity price spikes,
including his vote for the Wall Street
Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L.
111-203) in 2010. He also wrote the
President’s nominees to serve on the CFTC,
asking them to commit to combating
commodity market manipulation.
In response to the persistent threat of Iran to
the United States and our allies, particularly
Israel, Senator Nelson has cosigned two
bipartisan letters to President Obama in
support of the President’s continued efforts
to get the Iranian regime to denounce
enrichment, dismantle weapons programs,
resolve all UN concerns, and stay committed
to negotiations.
To hopefully bring closure to the 2009
murder of Peace Corps Volunteer Kate Puzey, Senator Nelson joined in signing a
bicameral and bipartisan letter to Secretary
of State Kerry, FBI Director Comey, and
Peace Corps Inspector General Buller. The
letter requests a reinvestigation team be sent
to the African country of Benin to assist its
government in their investigation of Kate’s
murder. A similar team was sent to
investigate the 1998 murder of another
Peace Corps volunteer in Gabon, which
helped in the conviction of her murderer in
September 2013.
Senator Nelson chaired Aging hearing on
Medicare fraud
On March 26, Senator Nelson chaired a
hearing, which focused on the human cost of
Medicare fraud, and included testimony
from a senior who was prescribed
potentially dangerous medication she did not
need so that her doctor could bill Medicare.
Though there are several provisions in the
Affordable Care Act that expand the
Department of Health and Human Services’
authority to combat fraud and increase
penalties, the hearing revealed that there are
additional ways through public and private
partnerships to eliminate the threat of fraud
for Medicare beneficiaries. The Committee
will continue to investigate avenues to
enhance protection for seniors against fraud
in the healthcare system.
No comments:
Post a Comment