Where Debbie Stands
Reducing High Costs and Inflation
The cost of living is skyrocketing in Florida. As an immigrant who worked her way through high school and college at minimum wage jobs, Debbie is running for the U.S. Senate because she knows firsthand that we need to do more to support hard-working Floridians who are struggling. From the rising costs of homeowners insurance to housing to health care, prices are out of control and Floridians are fed up. And to make matters worse, we have a Senator in Rick Scott who is completely out of touch with the real problems that so many in Florida are facing. In the Senate, Debbie will tackle rising costs head on. Unlike Rick Scott, she opposes raising taxes on the middle class. Debbie also supports investing in job and vocational training to create opportunities for Floridians to establish strong careers. She’ll also work to ensure that the crypto and blockchain industries can continue to grow and create good jobs in Florida. The United States must be a leader in crypto and blockchain technology, so the industry can develop in a safe and sustainable manner, and not be shaped by countries like China and Russia.
Protecting Social Security and Medicare
Debbie lives with her elderly mother and is her primary caretaker, so she understands the critical role both Medicare and Social Security play for our seniors. While Senator Rick Scott wrote the plan to defund Medicare and Social Security, in Congress Debbie wrote the plan to expand Medicare. From her time as an associate dean at the FIU medical school to her time in Congress, Debbie has worked at the state and national level to expand health care access to Americans and protect our seniors who have worked their entire lives to earn their retirement. Rick Scott’s plan would increase the number of seniors in poverty by 40%. Protecting Social Security and expanding access to Medicare are two of her highest priorities in the U.S. Senate. Too many Floridians rely on these services to let extremist Republicans like Rick Scott gut them.
Lowering the Cost of Health Care
Debbie knows that for too many Floridians, health care costs too much and provides too little. And the costs keep going up. As Associate Dean at FIU Medical School, Debbie worked hard to expand health care access to thousands of Floridians, an issue that inspired her to run for public office. Debbie supports ensuring that Floridians have access to high quality affordable health care so no Floridian has to worry about seeking the care they need and being served a surprise medical bill that could bankrupt them and their family. Debbie sponsored legislation to expand Medicare and reduce the price of medication. Meanwhile, Senator Rick Scott wrote the plan to cut Medicare and said as recently as this year that he would support repealing the Affordable Care Act, ripping affordable health care away from over 3 million Floridians, including those with pre-existing conditions. Rick Scott also opposed the Inflation Reduction Act, which stops drug companies from jacking up prices for life saving medications like insulin.
Protecting Clean Water and Our Environment
Florida’s natural beauty and unique environment is one of the many things that makes it so special – and is a key driver of our economic prosperity and tourism in Florida. In Congress, Debbie represented South Florida, the Florida Keys, and the Everglades, and worked across the aisle to bring over $200 million to the state for environmental and Everglades preservation. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Debbie delivered nearly $10 million in essential FEMA funding for South Florida communities. In the U.S. Senate, Debbie will fight for funding to help Florida build the climate-resilient infrastructure needed to fight climate change. Unlike Rick Scott who banned the use of the term “climate change” as Governor and dismisses it as “nuisance flooding,” Debbie knows climate change is real and she is ready to take action to address the climate crisis that is impacting Floridians, their lives, and their property.
Keeping Our Communities and Kids Safe
Debbie knows that in order to make our communities safer, we have to take action to address gun violence. In addition to supporting our law enforcement officers and ensuring they have the resources they need to keep our communities safe, Debbie recognizes that lawmakers must also do their part to help keep Floridians safe. The fight to end gun violence is deeply personal for Debbie. At just 24 years old, Debbie lost her father to gun violence, and has since been a dedicated advocate for expanding gun safety laws. In Congress, Debbie served as a Vice Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and as a Member of the Judiciary Committee she helped pass landmark legislation through the House to expand background checks on all gun sales and close loopholes in America’s gun laws that put victims of domestic abuse at risk. Debbie also worked to increase consistent, long-term investments in community violence intervention programs But self-serving politicians like Rick Scott continue to play politics in Washington and put the gun lobby before the safety of Florida’s families.
Putting National Security & Democracy First
America is the strongest nation in the world, with workers and an economy that can out-compete any nation. We must maintain American strength and competitiveness. Debbie knows that starts with addressing the crisis at our borders and defending democracy abroad as authoritarian regimes across the world like Nicaragua and Russia brutalize their own populations, wage destructive wars, and threaten international stability.
That’s why Debbie stands against the dictatorships in Cuba and Venezuela and has always fought for freedom for oppressed peoples. In 2023 as the Senior Advisor to the Summit of the Americas, she led the successful push to ban Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela from the Summit of the Americas, because she believes these illegitimate regimes should never be normalized. She also stands against Vladimir Putin’s unacceptable aggression in Ukraine.
Debbie supports Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East, and has called for aid to be delivered immediately to Israel and to the innocent civilians in Gaza who are suffering under a terrorist organization.
Debbie will also stand up to China’s harmful trade practices that hurt American businesses, and she supports tough trade policies that protect Florida’s workers and businesses. In the Senate, Debbie will ensure Florida’s trade-centric economy is strong and resilient.
Protecting Women's Rights to Healthcare and Abortion
Debbie is fighting to defend freedom in Florida because she knows that the decision to have an abortion is a decision that must be made between a woman, her family, and her doctor — not extremist politicians who want to criminalize health care providers. She knows the abortion bans that have passed across the country, including the radical ban in Florida, are putting women’s lives at risk by increasing the risk of maternal mortality and ultimately stripping them of their fundamental freedoms. As a mother to two daughters, Debbie is committed to fighting to protect every woman’s right to make the decision that is best for them. Meanwhile, extremist Rick Scott cosponsored a national abortion ban in the Senate and enthusiastically threw his support behind Florida's ban with no real exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Debbie trusts Floridians – not Rick Scott – to make their own health care decisions. And unlike Rick Scott, who voted against protections for contraceptives and IVF, Debbie will defend Floridians’ rights to access essential reproductive health care.
To contribute by mail, please send checks made out to Debbie for Florida and send them to:
PO Box 432250
South Miami, FL 33243