ORLANDO, Fla. – Today, Senator Rick Scott delivered remarks at the 2023 Puerto Rico Summit in Orlando reiterating his commitment to Puerto Rico’s future success and to continue being the voice of Puerto Rican families in the United States Senate. Senator Scott has been a staunch advocate for Puerto Rico, and during his time as a U.S. Senator and Governor of Florida, has visited the island over 10 times and met with families and job creators on the island.

Read Senator Scott’s full remarks as prepared for delivery below:

Good Morning, it’s great to be with all of you here in the Sunshine State.

Thank you, Luis DeRosa, and thank you ALL for having me here today at the annual Puerto Rico Summit.

I’ve had the opportunity to visit Puerto Rico over 10 times as both Florida’s governor and senator and I’ve met with many families and job creators who call the island home.

Over the past few decades, we’ve seen many Puerto Rican families move to Florida for the chance at a more prosperous future — but they deserve that future on the island.

Just like Florida families, Puerto Rican families want great jobs, they want their kids to get a world-class education and they want to live in safe neighborhoods.

The island’s population has dropped more than 11%. Families are leaving Puerto Rico because they can’t get jobs.

Many of those leaving Puerto Rico have flocked to Florida, where we created more than 1.7 million jobs in my eight years as governor and many of those jobs come from tourism.

Puerto Rico has an abundance of opportunity to invest in its tourism industry. It’s a beautiful island, with wonderful people, fascinating history and great weather. If Puerto Rico can increase the number of annual tourists, that could be thousands of jobs for families on the island.

Florida has 16 seaports. As governor, I focused on port infrastructure and developing trading relationships all over the world. As a result, we increased trade and trade-related jobs by more than 300,000 when I was governor. With Puerto Rico’s location, it has a similar opportunity to build its trade economy and create jobs.

And with the right tax structure and regulatory environment, Puerto Rico has an opportunity to build their manufacturing economy to compete with anyone.

There are many opportunities for Puerto Rico to invest in its economy and its people. I’m certain that many hard-working people there have better ideas than I do about opportunities for economic growth. But they need strong, responsible leadership to have a chance to see the future the people deserve.

As your U.S. Senator from Florida, I am committed to fighting for Puerto Rico in Congress and making sure families on the island have their shot at living the American Dream. I vowed to be Puerto Rico’s voice in the U.S. Senate, and that will never change.

That means advocating for needs like disaster aid and demanding accountability from their leadership. But it also means helping prepare for the future, and helping Puerto Ricans build a bright future for generations to come.

Even before Hurricane Maria made landfall we took aggressive action to support Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican community.

Puerto Rico’s success is America’s success and Puerto Rico’s recovery is America’s recovery.

Florida became the only state in the country to enter into a Host-State agreement with FEMA to help families displaced by Hurricane Maria.

More than 37,000 Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria visited the state's Multi-Agency Resource Center for assistance and I traveled to Puerto Rico multiple times to help coordinate the response and recovery efforts, and offer guidance, advice, and assistance, including leading a delegation of representatives of Florida's private, cooperative, and municipal utility providers.

When I was governor, Florida provided a $1 million investment into our continued commitment to job creation by initiating a job placement and workforce development partnership to connect families relocating to Florida with available jobs.

We were committed to providing assistance in transitional sheltering and housing for those displaced by Hurricane Maria, including continuously working with Congress and FEMA to extend sheltering assistance.

I also directed the Commissioner of Education to travel to Puerto Rico and continue our ongoing assistance to the needs of Puerto Rican students and teachers, including requesting $126 million in additional funding, offering in-state tuition for all Florida public colleges and universities, and making every effort to open our schools and accommodate the students displaced by Hurricane Maria.

We are all American and we all have to look out for each other in time of need. We did it during Maria and we are ready to do it again.

I ran for Senate Republican Leader for the same reason I ran to be your U.S. Senator: because I am sick and tired of seeing dysfunction in Washington create hard times for families and businesses in the Sunshine State. We should be fighting for the same principles YOU elected us to represent.

There has never been a more important time to stand up and demand fiscal sanity in Congress. I promised you that I’d do that and I won’t go back on my word. I’m in Washington to make it work for YOU.

We also have an incredible team throughout ten offices in Florida and D.C. who are committed to serving Florida families and connecting them with federal resources.

In fact, our team is so incredible that they were recognized by the Congressional Management Foundation for Outstanding Constituent Services.

If you need help with a federal agency, visit our website, www.rickscott.senate.gov – we are here to help. 

I’m proud to be your United States Senator. Representing hardworking Florida families is the greatest job in the world. My team and I love what we do, and we are going to keep fighting every day over these next two years to MAKE WASHINGTON WORK.

I’m here to represent Florida and Puerto Rico families and businesses, and each of you and offer a unique perspective.

Thank you and enjoy the summit!

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