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Career highlights

U.S. Senate, elected November 2000:

  • Won federal assistance for debris removal from private roads and property following Florida’s devastating 2004 hurricane season.
  • Helped secure a total of $14.5 billion in federal aid for victims of Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.
  • Brokered settlement between Negro League Baseball players and Major League Baseball to ensure aging former players received compensation for their years of service.
  • Established strict criminal penalties for spammers who send junk e-mail schemes that involve fraud, identity theft, obscenity, child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children.
  • Amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 2003 to increase consumer privacy protections by requiring businesses to dispose properly of any client information derived from credit reports.
  • Passed legislation to ban schemes that target veterans to sign over their future disability benefits in exchange for a lump payment worth a fraction of its value.
  • Introduced privacy legislation requiring banks and insurance companies to get written permission for use of medical information. Called for criminal penalties for the sale of purchase of a social security number.
  • Pushed the Defense Department to release information about chemical and biological weapons testing done on U.S. soldiers during the 1960s. Called for immediate treatment of any veterans who may have been harmed.
  • Forced the EPA to determine whether arsenic treated wood, found in playgrounds across the country, is a health risk to children, which led the agency to agree with the wood-preserving industry to phase out the use of arsenic-treated wood for playground equipment.
  • Amended the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation to curb phony fundraising in a candidate's name.
  • Filed legislation to prevent "boutique doctors" from charging patients "access" fees while billing Medicare or other federal agencies.
  • Championed legislation to end a penalty on disabled military retirees which prevents them from concurrently receiving retired pay and disability benefits.
  • Appointed to the Senate Armed Services, Budget, Foreign Relations, Commerce and Aging committees.
  • Named to Democratic Leadership team as Campaign Committee vice chairman.

Florida Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal 1994-2000:

  • Directed the rebuilding of the homeowners insurance market devastated by Hurricane Andrew.
  • Ordered auto insurers to decrease rates for good drivers.
  • Fought successfully against life insurance sales abuses that targeted the elderly.
  • Initiated a major investigation of insurers that took advantage of minorities by selling them junk burial policies.
  • Headed the board of the Healthy Kids program that provides health coverage to more than 112,000 previously uninsured children.
  • Put public records about malpractice claims on the Internet, so people will have the information they need to choose their doctor. Visit this unique web site.
  • Played a key role in forcing European insurers to honor unpaid Holocaust-era claims.
  • Helped breast cancer patients by backing legislation assuring them adequate hospital stays.
  • Protected Florida's environment from offshore oil drilling and power company use of untested fuels in the Tampa Bay area.
  • Instituted reforms that better protected state funds from risky investments.
  • Earned Florida top national rankings in insurance fraud arrests and convictions; and mounted aggressive investigations of church arson fires.

U.S. House of Representatives 1978-1990:

  • Was an early voice in the fight to balance the federal budget.
  • Fought successfully to stop oil drilling off Florida's coast.
  • Served as chairman of the Space Subcommittee of the Science, Space and Technology Committee.
  • Helped win crucial funding of the nation's space program.
  • Wrote and passed a federal law guarding against computer crimes.

 

Florida Legislature 1972-1978:

  • Fought for better education and growth management laws, and supported Florida's pioneering local planning law.
  • Sponsored a law to fight racketeering crimes, and passed the nation's first state law against computer crimes.
  • Helped lead the fight for a constitutional amendment to select appellate court judges on the basis of merit rather than politics.