Here you’ll find out what Senator Nelson is doing about issues that are important to Floridians.
Consumers
Disaster Relief
In the wake of the 2004 hurricane season, Senator Nelson helped secure a total of about $14 billion in federal aid for victims of Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Jeanne and Ivan. Following Hurricane Wilma this year, Nelson is once again working to ensure that Floridians get the assistance they need. He continues to monitor the relief efforts of FEMA and has offered legislation to improve and streamline the agency's ability to serve victims of disasters.
FEMA
FEMA's responses to the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons exposed major problems with the agency's policies and practices. Senator Nelson is actively working to address these issues with appropriate legislation.
In 2004, Senator Nelson requested that the Senate Homeland Security Committee investigate the distribution and use of FEMA disaster relief funds. In response to the investigation's finding, he filed legislation (S. 1777) that would prohibit FEMA inspectors from entering into contracts with the victims whose property they inspect.
The Senate also approved in October 2005 a piece of legislation that Senator Nelson co-sponsored, requiring FEMA policies regarding debris removal reimbursement to be clear, consistent, and uniform. And to ensure strong leadership in FEMA, he filed a bill requiring the head of FEMA to have at least 4 years of direct emergency management experience.
Eminent Domain
Senator Nelson believes that Congress must limit the use of eminent domain. A recent spending bill included an amendment co-sponsored by Nelson prohibiting federal funds within the bill from being used for projects that seize property for private development. He hopes to eventually establish a more comprehensive solution to prevent the use of federal funds in cases of eminent domain.
Protecting Privacy
A longtime consumer advocate, Nelson pledged during his campaign for the U.S. Senate to fight to protect individual privacy. He introduced a bill to keep insurance companies, banks and other financial institutions from sharing consumers' health-related and financial information without their explicit consent. In addition, he introduced another bill aimed at protecting your privacy when financial institutions or health care providers outsource their work overseas.
Preventing Identity Theft
Data security breaches are both common and devastating in today's world as more and more Americans become victims of identity theft. Senator Nelson is leading a bipartisan effort to pass the Identity Theft Protection Act, which will, among other things, make sensitive information more secure by preventing the buying and selling of personal information such as Social Security and credit card numbers. The Senate Commerce Committee approved the legislation in July 2005. Nelson remains confident that the legislation will continue to make progress in 2006.
Corporate wrongdoing
In recent years, several high-profile cases of corporate wrongdoing have illustrated the need to reform our nation's laws in order to curb business fraud and punish its perpetrators. Senator Nelson introduced the Integrity in Auditing Act, a bill designed to protect consumers by tightening accounting standards, and voted for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, an important recent reform of corporate governance laws.
And Nelson continues to work actively to curb corporate abuses against consumers. For example, he is a cosponsor of a bipartisan measure that would crack down on corporations that prey on veterans. Nelson also led the Senate's efforts to stop businesses - including oil companies - from engaging in price gouging of consumers during natural disasters.
Anti-Spyware
Senator Nelson's anti-spyware bill, a major component of his consumer privacy agenda, was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee in November 2005. Spyware, which often leads to identity theft, has reached epidemic levels in recent years. His bill prohibits spyware from being downloaded on peoples' computers, and it keeps companies from sending unidentified pop-up advertisements and neglecting to tell consumers how to uninstall secret software. Senator Nelson remains committed to protecting consumers' privacy and identity.
911 Service for Internet Phones
In early November 2005, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee unanimously passed Senator Nelson's legislation requiring Internet telephone companies to provide customers with 911 service. Nelson sponsored the bill after a Deltona, Florida woman lost her infant daughter when she couldn't get through to 911 operators over her Internet phone service to report that her child had stopped breathing.
This legislation also directs the federal Commerce Department to oversee plans to switch to a national Internet-based 911 network. Experts say this would allow emergency calls to be easily transferred from areas that are hard hit by a hurricane or other catastrophic event.
Protecting your cell phone number
Senator Nelson is a cosponsor of a bipartisan bill that would ensure that cell phone users can keep their phone numbers private. Under the bill, wireless providers must inform individuals of their right to remain unlisted before adding their number to a directory.
Spam
Senator Nelson has worked to enact tough criminal penalties for those who fill Americans' inboxes with unwanted advertisements and emails. Provisions he authored were included in an October 2003 Senate bill to curb this unsolicited junk email.