Protecting the local environment
The Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie River are prized Treasure Coast assets. The St. Lucie and Indian River Lagoon are vital to the Treasure Coast and their health and well-being has been one of Congressman Murphy's top priorities.  As a native Floridian, he has long understood the important of protecting our environment and the role it plays in our future, our economy, and our entire way of life.  Since his first days in office, he has had countless meetings in the district and D.C. with everyone from community activists to the head of the Army Corps of Engineers to discuss not only the problems, but the solutions, both short-term and long-term, that can only come from mutual understanding of the problem and cooperation of local, state, and federal entities. To learn more about Congressman Murphy's work on this issue, click here.

Some of the most beautiful beaches in the world are along and adjacent to the Treasure Coast, including Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge and John D. MacArthur State Park at Singer Island. He is looking for ways to develop standards and new sources of sand for beach re-nourishment projects.

Lastly, as a life-long Floridian and outdoorsman, Congressman Murphy understands the importance of our environment – not just as a matter of air and water quality for future generations, but for our economy. Florida tourism, hospitality, real estate, fishing, and many other industries depend on it.


Opposing All Aboard Florida
The Congressman has been fighting at the federal level against All Aboard Florida and to ensure the community’s concerns are heard regarding the serious threats it poses to the economy, public safety, and quality of life across the Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches as well as its risky use of unsecured taxpayer dollars.  To that end, Murphy met with U.S. Transportation Secretary Foxx in April to bring these local concerns to the Administration.  Following this meeting, he joined with Congresswoman Lois Frankel in sending a formal request to Secretary Foxx to address the serious community concerns with AAF before considering their RRIF loan request.  The Congressman also met with U.S. Coast Guard officials, including taking them to view the Loxahatchee River train trestle bridge firsthand, to express his opposition to AAF and raise the serious maritime concerns this project poses.  Following these meetings, Murphy also requested that the Coast Guard hold local hearings to hear directly from those who would be negatively impacted by this project and its effects on maritime traffic, commerce, and safety.  Following this request, the U.S. Coast Guard recently announced they will be holding two public comment meetings in Florida’s 18^th Congressional District to conduct a navigation survey to evaluate how to best ensure the continued navigability of our waterways. Additionally, with the serious risk to taxpayers posed by a default by AAF on any federally-back loan, Murphy requested that the Comptroller General of the United States have the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office conduct an independent viability study of the project.


Fostering growth of research and technical centers
Scientific research is critically important for the economy accelerate and for our nation to remain the leader in technology. From Scripps to Max Planck to VGTI and others, a wide variety of research and development facilities have relocated to the region, and Congressman Murphy is committed to working with them to foster the growth of the Research Coast. These institutes provide high-paying, highly skilled jobs that will aid the region as it recovers from the economic downturn.