Two members of the South Florida delegation in the U.S. House are backing an effort to crack down on gender-based violence across the globe. 

This week, as part of more than $475 million in infrastructure improvement grants to airports around the country, the U.S. Department of Transportation is sending almost $22 million to airports in the Sunshine State. 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced Wednesday the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will send funds to 10 airports in Florida. 

“This significant investment in airport improvements in Florida will fund construction and rehabilitation projects that will help maintain high levels of safety in U.S. aviation,” said Chao. 

Last week, U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., showcased his “Residential Recovery Zone Act” to help homeowners who have been impacted by natural disasters. 

This week, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., joined U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, to propose expanding the number of low-vision devices covered by Medicare. 

Even though he has left a key committee for higher education issues, U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., has teamed up with U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, on a bill trying to hold tuition down by reforming federal student loans. 

Rooney and Lee brought out the Higher Education Reform and Opportunity (HERO) Act which they showcased on Wednesday. 

This week, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., stressed his support of Israel and his opposition to the  BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement, as a stance that is beginning to define his re-election campaign.

First elected to Congress in 2006, Buchanan has already drawn a major challenger in state Rep. Margaret Good, D-Sarasota, who defeated his son James for an open state House seat in a special election early last year. 

Now in his second term in the U.S. House, U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., has a new committee assignment--which he plans to use to continue his efforts against offshore drilling and to protect water quality in Florida.

Rooney joined the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee last week which the congressman’s office showcased on Tuesday. 

U.S. Rep Frank Lucas, R-Ok., who leads Republicans on the committee, praised Rooney as he started his new duties. 

Three Florida Republican congressmen have thrown their support behind U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie’s, R-Ky, effort to end federal taxation of Social Security benefits. 

Massie introduced the “Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act” last week and Florida Republican U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz, Greg Steube and Daniel Webster cosponsored the proposal. 

Backers of the bill point out that Social Security benefits used to be exempt from federal taxes. 

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., is working with a Republican congresswoman to increase funds and reauthorize a breast cancer education program. 

Last week, Wasserman Schultz, a breast cancer survivor, teamed with U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Ind., to bring out a proposal to add more funds and reauthorize the Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young (EARLY) Act which was first passed in 2010. So far in 2019, more than 331,500 new cases of breast cancer have been diagnosed in the U.S. 

Two South Florida Democrats on Capitol Hill are teaming up with U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., to crack down on human trafficking operations by reforming the foreign temporary worker visa process. 

U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel and Ted Deutch, the two Florida Democrats, are working with Cruz and Blumenthal on the “Visa Transparency Anti-Trafficking Act” which they introduced last week. 

Frankel’s office laid out why she had introduced the proposal.