The legislative branch of the United States government is Congress, a bicameral house that comprises the House of Representatives and Senate. Its primary mandate is to enact laws and provide oversight to federal and state agencies, the army, and other public institutions. As a representative democracy, Congress is a mix of diverse ideologies, competing interests, and opinions. This paper analyzes three members of Congress from Miami, Florida by looking at their demographic profile, support base, policy issues of interest, and ideologies.
Congressional Representatives
Two legislators are elected to represent a state in the Senate. Florida’s Senators are Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, who were elected in 2011 and 2019 as the senior and junior senator, respectively (GovTrack, 2020). Frederica Wilson is the member of the House for the state’s 24th congressional district that includes Miami. The trio comprises the U.S. Congress representatives from the state of Florida.
Demographic Profile
Previous Occupations
Marco Rubio graduated from the University of Miami before starting his career. He served in the West Miami City Commission between 1998 and 2000 before joining politics (Office of the House Historian, 2020). The junior senator, Rick Scott, first served in the United States Navy as a technician before joining law school. He would later join the Johnson & Swanson company in Texas as a partner in 1987 (Office of the House Historian, 2020). Scott established the Columbia Hospital Corporation in 1992 and served as its CEO until 1997 when he resigned. He later founded Richard L. Scott company in Florida, which he managed until joining politics. The House Representative, Frederica Wilson, served as a member of the Miami-Dade County School Board from 1992 to 1998.
Political Experience
Marco Rubio is an experienced politician who has served in various political positions since 2000. He worked in the Florida House of Representatives, first as the Majority Leader and later as the Speaker, in the 2000-2008 period. Rick Scott started his political career in 2011 as a Governor of Florida, serving two consecutive terms, which are 2011-2014 and 2015-2019 (BallotPedia, 2020). In contrast, Wilson’s political experience spans over a decade, serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives (1998-2002), State Senator (2002-2010), and U.S. House Representative for the 17th Congressional district (2011-2013).
Family
Rubio is married with four children – two daughters and two sons. The extended family, which includes Rubio’s father, brothers, nephews, and nieces resides in their West Miami home. His parents moved into the United States from Cuba. Rick Scott’s family includes his wife, two grown-up daughters, and grandchildren in their Naples home, Florida. Frederica Wilson is married with three children – two daughters and a son.
Income
Marco Rubio net annual earnings have increased steadily over the past five years. He earned $176,000 annually in salary and royalty on books, which rose to $938,963 upon becoming a senator (Office of the House Historian, 2020). Rick Scott has vast investments valued at over one million. His annual income from these investments and his salary is about $136 million (BallotPedia, 2020). Frederica Wilson’s assets are worth $1.5 million and she earns $175,000 annually in salary (Office of the House Historian, 2020). However, the Wilson family investments and earnings are much higher.
Education
Rubio graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida in 1993. Three years later, he obtained a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Miami. Rick Scott went to a community college and later studied law at the University of Missouri and Southern Methodist University where he graduated with J.D. qualifications (GovTrack, 2020). Frederica Wilson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Frisk University and a Master of Arts from the University of Miami.
Other Relevant Demographics
Rubio and Scott are members of the Republican party, whereas Wilson is a Democrat. In terms of age, Scott is older than Rubio and Wilson. The duration served in the current position differs among the three legislators. Rick Scott has been Florida’s senator for the past one year. In contrast, both Rubio and Wilson have held their current positions since 2011 but the latter has served for two different congressional districts during this period.
Percentage of Votes Received
The two Congressmen and one Congresswoman were elected at different periods in the U.S. election calendar. Marco Rubio garnered 53 percent of the votes cast in 2016 polls while Scott got 50.05% of the vote, defeating his closest rival by a very small margin – 0.2 per centage points – in 2018 (BallotPedia, 2020). On the other hand, Wilson was unchallenged for the U.S. House of Representatives race – the 24th Congressional District – in the 2011 elections.
Policy Issue Areas
Each of the three legislators has a different stand on various policy issues. Rubio sponsors bills mostly in two areas: international affairs and commerce, including the Air America Act of 2020. In contrast, according to BallotPedia (2020), Scott’s top policy issues of interest are health and government operations and politics. The recent bills sponsored by the legislator fall in these two areas. Wilson is interested in policies touching on education and labor and employment. Her most recent bill seeks the observance of a rail safety week to decrease rail-related incidents, deaths, and injuries to workers.
Effect on Ideologies
The ideological impact of the policy areas promoted by the legislators is reflected in their bill sponsorship and co-sponsorship in Congress. In the ideology-leadership chart, Wilson is classified as a Democrat. She has sponsored and co-sponsored several bills with different Democratic Party members. In contrast, Senator Scott scores low on bill sponsorship since being elected in 2015. The pieces of legislation he has sponsored and co-sponsored reflect the ideology of the Republican Party. Rubio is rated highly in the leadership score due to the large number of bills he has brought to Congress. All these legislations appeal to the ideological stance of his Republican Party.
Most Interesting Representative
Based on enacted legislation emanating from the three legislators and their priority policy issue areas, the representative I am most interested in is Marco Rubio. While Scott and Wilson have brought to Congress only a handful of policy proposals, Rubio has sponsored 24 bills that have been signed into law, including the Strengthening the National Disaster Medical System Act of 2019 (BallotPedia, 2020). A priority issue area supported by Rubio that is of interest to me is health. For example, he recently sponsored the MMEDS Act of 2020 that seeks to incentivize medical product manufacturing to target distressed regions. Besides his prolific legislative activity, Rubio has also initiated various policy amendments and chaired many Senate committees.
Conclusion
The legislative process takes place entirely in Congress – the Senate and the House of Representatives. Elected members are interested in different policy issues as reflected by the kind of bills they sponsor or co-sponsor. Any enacted legislation emanating from a representative is often aligned with his or her party ideology. Based on legislative activity and priority issue area (health), I am most interested in Marco Rubio.
References
BallotPedia. (2020). Public policy: Enlightening voters on policy matters. Web.
GovTrack. (2020). Members of Congress. Web.
Office of the House Historian. (2020). Biographical directory of the United States Congress: 1774-present. Web.