Delegation for 5.9.25: Cuban spies — TPS — slave labor — POWs — FEMA — blue economy

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Cuban spying crisis?

Growing amounts of U.S. intelligence show China investing further in a spy base in Cuba, according to expert testimony to Congress.

This week, the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) released surveillance imagery and intelligence to the House Transportation & Maritime Security Subcommittee. That included footage of a growing El Salao facility that could provide information of vital military value to U.S. adversaries.

“The United States maintains critical military installations concentrated in states like Florida and Georgia, so Cuba’s location just 93 miles from the Florida Keys gives adversaries such as China a prime vantage point to peer into the United States and intercept sensitive communications,” testified Ryan Berg, Director of American Programs for CSIS.

While much of the technology under Soviet control was dismantled or fell into disrepair at the end of the Cold War, Berg testified that China has slowly built a relationship with the Cuban government in the 21st century and has more recently stepped-up surveillance capabilities. That has included repurposing Bejucal, a former missile site that U.S. officials say now hosts a listening station.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Cuba agreed to host a spy base on the island 90 miles from Florida’s shore. Since then, U.S. intelligence and the administration have disclosed a longer relationship between China and the communist government.

Rep. Carlos Giménez, a Miami-Dade Republican who chairs the Subcommittee, called the “brazen” operations a significant security concern.

“The possibility that these sites are capable of monitoring U.S. military operations, commercial shipping, space launches and sensitive communications is deeply troubling,” Giménez said.

“The southeastern United States is home to some of the most critical assets in our nation’s security infrastructure. From the space launch center at Cape Canaveral to the headquarters of U.S. Southern Command in Miami, this region plays a critical role in our defense posture. This region includes my own District, which has long been on the front lines of threats emerging from the Cuban regime. If the Chinese government is in fact leveraging a growing partnership with Cuba to collect intelligence on our activities, that is a threat we cannot ignore.”

The committee hearing discussed the history of intelligence and military activity in Cuba, dating back to the potential location of Russian nuclear silos and the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

TPS showdown

President Donald Trump’s administration won’t reconsider the revocation of temporary protected status (TPS) for Venezuelans. However, members of Florida’s House delegation from both sides say Congress should force the issue.

Reps. Darren Soto, a Kissimmee Democrat, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Weston Democrat, just introduced the Venezuela TPS Act with Rep. María Elvira Salazar, a Coral Gables Republican. The legislation would preserve the designation of Venezuelan refugees for 18 months automatically and provide an option for renewal.

“We are concerned by the Trump administration’s actions to strip Venezuelans of Temporary Protected Status, parole, and other critical protections during a time of major instability in their country,” Soto said.

“In Central Florida, thousands of Venezuelans have fled political violence and joined family members already living in the United States, contributing to our economy, and working hard to help our community grow. It is insulting to turn our backs on this group. Now more than ever, we need to come together to protect our community from unjust treatment and unconstitutional deportations.”

Indeed, experts from the Migration Policy Institute say nearly half of all Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S. live in Florida. More than 344,000 are currently protected under TPS. Still, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has called for revoking that and committed to fighting a court decision preventing the deportation of Venezuelans with protections.

Salazar broke with the Republican administration to fight the revocation, which she said could disproportionately hurt South Florida. She noted that the U.S. would be sending away people fleeing the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a leader the State Department doesn’t recognize as legitimately elected, and putting individuals in danger.

“The oppression of the Maduro regime and the total failure of socialism of the 21st century has created dangerous conditions in Venezuela and a constant threat of political persecution,” Salazar said.

“That’s why I am proud to co-lead the Venezuela TPS Act of 2025 — to ensure law-abiding Venezuelans currently in the United States can stay here until conditions improve and they are not forcibly returned to a brutal dictatorship. I will continue fighting for a free and prosperous Venezuela, led by its legitimate President Edmundo González and the Iron Lady María Corina Machado.”

Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic Co-Chair of the Florida delegation, had strongly urged Noem to reconsider, but said it’s time to take legislative action.

“It is simply wrong to subject law-abiding Venezuelan families to a criminal, murderous regime that openly and flagrantly violates human rights,” she said. “TPS recipients are not criminals — they are here legally and nobody with a criminal record is eligible for protection. I’m proud to join this bipartisan effort to prevent Venezuelan families in my District from being unjustly torn apart while we continue to fight for a free and prosperous Venezuela under democratic leadership.”

Slave labor

Leaders in Congress have criticized China’s human rights violations for years. Now, Sen. Rick Scott wants the U.S. to cut funding for projects that rely on slave labor.

The Naples Republican filed the bipartisan No Funds for Forced Labor Act with Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat. The bill would instruct the Treasury Department’s Executive Directors at international financial institutions to oppose projects that use forced labor practices, specifically in Communist China’s Xinjiang region.

“Among its many human rights abuses, Communist China has a proven and disgusting record of genocide and forced labor of Uyghurs and other minority groups. This is a human rights crisis, and the United States will not be complicit,” Scott said.

“I was proud to lead an effort with Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his time in the Senate to ensure that goods made with Uyghur forced labor do not enter the United States’ supply chain. Our bill, the No Funds for Forced Labor Act, will take another step in ensuring American tax dollars are not spent to support these gross abuses by Communist China.”

Merkley previously cosponsored the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act with Rubio when the Secretary served in the Senate. “We need to send a strong message against slave labor wherever this evil appears,” Merkley said.

Making Mexico pay

During confirmation hearings for Trump’s nominee to lead the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Sen. Ashley Moody stressed the need to hold neighboring nations to some account for America’s opioid crisis.

While questioning DEA Administrator nominee Terrence Cole in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Moody recalled remarks by former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that no fentanyl production occurred in Mexico, and that the crisis was a U.S. problem. Moody voiced frustration that President Joe Biden still treated Mexico as a partner, and applauded Trump’s use of tariffs to drive policy.

But she also said the DEA has a role in enforcing the law internationally.

“I think you would be hard-pressed to find any law enforcement agent that works with Mexico that says that they do not have a real problem with corruption,” the Plant City Republican said.

“Do I have your word moving forward that you will use all the tools at your disposal to ensure that Mexico not only assists us with cleaning up and addressing the criminals that are here — that shipped drugs here, continue to terrorize our communities — will you demand vocally and with our administration that we hold the Mexican government, as well as the cartel members, accountable?”

Cole agreed and said the DEA, under his leadership, will treat cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

“It’s an all-hands-on-deck approach,” Cole said. “Including our state and local partners in the middle of this fight to save every American citizen we can is critical.”

American vacation

As the House passed the Gulf of America Act, Rep. Jimmy Patronis invited Trump to celebrate the occasion with a trip to the Panhandle. He sent a letter to the President encouraging him to make the event a spectacle for the Gulf Coast.

“I may be biased, but I believe my District has the best beaches and people along the Gulf of America. I think we need to make this historic moment more significant with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that I would love to facilitate with you and your incredible team. This naming is historic and warrants a BIG celebration, and it doesn’t get any bigger than ‘TRUMP,’” Patronis wrote.

“A formal naming ceremony would work to cement the ‘Gulf of America’ into the fabric of American culture, it would be another win for your legacy, and it would provide the Panhandle with tremendous economic development opportunities for our tourism industry. No doubt, Americans everywhere will flock to Florida’s Panhandle this beach season, to not only enjoy the sunshine, but also experience the first Summer’s existence of the Gulf of America with the family. Following the event, the entire Trump family could enjoy a weekend at one of our amazing resorts that’s loaded with golf, beach, and fun.”

A vote on the House bill to rename the Gulf split the Florida congressional delegation along party lines. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat representing a Gulf Coast district, voiced less enthusiasm than Patronis as she slammed the legislation on the House floor. She criticized Republicans for wasting time on “farcical” efforts.

“For the Gulf Coast, we are still reeling from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, just like other parts of the country,” Castor said.

“You started this (by) saying that ‘Gulf of America’ started as a joke. This is not a joke to the people I represent. They want help with the cost of living, and it seems like the Republicans are doing — that’s the last priority on their list.”

POW praise

The POW/MIA Memorial & Museum at Cecil Field could soon become a national landmark.

Rep. Aaron Bean, a Fernandina Beach Republican, just filed legislation that could grant such a designation. He said that would help honor, connect, inspire and educate Americans about members of the Armed Forces held as prisoners of war and those missing in action.

“Throughout our nation’s wars and conflicts, more than 223,000 American service members have been listed as POW/MIA,” Bean said. “We owe it to those service members and their families to ensure that our nation never forgets. This memorial will give Americans a unique opportunity to honor the immense sacrifice made by our POWs and serve as a powerful reminder of the service members whose fates are still unknown.”

Other Florida delegation members, including Republican Reps. Vern Buchanan, Mario Díaz-Balart, Scott Franklin, Anna Paulina Luna, John Rutherford, and Daniel Webster co-sponsored the bill. Museum officials also support it.

“As a national destination and a 26-acre complex that tells the stories of, recognizes and preserves the legacy of POWs and MIAs in all services from WWII to present day conflicts, this bipartisan legislation acknowledges the multi-faceted, dynamic construction and emphasis on educating future generations,” said Pam Cain, Director of the National POW/MIA Memorial & Museum.

“Families, veterans, educators and the general public will be able to absorb the history of the POW/MIA flag and accounting efforts, reflect, seek solace and honor POWs and MIAs throughout the campus.”

Hammer time

Reports of Jewish students being harassed on college campuses by pro-Palestinian protesters fueled Rep. Randy Fine’s first bill in Congress.

The Northeast Florida Republican introduced the Preventing Antisemitic Harassment on Campus Act, a companion bill to one filed in the Senate by Scott.

“In 2025, Jewish students should not be afraid to walk across a college campus, and I’m going to make sure that they’re not. At colleges like Haverford, university administrators coddled and encouraged the savages attacking these Jewish kids. My legislation amends the Civil Rights Act to explicitly prohibit antisemitism in federally funded programs and strengthens the Higher Education Act of 1965 to enable crippling punishments on those woke colleges that do not comply,” Fine said.

“If colleges fail to address antisemitic discrimination, we will shut them down. I largely solved this problem in Florida with my colleagues in the state Legislature, and after seeing Muslim terrorists run rampant in the other 49 states, I am proud to join Senator Scott to protect Jewish students nationwide.”

He filed the legislation immediately after testimony at the House Education and Workforce Committee, where Fine castigated Haverford College President Wendy Raymond and other institutions’ leaders, saying they promoted the value of antisemitic groups while persecuting Jews on campus.

Raymond, for her part, said the school remains committed to fighting antisemitism.

“Since Hamas’ terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, our nation has seen a troubling rise in antisemitism,” she said. “We have also witnessed an increase in anti-Muslim hate and other types of bias. Haverford has not been immune to these challenges, and I want to affirm our commitment to confronting hate and discrimination in all its forms.”

Safe landing

Rep. Mike Haridopolos secured trade relief for Piper Aircraft’s manufacturing operations on the Treasure Coast, which should help save jobs.

Haridopolos, an Indian Harbour Beach Republican, announced trade exemptions to prevent possible layoffs at the airplane manufacturing facilities in Vero Beach. Haridopolos acknowledged that Piper leaders played a key role in getting the exemptions.

“Piper Aircraft is an essential part of Vero Beach’s economy and Florida’s proud manufacturing tradition,” Haridopolos said. “When I found out that these jobs were at risk, we got to work. My team worked with Piper’s leadership and the Trump administration to make sure these skilled, hardworking Floridians would not feel uncertainty as we fight to level the playing field for American workers.”

Piper had been considering layoffs this year, partly due to trade tariff increases on the materials the manufacturer uses to build its planes in Vero Beach. Haridopolos said he and his team engaged federal trade officials and advocated for targeted relief for Piper while upholding federal trade policy goals.

When Trump instituted 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico earlier this year, Piper began considering plans to compensate for the rising production costs that resulted from those tariffs. That included the possible layoffs among the 1,500 workers at the Vero Beach factory. Turboprop engines for some Piper airplanes are built at Pratt & Whitney facilities in Canada.

“This kind of problem-solving matters,” said Piper Aircraft CEO John Calcagno in a news release.

“It keeps American manufacturers competitive. It protects skilled labor. And in this case, it made a direct difference for our community here on the Treasure Coast. As a result, our workers can keep doing what they do best — building world-class aircraft that reflect the skill, dedication, and ingenuity of American manufacturing. This was government at its best: responsive, informed, and focused on solving a real-world problem in our community.”

Stop stonewalling

This week, Luna demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi “stop stonewalling” and release more Jeffrey Epstein files.

“The crimes of Jeffrey Epstein implicated the most powerful members of our society in one of the most horrific sex trafficking rings to be uncovered in this century,” the St. Petersburg Republican said. “The survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, as well as the American people, deserve to know who among the elite protected, enabled, or participated in Jeffrey Epstein’s disgusting racket.”

Luna heads the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. That panel was named to scrutinize prior investigations of matters like the John F. Kennedy assassination, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the investigation of Epstein, a Florida billionaire convicted of sex trafficking who died in federal prison.

Bondi, a former Florida Attorney General, drew criticism from some on the right after promising to release more files on the Epstein investigation, only to hand out binders to conservative social media influencers that largely contained previously released material.

More recently, Bondi this week said her office had received numerous videos related to the investigation, but the Department of Justice had to review the evidence before releasing it to protect victim identities.

“There are tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn and there are hundreds of victims,” Bondi told White House reporters, as reported by the Miami Herald. “And no one victim will ever get released. It’s just the volume, and that’s what they’re going through right now. The FBI is diligently going through that.”

But Luna voiced impatience at the slow trickle of files. She wrote a letter to Bondi saying her Congressional Committee should now have access to the materials.

“Our task force is demanding the full release of these files or a briefing on the status of the investigation,” she said. “We work alongside the DOJ — not for it. AG Bondi needs to stop stonewalling and communicate with us.”

FEMA-focused fixes

Rep. Jared Moskowitz is partnering with Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee on legislation to streamline the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) block grants program for faster disaster aid deployment.

The related bills, titled the Disaster Housing Flexibility Act and Disaster Response Flexibility Act, would allow states to opt in to block grants for housing and public assistance after a major disaster declaration.

“By allowing states to deploy this critical disaster assistance through block grants, we can get it to communities in need faster than is done now,” Moskowitz said in a statement.

Moskowitz—a former Florida Emergency Management Director who was reportedly being eyed to lead FEMA under Trump in December — also refiled his FEMA Independence Act to restore FEMA to a Cabinet-level agency.

Rep. Byron Donalds of Naples, a Republican candidate for Governor in 2026, co-introduced the measure with Moskowitz.

Today, FEMA operates under DHS, where bureaucracy is “getting in the way of FEMA fulfilling its core mission,” Moskowitz said.

The Disaster Housing Flexibility Act and Disaster Response Flexibility Act would create a new block grant program under the Stafford Act, which provides a framework for federal disaster response and recovery.

Blue economy

Florida enjoys more coastline than any state in the continental U.S. Salazar wants to help boost the “blue economy” dependent on water access.

She introduced the bipartisan Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation (Ocean ROI) Act, which would direct the Commerce Secretary to establish “Ocean Innovation Clusters” administered by the Economic Development Administration. In consultation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the clusters would operate in five designated fisheries and the Gulf and Great Lakes regions.

“Miami’s beautiful coasts and pristine waters provide Florida with billions in tourism and commerce every year, and I am committed to preserving them for generations to come,” Salazar said.

“I am proud to reintroduce this legislation to promote Miami’s development and improve our environment through the sustainable use of our oceans. The blue economy and the opportunities it provides are growing, and there is no better place to invest the best we have in research and technology than right here in South Florida.”

She filed the House bill with Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Maine Democrat, while Sens. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, and Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, will carry the bill in the Senate.

“From protecting orcas from vessel noise, to transitioning to a carbon-free future for our ports and maritime industry, Washington’s ocean cluster, called Maritime Blue, is working hard to solve complex challenges facing our economy,” Cantwell said.

On this day

May 9, 1974 — “House votes to initiate impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon” via History.com — The impeachment was the result of the scandal involving the bungled burglary of the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate apartment complex in 1972. After facing the proceedings, Nixon resigned from the presidency on August 8. His resignation had a significant impact on the situation in Vietnam. Nixon had convinced South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu to consent to the Paris Peace Accords provisions by promising the United States would reenter the conflict if the North Vietnamese violated the peace agreement. However, his successor, Gerald Ford, could not keep Nixon’s promises.

May 9, 1914 — “Woodrow Wilson declares first Mother’s Day” via The President Woodrow Wilson House — President Wilson made the official announcement proclaiming Mother’s Day a national observance to be held each year on the second Sunday of May. The observance was to display the American Flag on government buildings and private homes “as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” Mother’s Day was almost universally observed before 1914, as most states had observances, but the date sometimes varied. Traditionally, vendors sold carnations for churchgoers to wear, red for those whose mother was living and white for those whose mother had died.

Happy birthday

Best wishes to Rep. Buchanan, who turned 74 on Thursday, May 8.

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Peter Schorsch publishes Delegation, compiled by Jacob Ogles, edited and assembled by Phil Ammann and Ryan Nicol, with contributions by Drew Dixon and Jesse Scheckner.