When it comes to accountability, Members of Congress must lead by example. I have worked to earn the trust of Space Coast and Treasure Coast citizens by being an example of accountability in government.
Since being sworn into Congress in 2009, making Washington more accountable and transparent has been my top priority. This builds on the similar steps I took as a member of the Florida Legislature, where I kept my office under budget, fought for transparency, and held state agencies accountable by literally writing the book on government accountability with my Activity Based Total Accountability plan (ABTA). ABTA requires state agencies to tell the taxpayers exactly what was accomplished with their tax dollars and became model legislation for accountability across other states. (Read more about ABTA here.)
Other reform and accountability initiatives include:
- Blocking Congressional pay raises every year since coming to Congress
- Returning the annual pay raise put in place by Speaker Pelosi every year of his service
- Passed the “3 Day Rule” to give the public and Members of Congress time to read legislation before it is voted on.
- Passed the Congressional “Posey Rule” to make legislation more transparent and easier to read to spotlight any last-minute legislative changes
- Introduced and cosponsored legislation to require single-issue voting and stop unrelated amendments
- Introduced a 5-year ban on lobbying for retired Members of Congress to end the revolving door
- Consistently cosponsored legislation to create term limits for all Members of Congress
- Cosponsored and voted for the STOCK Act to stop insider trading in Congress
- Passed the Policyholder Protection Act, my bipartisan bill to hold bank regulators accountable and protect consumers from being forced to bail out Wall Street
- Dubbed “Mr. Accountability” by a leading conservative news outlet.