“I am very disappointed in the Federal court’s decision earlier this week. Although I still maintain that the new congressional districts will be severely disadvantageous to minorities throughout the state of Florida, I intend to declare my candidacy for the newly drawn Congressional District Five of Florida. With respect to the redistricting lawsuit, I am still mulling my options, and am reviewing the ruling with U.S. Rep. John Conyers (the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee), as well as with Attorney William Sheppard and his legal team in Jacksonville.
"I have a lot of unfinished business to address in Washington, and I look forward to providing a strong voice in Congress for the citizens in the new 5th Congressional District.
"As I always have, I will fight to bring the federal dollars that the citizens of the 5th District send to Washington back to Florida. As a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I will continue to fight to enhance transportation and infrastructure funding and development; and as a staunch advocate of health care, work to expand health care opportunities through the Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare), as well as expand Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security dollars.
"I will also continue my work in the area of education, in which I have been leading the charge for year-around Pell Grants and for those students who were adversely affected by changes in the Parent PLUS Loan program. And I will advocate for greater education funding, financial aid fairness for our students; and increased resources for our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, like Florida’s prestigious FAMU. Additionally, as the top Democrat in the House of Representatives on the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I will continue fighting to improve services for our nation’s valiant military heroes.”
