Bill Nelson in Biden Cabinet members actions and issues
On Environment:
From space you can see how we're messing up Earth
When you look out the window of a spacecraft, there is a fundamental effect that it has on you--there's a term that's been applied by astronauts called "the overview effect." You see this beautiful creation--colorful, suspended
in the middle
It gives you an expanded perspective. My faith has informed my public service. That space flight helped inform my politics. I became more of an environmentalist when I went into space because I could see the fragility of the Earth.
I could look at the rim of the Earth--that thin film we call the atmosphere--and see that it sustains all of life. I became more convinced I wanted to be a better steward of what we have.
Source: Tampa Bay Ledger on 2021 Biden Cabinet
Sep 4, 2020
On Principles & Values:
You serve the public; you don't serve yourself
I've always felt that the value of this kind of work is not politics and government per se, it is public service. That assumes that you understand that you serve the public, you don't serve yourself--albeit there's always a conflict
in a political elected position that you have to worry about being elected. If you stray off the north star, though--which is service to the people you have been elected to represent--then it goes haywire.
Source: Tampa Bay Ledger on 2021 Biden Cabinet
Sep 4, 2020
On Health Care:
COVID: wearing a mask must not be a partisan issue
I am a Democrat, but this must not be a partisan issue. Republican Gov. Jeb Bush recently encouraged Floridians to follow CDC guidelines by wearing a mask, washing your hands, and social distancing in public. Jeb and I are
united on this singular priority matter--to support common-sense mitigation of this deadly disease. So, my beloved Florida, let's show the rest of America that wearing a mask isn't a political symbol. It's a sign of solidarity with our fellow humans.
Source: Orlando Sentinel on 2021 Biden Cabinet
Aug 2, 2020
On Health Care:
Medicaid expansion is difference between life or death
Nelson had made a fierce case to protect the Affordable Care Act, and he assailed his rival, Gov. Rick Scott, for blocking 800,000 low-income Floridians from access to federal healthcare through Medicaid. "This is literally the difference between life
or death," Nelson said, flanked by the parents of children with lifelong medical ailments like diabetes. "This is the difference between a quality of life or not. This is the difference between bankruptcy or not to so many families."
Source: Tampa Bay Times on 2021 Biden Cabinet
Oct 31, 2018
Page last updated: May 20, 2021